The Importance Of Reflective Listening To Positive Communication

Communicating feelings, directions, and other ideas successfully helps reduce confusion and frustration in the classroom. These communications can be constructive, but they should not be negative and blame the other person for the problems. Doing this creates more problems and typically does not solve the original issue. One way to help communicate feelings is through I-messages. I-messages include stating the behavior, your feelings, and explain why you feel that way without telling the child they are bad or blaming them. Another strategy to contribute to positive communication is through reflective listening. Reflective listening allows the person to communicate their feelings and feel a validation of their concerns. The person listening …show more content…
While this is due to egocentrism and happens to all children, that does not diminish the problems that come with it. Egocentrism does not permit children to see other points of views or the perspectives and feelings of others. In turn, this creates conflict between children who both want the same thing and are unable to see why the other person thinks they should have it instead. One way to promote perspective taking in the classroom is by having children talk through their perspectives and practice listening. While understanding and recognition of others’ feelings is not immediate, being able to hear and discuss various perspectives can help children begin to understand there are other feelings in play. Another way to discuss various perspectives of students would be through a puppet show or play. The characters can act out common classroom issues and show children various ways to handle the …show more content…
An example of using choices in the classroom would be through the choices of materials and representation of their learning. If children need to create projects or complete assignments, giving them choices on how to complete such assignments can be beneficial. With this approach, children feel in charge of their learning and as if they have a voice in how they want to represent their knowledge. Educators should provide challenging yet reachable choices that promote learning and are real life experiences. An example of redirection in the classroom would be by removing the child from an area after warning them. Along with removal, it is important to discuss why their actions were noted and discuss how rules were not followed. Allowing the child time to decide what they should do from that point and evaluating the options give them a chance to think through their