COMMUNICATION AND RELATIONSHIPS IN CLASS
The context for speaking and listening
The aim of the day is to build awareness of:


The processes involved in classroom communication that include speaking and
listening
The need to give this issue top priority in learning and teaching for improved literacy
and numeracy
What do we mean by communication?
Interpersonal communication is the process whereby we send and receive messages to each
other through words, voice tone, facial expressions and gestures. In class, words transmit
information but only construct a portion of social interaction and must be spoken from the
heart and with spirit to reach children’s minds. How we say something reflects roles and
relationships in the exchange as well as our values, attitudes, manner, personality and use of
the occasion. Such non-verbal aspects contribute to over 90% of the impact of the message!
If you dislike me and the way I talk you will dismiss what I say!
What are the communication issues you face in the classroom?
Children enter school with problems in putting together word messages. Watching television
is more frequent than talk at home so youngsters are used to deriving meaning from pictures
rather than words. As pictures are instantly available, in contrast to words that require images
to be created, children process visually rather than verbally. School is a shock to pupils as
teachers expect them to grasp what is said or read with great speed. Most children have not
developed the mental and linguistic structures to bring order to their experiences and so have
limited strategies to assemble word and number events in literacy and numeracy tasks.
Research in Class talk (Sage, 2000), suggests that inadequate communication underlies most
learning and behaviour difficulties. Children are required to write beyond their thinking and
speaking levels and struggle to negotiate meanings. Improving our own talk to pupils and
assisting their narrative thinking and expression are effective ways to raise personal and
academic performance. With 75% of children probably entering school with communication
delay, teachers must address this issue before coping with the content of the curriculum.
A Communication Opportunity Group Scheme (COGS) focuses on thinking and its
expression in speech and writing. Children write at the level they can think and speak and
achieve success. COGS target both the components and context (verbal and non-verbal
language) of interaction. Components are the medium of exchanges such as speaking and
listening whereas context is the reality in which meaning is created. In Britain, we have a low
context communication style, emphasising words rather than situations. So, children do not
have attention drawn to non-verbal issues and are less skilled at inference, reference and
coherence that helps them bridge information gaps that occur in sequences of talk and text.
The sessions:
Session 1: 9.30-11am
Getting to grips with Communication
Communication involves many components which interact to make meaning. Speaking and
listening are the tip of this iceberg but what about the other aspects? The session explores
the whole basis of how we think and communicate in a series of practical activities.
Session 2: 11.155-12.45
Linking speaking with reading and writing
The process of communication begins with gestures, noises and facial expressions and when
words are linked with their referents in context, they begin to be used to express needs.
These build through language development until sentences are a major tool to communicate
in informal conversations. With opportunities to retell experiences, explain things and instruct
others a more literate form of communication occurs (narrative thinking and structure) and
with this the ability to bring together information coherently both for understanding and
expression. This crucial stage gets short shrift in today’s frenetic lifestyles
and children are unprepared to take on board the large quantities of talk they need to
assemble for classroom talk. Thus, they do not have the thinking and structure that can
support formal literacy.
Session 3: 1.45-3.30
Using a narrative thinking model to differentiate classroom tasks.
Using the topic: DIASTERS – this session will teach a lesson that enables participants to
prepare tasks for a public presentation using narrative thinking levels to differentiate
outcomes.
Teaching Method
These are interactive rather than didactic to encourage thinking and expression. You will
need to participate and not mind taking a risk and making a fool of yourself! After the session,
take a few minutes to review the information and reflect on what the experience has meant for
you. Summarising and reviewing is the way to make a memory map and is a powerful
technique to retain what is learnt. What will you do with this knowledge when you are in a
classroom?
Books to extend the information of the session:
The Communication Opportunity Group Scheme (Sage, 2000, 2006), University of
Leicester ( 2 manuals)
Class talk (Sage, 2000). Stafford. Network Educational Press
Lend us your ears (2003) Stafford. Network Educational Press
A World of Difference (2004) Stafford. Network Educational Press
Dr Rosemary Sage, Director of Studies: The Centre for Innovation in Raising Educational
Achievement, University of Leicester: rs70@leicester.ac.uk