In my current position in secondary education, I spend a great deal of time in classrooms with teachers attempting to understand their instructional needs and partnering with them to help and support them in fulfilling those needs. I have found that one of the most important skills that I have to constantly work to develop is the skill of focused, real listening.

When I enter a teacher’s classroom, at the teacher’s request, to observe students and their reaction to instruction, it is usually because a teacher has some basis for believing that some aspect of their daily instruction could work better or at least that something is not quite working as it should. As an educator for many years, it is really easy to quickly form an opinion about the classroom that I’m observing and reach a conclusion without ever hearing what the teacher has to say. These conclusions are generally wrong! It is extremely important that I listen to the teacher’s point of view without injecting my own in order to discover what the real issue is from the frame of reference the teacher sees. This requires authentic, purposeful listening.

What is authentic, purposeful listening? It is listening without any pre-conceived ideas about where the conversation is heading. It means paying attention to the words the speaker is saying and shutting out interference from our thinking and waiting for all the information before drawing any conclusions. It requires us to hear the whole conversation without beginning to form our response before the speaker finishes. It is a difficult process that makes us wait before addressing thoughts and ideas. It must be learned and constantly, intentionally practiced to be effective but purposeful listening is a worthwhile effort in any collaborative endeavor.

When we practice authentic listening, new conversations and ideas develop as the listener and speaker become learners together. All participants become equal partners in the conversation and pre-conceived ideas are replaced by carefully thought out approaches integrating ideas from all those involved in the conversation. This leads to a far deeper understanding of the issue and a much stronger resolution than one participant could have acheived alone.

Could we apply authentic, purposeful listening to our students? Absolutely! Carefully listening to our students leads to a better understanding of problems they may be having with instruction or gaps they may have in their learning. Encouraging our students to talk and then making sure that we hear what they have to say is a necessary part of teacher assessment of student learning and response to learning gaps students may exhibit.

Listening is a skill I practice every day and will continue to practice to become more proficient. It is a learned skill and one that can lead to improved collaborative efforts with colleagues and students alike. Are you listening…for real?