3 Communication with Adult learners

Mr. Tuhin Deb

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Content Outline

  • Introduction
  • Verbal Communication
  • Non-verbal communication
  • Communicating with our eyes
  • Communicating with Facial Expression
  • Communicating with Gesture
  • Appearance
  • Posture and Gait
  • Proximity and Touch
  • Negative Listening Behaviours
  • Positive Listening Skills

 

Module objectives

 

The objectives of this module are

  1. To Illustrate appropriate non-verbal communication
  2. To identify negative listening behaviours
  3. To Practice positive listening skills with adult learners

 

Introduction

 

Communicating in an appropriate manner is extremely important for holding the attention of learners in a literacy programme. It is essential that the literacy functionaries have communication skills that attract the learners and hold their attention in literacy class.

 

Behaviour is manifested through individual’s patterns of communication. Communication refers to the reciprocal exchange of information, ideas, beliefs, feelings and attitudes between individuals or among a group of person. It is a goal directed process in which people use signs and symbols to convey a message. We communicate when we talk (verbal) and also when we don’t talk (non-verbal). We communicate when we move and when we are still, we communicate within ourselves and with others. Communication is the core of interpersonal relations. Unless we are in deep sleep, we are communicating.

 

Verbal Communication

 

Communication is not merely talking and listening. Verbal communication is only one component of the communication between people. In this section you will learn about some of the main elements that you may need to learn and use, in order to make your work as a literacy functionary easier.

 

Non-verbal communication

 

Without using words, we communicate with a look, an expression, a gesture or a groan. Appearance, posture, gait and voice tell us much more about people than they may tell us in words. These elements of communication are non-verbal, mostly unconscious and occur at instinctive levels. Yet, we can train ourselves to bring them to consciousness and take control of these elements.

 

Communicating with eyes

 

Eyes are windows through which you see the person’s inside. Eyes express emotions and attitudes. Eye contact is a common means of expressing love. ‘Gaze aversion’ is interpreted as unwillingness to interact.

 

A strong gaze may indicate dominance or aggression and a person with little eye contact is seen as submissive or shy. Eye movements indicate that we are attending to others. Eyes are used to open and close communication channels between people while speaking in turns.

 

A period of eye contract often starts an interaction during which you look at the person who is talking to you. The person looks away while she is speaking, once in a while checking whether you are looking (listening). After she has finished, this gaze is returned to you to signify your turn to speak.

 

Learn to use this understanding. Skills are formed by repetitive use. To initiate control of non-verbal behaviour, role-plays are useful. If you are a shy person, you can still learn to get out of your shell by allowing eye contact to be made. Instead of looking into yourself, learn to look into somebody else. The fear of the ‘unknown other’ will melt as communication channels open up.

 

Communicating with Facial Expression

 

When we look at people we are not only looking at their eyes. Facial expression is the most important means of communicating non-verbally. By looking at a face we can say whether the persons likes or dislikes, understands or not. Faces can communicate interest and involvement. They can also express emotional status ranging from happiness to despair. Feelings are often reflected on the face even if the person wishes to disguise them. Face responds instantaneously and is the most effective feedback to another person.

 

Facial expressions as actions may be difficult to control even in our own cases. But they can be brought under our control with a bit of practice.

 

Acting is not merely for actors, doctors, nurses waiters – all of us act out a role. Role-playing in small informal groups with sufficient feedback can improve our communication skills.

 

Communicating with Gesture

 

Hand gestures are second in importance to facial expression in non-verbal communication. Some people with hearing and speech disabilities use gestures, successfully, in interpersonal communication. So the power of this element should not be understated. We do use gestures normally to repeat, emphasize or even contradict our verbal messages. You wave and also say good-bye: This is an example of a repetition of both verbal and non-verbal components emphasize each other. If someone saysshe is alright but throws her hands in despair, there is an element of contradiction between the verbal and non-verbal components.

 

Appearance communicates

 

Appearances serve to differentiate between people; the old from the young, the formal from the informal, doctor from the patient, the judge from the accused. Appearances convey messages about social stature, personality attributes and even emotional states.

 

Personal appearances not only affect sour own self-image but also our behaviour and the behaviour of the people around us. The style of dress, hair, cosmetics or jewelry provides the basis for first and sometimes lasting impressions.

 

Appearances are often deceptive but we nevertheless depend on using them in our day-today interactions with people. The change or modifications in your daily appearance changes the behaviour of people towards you. This knowledge can be put to use easily.

 

Communicating with posture and Gait

 

The way a person sits stands and walks reflects her attitude towards herself and her relationship to others. Posture can reveal warmth, harmony with others and the status and power in relation to the other. People unconsciously adopt different postures to those whom they like or dislike.

 

People with higher status are relaxed in the presence of juniors who maintain formal postures. When we interact with people whom we like, we tend to lean forward. When somebody whom we do not like interacts with us we tend to leaned back to distance ourselves.

 

A person entering the Literacy centre walking slowly with hunched shoulders may be thought of as timid, whereas a straight back and purposeful gait may convey confidence. Sometimes we may be deceived by such inferences, but more often than not we are proved right. Each individual has his own characteristic style of posture and gait which reflects his personality and self-image.

 

Conscious adoption of postures and gaits which signal to other people positive messages can be the first step that we need to take to change the behaviour or people around us. This will slowly change your self-image and your personality as well, in due course of time.

 

Communicating through Proximity and Touch

 

While we are dealing with a learner in theCentre or meeting people on the road or in the village,the distance that we keep while interacting with people depends to a certain extent on where we are. It also depends on who we are. People have personal spaces around them, which may shrink and expand depending on situations. People unconsciously adopt their positions in a social gathering. Proximity, which encroaches this personal space, conveys intimacy.

 

You cannot be expected to be intimate with all the villagers. If you are within one and half feet of a person, you are in intimate space. From one and half to four feet is personal space. From 4 feet to about 12 feet, is social space and more than that is public distance. If you learn to regulate your distance from people depending on situations, you can produce better results.

 

Negative Listening Behaviours

 

How do you listen to people? This is extremely important in your communication. While interacting with learners, do they feel listened to? Do they feel you are interested in them? And attending to them? Let us look at some of the negative listening behaviours.

  1. Give advice even if you aren’t asked for it – say something like “You should” or “If I were you….”Ex. Kunda, a learner, who reports late to literacy class which starts at 9 pm says that she is late because her son and husband were not ready to have early dinner. The volunteer teacher advises the learner by saying that “If I were you I would have asked them to serve themselves.” This is unsolicited advice.
  2. Interrupting the speaker while she or he is talking Kusum, who is excited about the literacy class which she has joined, informs the volunteer teacher, “I was practicing writing skills at home under the guidance of my_ _ _ _ “, before she completes her sentence, the teacher says, “There is no need to take anyone’s help. Practice on your own”. This is rude and disrespectful.The learner may feel dejected.
  3. Trying to top the speaker’s story with a better one of your own Sarika-tai has been able to master the content of the first three chapters in a week and proudly reports it to the class. Instead of encouraging Sarika-tai, the teacher says, “That’s not a big deal. In the other class in this very village there is a women older to you who has mastered four lessons in a week!” Now, this is certainly not encouraging.
  4. Putting the speaker down by criticizing herbehaviour, saying things like “That’s dumb” or “Why would you do that?”

 

An enthusiastic learner, NaseemBano, tells the class that in order to check if she could add and subtract, she counted mangoes on one tree and then on another tree and at the end got confused because she forgot how many mangoes she had counted. Instead of giving constructive suggestions to NaseemBano, like “After counting mangoes on one tree, write the number of mangoes on the ground with the help of a stick so that you do not forget the number”, the volunteer teacher just comments, “That’s dumb”, “Why would you do that?” The learner will certainly feel discouraged with this response.

 

5.    Changing the subject to something unrelated to what the speaker is talking about

Jenifer shared her experience about how the arithmetic taught in the class is helping them to update their Self Help Group’s accounts. After sharing this Jenifer expects appreciation from others in the class and from the teacher. But instead of responding to her, the teacher changes the topic and starts talking about something else like the cleanliness in the literacy class. Jenifer would certainly feel ignored.

 

6.    Lean over and start whispering to someone else while the speaker is talking

It is necessary to pay full attention to the learners while the class is on. For instance, when the teacher has asked the student to read aloud a lesson and instead of paying attention to this task, she starts whispering to someone else the learner will feel unimportant and ignored.

 

7. Listen carefully at first, then begin to look bored; gaze around the room, sigh, look at your watch, roll your eyes

 

Ex.The learners are discussing a picture in the primer. The picture depicts a gram sabha, ie. a general body meeting of the entire electorate at the village level. Since the learners have actually had such a meeting in the immediate past and some of their issues were unresolved in that meeting, the learners have a long discussion. One particular learner, Shanta-bai, starts narrating her issue. The teacher looks bored in the midway and starts yawning and looking out of the door. This is certainly discouraging

 

8. Disagree with the speaker; each time she says something, challenge it and say what she thinks the learner should be doing

 

The learners have been asked to read aloud an application they have written to the Bank Manager for sanctioning loan for some economic activity. Jodha writes to the Manager of Beena Bank for a loan of Rs.10,000 for purchase of two goats. While she reads her application, the teacher interrupts Jodha and disagrees with her on each point. Why do you prefer Beena Bank? Why not Nutan Bank instead? Why Rs. 10,000? Why don’t you ask for bullocks instead of goats? At the end of it, the learner may not want to write the loan application at all.

 

9. Starting to read, draw or scribble

The teacher asks the learner to read aloud a lesson one by one and while they are following her instructions, she herself engages in writing her administrative reports, filling registers and other tasks. This certainly constitutes negative communication.

 

Positive Listening Skills

 

We just learnt negativelistening behaviours. It is not enough to avoid negative listening behaviours. The learners must be actively listened to. Let us liik at some of the positive listening skills.

  1. Give the speaker your full attention. Stop doing other things, remove distractions and turn to face the learner. The teacher may have to perform several tasks other than teaching. While she is engaged with the learners, she should pay full attention to them.
  2. Lean towards the speaker While communicating with the learner, use your body language appropriately. Leaning towards the learner will indicate undivided attention to the learner and make the learner feel important.
  3. Make eye contact with the speaker, unless that would be rude in the learner’s culture.
  4.  Nod or shake your head in response to the speaker’s comments When you shake your head in response to the speaker’s explanations, observations and remarks, the speaker knows that the listener is attending and she feels encouraged to communicate.
  5. Make verbal responses that let the speaker know you are listening, such as “ok-ok,” “yes” or “go on”.
  6. Change your facial expression to reflect the appropriate emotion, such as concern, excitement, fear and so on. The learners check for your approval or disapproval, your encouragement etc. in your expression.
  7. Check out the meaning of the speaker’s message – say what you think she/he is saying and ask if that is correct.

 

Shanta-bai was reading out the letter she wrote to her son living in Mumbai informing him of her daughter’s marriage. She wrote that she is happy that the marriage is fixed but worried about how she will deal with the responsibilities of married life. The teacher asked her, ”Why are you worried? Is the girl too young to be married? Is the daughter under-age?” Shanta-bai clarified that she is not under-age, but being youngest child in the family she has never taken any responsibility. Shantabai felt understood. It is important to check the meaning of the speaker’s message.

 

8. Try to figure out what the speaker is feeling and check to see if you are correct.

 

Let us look at this example- Revati was unable to write the joint alphabets taught in the class for the first time. She pushed the book and threw the pencil on the floor. The teacher noticed it and said, “You are feeling hopeless because you are unable to write joint alphabets.” Revati felt understood and said, “Yes”. Teacher encouraged her saying, “You are trying it for the first time today. With some practice you will surely be able to do it.”

 

9. Do not interrupt unless time is an issue and you have to be somewhere else or do something. In that case, apologize and ask to finish the conversation at another time.

 

10. Ask questions to clarify what the speaker is saying. For example, “Are you saying…?” or “I’m not sure I understand, could you tell me more about that?” Sunitashared in the class that her daughter was not going to school since she was required to help with house work. The volunteer teacher was disturbed that in spite of discussion in the literacy class about importance of educating the girl-child, daughters of learners were dropping out of school. “Do you mean that she has dropped out of school?” Teacher asked. “‘No”, Sunita said “She was at home for two days to help with guests.” Clarification was helpful.

 

11. Compliment the speaker with statements like “I really liked the way you handled that” or “It sounds like you are really trying to deal with this”

 

Members of the Renuka Devi Self Help Group decided to do farming as a group activity. They rented a farm of Anil-bhau. They planted groundnuts and reaped a good harvest. They did everything from preparing the soil to for planting to selling the produce. This gave them confidence to upscale their activity next year. They were amply complemented by the volunteer teacher and the Prerak who said, “I really liked the way you handled that!” The learner who was a member of Renuka Devi Self Help Group who shared this matter in class was elated.

 

12. Reflect the speaker’s message back; say something like “I think you are saying……” or “It sounds like……”.

 

Suman-bai was narrating to the learners about her own wedding which took place when she was 14 years old. She described how scared she was about being scolded for her mistakes, how she lost her health due to repeated pregnancies and her other health problems that followed. The literacy class exposed her to many issues. Now Suman-bai does not want to get her daughter married till she is at least 23 years old. The Teacher summarized her talk by saying that “You have understood that your health problems were due to early marriage and pregnancies. You want to protect your daughter from going through the same problems and hence you have decided that you will marry her when she is at least 23 years old”. Suman-bai said, “yes”.

 

Summary

 

Communicating in an appropriate manner is extremely important for holding the attention of learners in a literacy programme.This module illustrates that communication is not merely talking and listening.Without using words, we communicate with a look, an expression, a gesture or a groan.As a Literacy functionary, while communicating with the learner, negative listening behaviours have to be avoided. Positive listening skills have to be practiced.

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References

  • Adama Ouane, 1989, Handbook on Learning Strategies for Post-Literacy and Continuing Education – Hamburg UNESCO Institute for Education.
  • Anita Dighe, 2010, Use of ICT in Literacy, Indian Journal of Adult Education, volume 71 no. 4, pp 130 to 137
  • Asha Patil, 2017, Recognition of prior learning: current Status, Issues & Challenges, Indian Journal of Adult Education, volume 78 no. 2, pp 30 to 39
  • Krishana Reddy, 2009, Technology indicative Literacy programme, Indian Journal of Adult Education, volume 70 no. 4, pp 49 to 52
  • Madan Singh- 2007, New Companion to Adult Educators, NEW DELHI-110002, International Institute of Adult & Lifelong Education Indian Adult Education Association.
  •  C. Reddeppa Reddy, 2014, Community learning & Development: Approaches to build capacities of Communities, V. Mohan Kumar, Adult and Lifelong Learning: Selected Articles (pp63-81) NEW DELHI Indian Adult Education Association.
  • K. Bawa, 2001 Handbook on Training Methods, New Delhi, Directorate of Adult Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Department of Elementary Education and Literacy, Government of India,
  • Shahnawaz, 2007, pedagogical Approaches, Teaching learning possess. UNESCO: Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India. PP-18-19.