Reading log 5

The Fine Art of Listening

This article has struck me because that’s how I feel about that dual aspect of communication, listening versus offering and saying. Many people think that if you don’t say really clever ideas, and as much as you can, then you’re not a thoughtful person to be around. And I wonder, how do people become knowledgeable and experienced in the first place? Probably by listening to others.

         Speaking specifically about education and the role of teachers in their communities, developing a good listening skill is key. In order to understand learners better, and to take the best courses of actions to help them, teachers must listen carefully and be aware of signs of success or frustration, comfort or distress, and the hints of the impact of our instruction in the setting where we teach.

         Someone told me once that we should never press our hands to our ears when people who actually hold negative feelings towards us speak to us. There’s always some truth even in the words that come from people who don’t have good intentions. Obviously, that’s an extreme statement, but I see some of it in this reading. The moral I can extract from this piece about the art of listening is that being a good listener makes one apt to properly receive and deal with the huge amount of information that comes from countless sources, and process that information critically.