Effective communication between the teacher and pupils in primary education: Which types of communication help to engage children the most?
I am currently looking into effective communication between the teacher and pupil in primary education and want to look into different ways in which children learn. Is it down to the personality of the teacher? “Teaching is first of all not a question of methods or techniques, but of personality; lasting influence is personal radiation.”, the text in the textbooks or the way in which each individual lessons are planned and taught? “Teachers control the learning process by way of planning and carrying out the lessons, evaluating students, maintaining the order in the classroom and ensuring that their students participate in activities which could be beneficial for them to reach the goals of the lesson.” Relating to (Hotaman, Davut. 2009)
Through some research I already know that children are all different and learn differently. “As learners we make our own sense and build on our own connections no matter how brilliant the teacher.” As written by (Hall Kathy. 2004) why is it that children find some subjects more interesting than others? This may well be down to personal interest, but is there a way in which this can be resolved?
Could we bring something new to teaching? A new method of teaching or new method of learning? Is there something that we have never tried before or has it already been done? As I study Graphic Communication, I am wondering if graphic/visual communication would work in schools and what difference would it make to the children’s learning? The first rule in Graphic Design is, it’s not the way something looks but it is the way in which it works. Could this relate to education and learning? This is something that I am very interested to find out. It has been proven that visual storytelling is a beneficial but challenging method for researching into health with young people. Within this experiment “ Visual storytelling was valued, a) being a draw card during recruitment and increasing positive feeling about the research, b) being fun, c) promoting self understanding and d) promoting expression, communication, and focus during interviews.” According to (Drew, Sarah E, Duncan, Rony E, Sawyer, Susan M. 2010) It also states in this article “within this methodology, images are seen as a powerful medium for communicating issues and promoting change.” (Drew, Sarah E, Duncan, Rony E, Sawyer, Susan M. 2010.)
I am going to research thoroughly into whether this sort of technique is being used in schools by going into primary schools around Dundee and taking part and sitting in lessons. If this technique or something similar to this technique is being used, I will research into it and find out how teachers are designing lessons using visual story telling, and if not I will interview teachers to find out what they would think if this technique was brought into schools. This may solve the problem of children only liking certain subjects, there might not be enough fun in teaching.
Whilst researching into this topic I have found out that “One of the primary benefits of visual communication over verbal is immediacy. Whether you are seeking to communicate complex information, such as with statistical information, or seeking to emphasize the importance of an idea, visual communication can often accomplish these tasks much more quickly than verbal communication.” With regards to (www.livestrong.com. 2010) I feel that this is a vital piece of information and I feel more strongly after reading this article that visual communication is beneficial and it will benefit in schools and make learning easier as a whole or easier to remember. I feel that it would be especially beneficial to children between the ages of 5 – 12 as they are still learning things every day. Most of which they don’t even realize they are learning. Visual messages are everywhere and we don’t notice it. “Visual messages surround us every day. We watch real and fictional stories on television, we view advertisements in magazines and on billboards and we review charts, graphs and tables in books. We consider photographs that we want to display around our home, and we design visual aides to accompany our presentations at work.” (www.livestrong.com. 2010) Throughout each of these activities we engage with and use visual communication to send and receive messages. It is also said that visual communication is more flexible than verbal communication, which could mean, many lessons could be taught using visual communication in more than one way.
Also, another aspect I have been researching into is whether teachers have more knowledge or interest in some subjects than others. If so, do they encourage participation more under these circumstances, as they are fearless of any questions or queries asked by the pupil, as the teacher has good knowledge on these subjects? “Teachers who have comprehensive knowledge of their subject matters let their pupils actively participate in the lessons. These teachers are aware of the problems the pupils encounter while learning and are ready for any questions put by the pupils and the answers these teachers provide are not evasive or ambiguous.” (Hotaman, Davut. 2009)
Does this then mean that children will not be given the opportunity to participate as much in lessons that teachers are not so interested in? Would the teachers still try to make lessons fun if she or he didn’t enjoy teaching this specific subject. Another aspect that I think relates into this topic is whether the teachers are passionate about their job. Do they look at teaching as just a job or do they have great passion about helping individuals learn and grow and take pride in helping parents and the community? I think this could also relate into how children learn, as teachers with great passion for teaching will connect more with the pupils.
Introduction: Throughout my dissertation I want to talk about effective communication between the teacher and the pupil in primary education as a whole. And for each individual chapter I wish to look at different types of learning and communication separately and talk deeper into each of them. Including their pros and cons, examples of techniques that are already being used in primary schools and also talking about each of the different methods that I used to gather information such as case studies and interviews.
Chapter 1: Effective communication:
In this chapter I wish to talk about all different kinds of effective communication within the primary classroom as a whole. I will be looking into all the different techniques that are being used in classroom just now and will also include in this section, some answers from interviews that i will be carring out which will include questions which will talk about how they think the children learn and if they have any preferred ways of teaching and why.
Chapter 2: designing learning and communication:
In this section I will be looking and researching into different lessons and how there are being taught by different teachers. I will be speaking to teachers to find out what they take into consideration when designing their lessons and also what they find most effective. I am also going to try to have a shot at designing a lesson myself and will be asking for feedback from the teacher s. At this stage Iwill also be speaking to some of the children to find out what their favourite subjects are and why and hopefully this will leave me some good information to research some more into.
Chapter 3: Visual communication:
In this chapter I will be looking into the use of visual communication within primary education, and thinking about how it could work and what subjects it could be used in. I will then find out what teachers think about the use of visual communication within the classroom and will tell them some interesting facts about how visual communication is more beneficial than verbal communication and I will be asking what here thoughts are on this technique and whether they think it would work in the classroom or not. As this Chapter is quite broad I will also be researching into what kinds of lessons can be created using this technique and also I will be finding out what the children think of this kind of technique and if they would like the use of visual communication for some of their subjects, if not all of them
25/04/2011 – 30/05/2011
Continue to research and finish reading books. Add new information into proposal part 3 and keep building it throughout reading new books, journals etc.
01/06/2011 – 24/06/2011
Placement starts in school, Blackness primary a couple of days a week for three weeks. This is where I will be taking notes, looking at classroom layouts, watching the way lessons are taught and the way children learn and generally taking down notes about effective communication.
25/06/2011 – 15/08/2011
Analysis everything that I saw and learned throughout my time at the school. Start to add on to my dissertation part 3 and have a final idea on what my chapters will be. Research into any new information that I have learned or any new teaching techniques that I have witnessed. Think about what I want to ask the teachers in my questionnaire and what I really want to be finding out whilst doing the exercise.
15/08/2011 – 29/08/2011
Go back into Blackness primary after the summer holidays for another couple of days a week for two weeks. This time I will have my questions refined for my questionnaires for both the teachers and children. Once they have been completed I will be talking to teachers and analysing all the information I have gathered from the questionnaires and from face to face chats with both the children and the teachers.
30/08/2011 – 11/09/2011
Have a rough draft of my final dissertation ready for starting back 4th year. This means it will be ready to be check and I will be ready for any feedback.
12/09/2011 – 30/09/2011
Make changes to dissertation if needed from feedback session.
01/10/2011 – 31/10/2011
Refine my dissertation, make sure everything is there. Could speak to dissertation supervisor to see if everything is ok so far. And start refining final draft.
01/11/2011 – 30/11/2011
Get my dissertation proof read by quite a few people. Make sure there are no mistakes. Start to lay everything out on the page for print, print in black and white, and mock up, make any changes for final print if needed, if not then Its ready for print.
I personally feel that I would benefit from doing my dissertation on this topic as I want to do a post graduate course in primary teaching once i have completed my degree in Graphic communication. I feel that this will improve my design practice as I think it will give me a better knowledge and understanding about the many different ways of communication, from body language to visual. I also feel it will give me a better understanding on how the mind works and the differences in communication with people of different ages. It will benefit other people such as teachers, student teachers, and also people that work with children in general as it will give them a better understanding of working with children and also the relationship that is formed between them.
During researching into this topic I will be visiting primary schools throughout the summer to see for myself how children react in different classes and also to see how different lessons are taught. Whilst visiting the schools, I would like to talk to teachers about effective communication and find out what they think about it, what they know and if they have any specific ways of communicating with their pupils. I will also create an effective questionnaire to give to teachers and also student teachers studying at university. From this I wish to find out what they think of the idea using Visual communication and also it would be interesting to hear different ideas that they think could work. I think it would also be beneficial if I could talk to some of the children of all ages and ask them what their favorite subject is and why. I feel this would be one of my best research methods.
· Primary education
· Communication
· Body language
· Visual methods
· Lessons
· Age
Personality
Ambrose, Gavin, Harris, Paul. (2010) Design Thinking: the act or practice of using your mind to consider design. / Gavin Ambrose, Paul Harris.
This book explores key areas of design through a series of case studies. The book goes through different stages step by step. Reading this book is helping me break down everything I am reading and I am finding it quite helpful.
Ardaiz-Villanueva, O, Nicuesa-Chacón, X, Brene-Artazcoz, O, Sanz De Acedo Lizarraga, M.L, Sanz De Acedo Baquedano, M.T. (2011) Evaluation of computer tools for idea generation and team formation in project-based learning. Computers and Education 56: (3) p. 700-711.
To some extend this had valuable information but again it is focusing on university students and not children so its only been partly helpful, but also interesting.
Bakkenes, Inge, Vermunt, Jan.D, Wubbels, Theo. (2009) Teacher learning in the context of educational innovation: Learning activities and learning outcomes of experienced teachers. Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Utrecht University, Heidelberglaan.
This article was quite interesting to read but wasn’t really relent to what i am wanting to find out, as it focuses more on how teachers learn as appose to children.
Bazalgette, Cary, Buckingham, David. (1995) In front of the children: screen entertainment and young audiences / edited by Cary Bazalgette and David Buckingham.
This book contains thirteen different essays and within these they talk about children’s movies and whether they liberate or enslave the imagination. Quite an interesting read to find out how the Childs mind works, this will be useful to me as I am trying to find out who they learn.
Butcher, Christopher. (1951) Designing learning: from module outline to effective teaching /Christopher Butcher, Clara Davies and Melissa Highton.
This book is full of interesting information and facts about how to teach and design lessons, but it mainly focuses on designing lessons of university and college students and only has a small part on primary education. It is relevant but only a small section throughout the book.
Christensen, Pia, O’Brien, Margaret. (2003) Children in the city: home, neighborhood and community / edited by Pia Christensen and Margaret O’Brien.
The aim of this book is exploring children’s life’s in contemporary cities. This is interesting as it talks about children from big cities and children from villages and the different ways in which they live there life’s. It would be interesting for me to research into how the two different groups learn at school.
Drew, Sarah E, Duncan, Rony E, Sawyer, Susan M. (2010) Visual storytelling: A beneficial but challenging method for health Research with young people. Qualitative Health Research, vol. 20, no. 12, pp. 1677-1688, Dec 2010.
An interesting article that talks about how images are seen as a powerful medium for communicating. Very relevant to my topic and is also a really interesting article to read.
E how, Tax time [Online] Available at: http://www.ehow.com/way_5171235_effective-communication-tips-classroom.html.
An interesting website as it talks about tone of voice when teaching in the classroom. It also covers a lot of other topics that are relevant.
Fuller, Bruce, Coll, Cynthia Garcia. (2010) Learning From Latinos: Contexts, Families, and Child Development in Motion. Developmental Psychology, vol. 46, no. 3, pp. 559-565, May 2010.
This article is not really relevant at all, I thought I would of got something from it but it focuses on Latino children and families through out the whole article.
Grosse, Gerlind, Behne, Tanya. (2010) Infants Communicate in order to be understood. Developmental Psychology 2010, Vol 46, No. 6, 1710-1722.
This article talks about the communicative process of infants before their first birthday. It is interesting to read but doesn’t really have any relevance to what I want to find out as its only focusing on children between 0-12 months old in the article.
Hall, Kathy. (2004) Making formative assessment work: effective practice in the primary classroom /Kathy Hall and Winifred M. Burke
This book is of most relevance to what I am trying to find out. It focuses and talks about the primary classroom and effective communication within it. A very interesting read, and will be very useful throughout my dissertation.
Hotaman, Davut. (2009) The teaching profession: knowledge of subject matter, teaching skills and personality traits. Faculty of Education, Yildiz Technical University, Istanbul.
This article is again relevant and very useful to my topic. It is very interesting to read as it talks about the personality traits of the teacher and how it relates to children when in class.
Live Strong [Online] Available at: http://www.livestrong.com/article/157920-what-are-the-benefits-of-visual-communication-over-verbal/
This is a really interesting website which has many facts and information about the benefits of visual communications, along with examples.
Macleod, Katy, Holdridge, Lin. (2006) Thinking through art /: reflections on art as research / edited by Katy MacLeod and Lin Holdridge.
In this book the author talks about understanding the relationship between art and thought, and what kind of thought comes from art practice. I am finding this book very interesting and useful so far and think it will be of great use as I am looking into a similar topic.
Markson, Lucy, Paterson, B Kevin. (2009) Effects of gaze-aversion on visual-spatial imagination. British Journal of Psychology, vol. 100, no. 3, pp. 553-563, Aug 2009.
This is quite interesting on the aspect of how children avert their gaze at certain points, especially when questions are difficult. This is interesting as teachers can sometimes pick up on this and help the children when there are struggling in class.
McAlhone, Beryl, Stuart, David (1996) A smile in the mind: witty thinking in graphic design / Foreword by Edward de Bono, designed by The Partners.
A great book for my dissertation topic, the book looks at witty understanding and thinking techniques behind images. This is helping me with the visual learning aspect of my topic.
McCall, Catherine C. (2009) Transforming thinking: philosophical inquiry in the primary and secondary classroom /Catherine McCall.
This book is considers philosophical inquiry, an empowering teaching method that can lead to significant improvements in classroom life. A very interesting book, and is relevant if I want to go down the philosophical road.
Reardon, John. (2009) Ch-ch-ch-changes: artists talking about teaching. / Interviews by John Reardon: edited by David Millin and John Reardon
An interesting read as it is full of interviews on artists teaching in the whole of Europe. The interviews provide an insight into the artist’s different teaching methods. This book is not so relevant to me as it is just focusing on art and not all subjects, but it is still helpful.
Sandars, John, Murray, Christopher, Pellow, Andy. (2008) Twelve tips for using digital storytelling to promote reflective learning by medical students. Medical Teacher, vol. 30, no. 8, pp. 774-777, 2008.
An interesting article as it gives tips on how to plan effective evaluations of educational programs.
SlideShare Present yourself, 2009. [Online] Available at: http://www.slideshare.net/Babalou/effective-communication-in-the-classroom
Interesting website as it shows me a power point presentation about effective communication in the classroom.
Stamatopoulou, Despina. (2011) Symbol formation and the embodied self: A microgenetic case-study examination of the transition to symbolic communication in scribbling activities from 14 to 31 months of age. New Ideas in Psychology 29 (2011) 162-188.
This article is quite interesting and useful although it is focusing on children aged between 14 – 31 months; it still is useful in talking about the scribbling process and how it pushes the Childs primary reactive space.
Tamietto, M (2009) Unseen facial and body expressions trigger fast emotional reactions, Proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the United States of America 106 (42): 1766-17666
In this article it talks about emotional contagion. I find this interesting as it all starts by how facial expressions and body gestures induce highly similar expressive responses. I think it would be interesting for me to relate this to the classroom life and the relationships between the pupil and teacher.
Walling, Donovan R. (2000) Rethinking how art is taught: a critical convergence. Art – study and teaching – schools, Art education, Education – art and design
This book explains how to use art education to improve critical learning. Very interesting as it helps me compare how different lessons are taught.
Wang, Xiang-Yang, Wang, Ting, Bu, Juan. (2011) Color image segmentation using pixel wise support vector machine classification. Pattern Recognition 44 (2011) 777-787.
This article is interesting, as it looks into how different minds portray different images and thoughts as others when looking at the same picture. I think it would be quite interesting to research into this aspect further as I think it will be a good topic to cover when doing my Dissertation.
Wrathall, J (2009) Body language. Sight and Sound, vol. 19, no. 5, pp. 40-42
In this article the author describes the experience of being a writer on a film set when his screenplay "good" was filmed. I find it interesting how the author finds it interesting that a great actor can speak the lines he wrote and really make the role his own. I think it would be interesting for me to research into this topic more and find out whether the personality of the teacher is genuine or if it is put on for the job.
