Listening—the most underrated skill in education
Listening—the process of actively receiving, constructing meaning from, and responding to spoken or non-verbal messages—is essential for teaching and learning. How can we check for understanding and ensure that students’ contributions are heard and understood by peers and teachers?
In Learning to Listen and Listening to Learn, bestselling authors and internationally respected educators John Hattie and Lyn Sharratt demonstrate how listening can foster positive relationships, trust, and understanding while enhancing student learning. With a wealth of research to guide educators through the process of infusing active, sensitive, and empathetic listening skills into the classroom and school culture, this important guide includes:
- The Visible CLARITY 5-Ear Listening Model
- Reflection prompts and mantras to help reinforce key learnings from each chapter
- Guidance on how to assess and enhance leaders′, teachers′, and students′ listening skills
When we value every student′s voice, we create an inclusive environment that encourages diverse perspectives, fosters equity, and develops accurate listening, empowering students to articulate their thoughts and enhancing skills they will use for their lifetimes.
"I am thrilled that, finally, listening came into the focus of educators and researchers in education and teaching. Listening is probably the most underrated skill in educational settings. Although it is the most required skill per (school) day in many different ways, it is the skill to which the least amount of instruction time has traditionally been dedicated. I found it impressive, how the text explores the different aspects and purposes of listening and how a variety of concrete and practical instructional strategies and procedures are included to demonstrate how listening instruction can be put into the classroom practice. Listening is so much more than hearing as illustrated in the five-ear listening model. This is an extremely important work to bring listening into the classroom and to support teachers to develop and to teach listening skills! To combine the VL approach with issues of listening instruction is meaningful." - Psychologie in den Bildungswissenschaften, Mainz, Germany
