Basic Teaching Skills Derived from a Model of Speaking and Listening

8/14/2019 Basic Teaching Skills Derived from a Model of Speaking and Listening

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Journal of Teacher Education

DOI: 10.1177/0022487173024001041973; 24; 24Journal of Teacher Education

Ned A. FlandersBasic Teaching Skills Derived from a Model of Speaking and Listening

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Basic Teaching Skills Derived from aModel of Speaking and Listening

NedA. Flanders

Speaking and listening are fundamental elements ofclassroom interaction. Teachers and pupils talk to eachother in a conversational sequence of speaking andlistening which is basic to the teacher-pupil inter-change. This article analyzes the elements of speakingand listening in order to identify basic teaching skillsthat are essential to teacher-pupil interaction. Al-though the major emphasis is on skills associated withverbal communication, some aspects of nonverbal com-

munication are also included in the analysis.The procedure followed in this article begins with a

description of a simple model of conversation. Then,the model is embellished and used to identify partic-ular kinds of speaking-listening transitions. Thesetransitions, in turn, suggest basic teaching skills as-sociated with speaking and listening. The skills thusderived are considered to be basic precisely because

speaking and listening are essential elements of theinterchange between teacher and pupils.

A Simple Model of Conversation

The verbal communication events between two per-sons occur in a sequence, and this sequence occupiesa segment of time. While one person speaks, the otherlistens. The speaker then stops and starts to listen whilethe person who was listening starts to speak.As timepasses, the interchange can be represented with a time-line display as shown in Figure i.Two features of Figure i are easily identified. First,

in this simple model a participant has only two al-ternatives-either he is speaking or he is listening.Second, the model displays reciprocal changes of par-ticipation which occur as transitions. These transitions,numbered in Figure i from left to right, identify pointsat which one person stops

speakingin order to listen

while the other person stops listening in order to spAtransition itself is instantaneous, or nearly so,must be described by the events that precede andlow it. In Figure 2, which emphasizes the transit

points, the small circles highlight the precedingfollowing verbal events. These preceding and followevents permit us to distinguish among different trtions. For example, if Person i asks a questionpreceding event) and Person 2 answers it (the folling event), there is a transition which belongsclass that could be called &dquo;question-response&dquo; trations. Thus, by describing the events that precedefollow, we can identify and classify different trations.

As it has been presented thus far, this modelphasizes verbal communication. Actually, nonvecommunication also occurs during conversation.

speaker can process information from the listenerwatching his reactions.At the same time, the listcan interpret gestures, facial expressions, and ononverbal events to give additional meaning to w

he hears. This emphasis on verbal events doesmean that nonverbal communication is unimportit is primarily a matter of expediency. Conceptualizthe verbal events is the easiest way to distinguishtransition from another. In a later section of this a

cle, I will emphasize verbal and nonverbal skills m

equally in identifying basic skills of listening.Figures i and 2 are most appropriate to repre

conversation in which the two or more participbelong to the same general status class-for exaone teacher talking to another or one pupil talkinhis peers. To the extent that there is a differenc

authority between two participants, it is reasonablsuppose that transitions are controlled more often

the person who hasgreater authority.

Most conve

FIGURE 1

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FIGURE 2

ing teaching do not involve persons who be-the same status class.Ateacher has more

d authority than his pupils, and during mostencounters, subsequent events are more likelyfluenced by statements made by the teacherthe pupils. It is possible for a teacher to cur-uthority-in-use (i) and thereby approach thes of peer conversation, but when this happens,statements take on a very different qualityn easily be recognized.the status differences of the participants in

ching conversations, it is desirable to build aich focuses primarily on teacher statements.illustrates one way this might be done. Thecles in Figure 3 highlight the teacher state-hich occur at transitions-that is, the lastid by a teacher just before a transition tok and the first things said by a teacher follow-nsition to teacher talk. To focus on teacher

s does not mean that what a pupil says isant. Indeed, a teacher acts in order to achieve

kinds of pupil participation so that judg-success and failure in teaching would at leastaccount the quality of pupil participation.

less, basic teaching skills are evidenced in

teacher behavior, even though their effectiveness maybe judged by pupil behavior. The value of moving from

Figures i and 2 to Figure 3 is that we focus on whatthe teacher says-on teacher behavior. Figure 3 sug-gests that a teachers first statements after a pupil stopstalking and his last statements just before a pupil startsto talk may be the most influential so far as the nature

of pupil participation is concerned.Before adding embellishments to this simple model

of conversation, lets summarize what has been said.

Figures i, 2, and 3 present a model of conversationwhich limits participation to either speaking or listen-ing. No distinctions are made among different kindsof statements or among different kinds of listening.The model takes into account the reciprocal relation-

ships between speaking and listening when two ormore persons interact. The model also focuses our at-

tention on transitions and on the fact that transitions

can be classified in terms of preceding and followingevents.

Speaking and Basic Teaching Skills

At this point, we will postpone a discussion of listen-

ing and deal only with speaking. We begin by model-

FIGURE 3



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ing the speaking element of classroom interaction and

identifying basic teaching skills. Then, a brief sectionconsiders the issue of how elaborate the model should

be to serve as an effective guide for teacher training

which is followed by comments about procedures fortraining teachers in the basic skills identified.

A Model Involving Two Kinds of Speaking

In a single conversation circle, the teacher speaks,then one or more pupils, then the teacher, and so on.To illustrate the sequence, Figure 4 eliminates the dot-

ted lines to indicate listening and includes only a heavyblack line to represent speaking.

Notice the significant restrictions that are beingplaced on the model. The listening events have beendiscarded. Whether one pupil is responding to another

pupil is not taken into account. Different kinds of state-ments are ignored. Nor have we decided how elaboratethe model should be in order to serve its purpose (anissue discussed later). One principle to follow is thatthe model should be as simple as possible and still pro-duce useful basic skills.

The model in Figure 4 presents only two kinds ofevents-either the teacher is speaking or one or morepupils are speaking. This also provides us with twokinds of transitions: first, from teacher to pupil andsecond, from pupil to teacher. There is a mathematicalrelationship between the number of events and the totalnumber of different one-way transitions between these

events which is expressed by the formula,

in which N is the number of events and T is the num-

ber of transitions. So long as the model admits onlytwo events, teacher talk and pupil talk, there are onlytwo transitions-2 X i = 2. Using the same formula,the following relationships hold:

It is easy to see that as we admit more kinds of

ments as events in the model, the number of resudifferent transitions increases rapidly. Since it i

purpose to study a reasonable number of transiin order to identify basic communications skills,limit to the total number of events is necessary.

haps a practical example will help.Suppose we permitted the four kinds of state

which Bellack, (2) identified as basic moves ofroom instruction: soliciting, responding, structu

and reacting. If these four kinds of statements alowed for both teacher and pupil, then there arekinds of events in the model. This results in 56ferent kinds of transitions-a quantity that may b

cumbersome, especially for the &dquo;first round&dquo; of asis in this paper.Another basis for limiting the events in the m

is found in Flanders proposal (3) that both teand pupil talk can be usefully classified into initand response. It was shown that the proportioteacher response to initiation is associated with

educational outcomes as pupil achievement andsirable pupil attitudes toward the teacher and to

learning. In the studies reported by Flanders, totiate is to lead, to create a first event which thenbe- dealt with. To respond is to deal with an exi

event, to comply, to conform, and in other waybe influenced by the first event. It should be ackn

edged that there is a residual error in making thistinction. Some actions, particularly among pupilsdifficult to classify with this simple dichotomy. Hever, the residual error is small compared with

FIGURE 4



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FIGURE 5

mber of events that can be reliably classified.

he distinction does have practicalvalue in

g teacher and pupil communication.5 presents a timeline which shows some of the

transitions given these four possible events:esponse and initiation and pupil response and. Suppose that just before t2 the teacher asks

w question* and a pupil responds.At t3, fol-he pupil response, the teacher initiates anotherore t4 the teacher may ask a more open ques-ed on his own ideas, and the pupil respondsgiving a direct answer to the question. How-

pupil might then expand on his answer byhis own opinions. These opinions are new

the sense of not being required by the teacherst and thus create a transition from pupil re-o pupil initiation at t5. Before t6 the pupil con-expand his idea, and the teacher then reacts

upils ideas following t6 (a transition fromitiation to teacher response). Before t7, the

may ask the pupil to show how his ideaork, and as a result, the pupil continues tohis own train of thought.At ts, the teacherthe expanded idea but then turns to a new

rrow question has one correct answer.An opendoes not have one correct answer and is likely tonion, explanation, etc.

idea of his own, thus creating t9. The teacher then asksa narrow

questionto

whicha

pupil givesa

longre-

sponse, indicated by tio.The foregoing sequence is restricted to four possible

events, permitting 12 possible types of transitions.Figure 6 shows these 12 transitions. The first eighttransitions occur during a teacher to pupil or pupil toteacher interchange. Transitions 9 and io occurduring continuous teacher talk; m and 12, during con-tinuous pupil talk. Note that these latter four transi-tions elaborate on our earlier examples of a transitionas simply a change in speaker.Atransition occurswhenever there is a shift between any of the events

admitted to the model.

Basic Teaching Skills Inferred from the Model

Proceeding from this model of speaking, we canidentify basic teaching skills that are demanded by thevarious transitions.

Transitions 1 and 2

Transitions i and 2 involve teacher initiation and

pupil response. The incidence of these transitions isabove average when the purposes of instruction pre-

sumably require active supervision and control by theteacher. The more common examples would include

FIGURE 6



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&dquo;The role of the

teacher is to start

activities, to moveto a new

idea, to checkon pupil

understanding. Therole of the pupilis to respond, to

comply...&dquo;

&dquo;A teacher

expresses and

explains ideasclearly, gives

directions clearly,and processes

feedback.&dquo;

the teachers lecturing, with or without questions tocheck pupil understanding; giving directions and ex-plaining assignments; and conducting more structuredactivities such as those associated with drill or correct-

ing seatworkor

homework. The role of the teacherin these situations is to start activities, to move to a

new idea or new phase of activity when he thinks itis appropriate, to check on pupil understanding-inshort to be very active in initiating classroom activities.The role of the pupil is to respond, to comply, and toact in accordance with the expectations of the teacheror the structure the teacher has created. There is con-

siderable evidence, (i, 2) that these transitions are usedthe most frequently-actually too frequently whenjudged by measures of desirable pupil growth.

Basic teaching skills which these transitions demandmight include the following. First, a teacher expresses

and explains ideas clearly; second, he gives directionsso that they are clearly understood; third, he has anumber of skills that are associated zvith giving cor-rective feedback or criticisms in a constructive man-

ner ; and fourth, he knows how and when to ask nar-row questions to which correct and incorrect answers

can be easily identified..

Transitions 3 and 4

Transitions 3 and 4 involve pupil initiation andteacher response. The incidence of these transitions is

higher whenever the teacher has succeeded in encour-

aging pupils to express their own ideas, to make sug-

gestions about the conduct of learning, or to presenttheir own opinions about the issues at hand. The main

skill probably lies in the fourth transition, when theteacher is responding to what pupils have said, ratherthan in the third transition.Askillful teacher can make

use of pupil ideas in a number of different ways. Hecan merely acknowledge them, he can attempt to clari-

fy and expand them, he can compare the ideas ex-pressed by one pupil with those of another, and hecan build questions which are based on pupil ideas.These occasions often occur during the latter stages of

inquiry lessons or when current events and current

social issues are discussed. In more advanced lessons,

these patterns occur when pupils are proposing func-tional relationships (rules or laws) or attempting toformulate generalizations (applying rules or laws).There is some evidence (4) that even a small increase

in the use of these skills, in one classroom comparedwith another, is associated with desirable pupil out-comes.

Basic teaching skills which these transitions demand

might include the following. First, a teacher reiterates,paraphrases, or expands ideas suggested by Pllpils;second, he compares one pupil idea with another ormakes use of pupil suggestions to move one step fur-ther in problem solving; third, he guides the inductive

thought cycle tozvard higher levels of cognitivethought, according to a model such as Tabas; (5) and

fourth, he formulates questions which make upupil ideas.

Transitions 5 and 6

Transitions 5 and 6 involve teacher initiatiopupil initiation. The incidence of these transitiabove average when the pupils and the teacher ato be on an equal footing, when both are expretheir own ideas as is likely to occur in a debate aequals. In these situations, there will probablystrong element of testing the ideas expressed adeciding which ideas are to prevail. There mabe occasions in which these transitions represent

terdependence, that is, points at which the pupilsexception to the purposes of the teacher and incounteralternatives. These transitions reflect a dof maturity which seldom occurs in the interacti

the average classroom, regardless of age level.Perhaps the most common form of Transition curs when a teacher initiates an open question to wthere is no specific, expected answer. Thesethought-provoking questions serve as an invitatithe pupil to express his own ideas which may bein the form of opinions, explanations, proposedpossible generalizations, and so on.The basic teaching skill most often associated

these transitions is suggested first; the others are

speculative.A teacher formulates open queswhich encourage pupils to express their ozvn isecond, he introduces his own ideas without inhib

further expression of pupil ideas; third, he anaideas objectively and is less influenced by the bwhich pupils express; and fourth, he deals satis frily with unexpected statements (e.g., a pupil iniwhen the teacher was expecting a response; this

vary from friendly jokes to aggressive statementtopic) .

Transitions 7 and 8

Transitions 7 and 8 involve teacher response

pupil response. The incidence of complete cyclevolving both of these transitions is not likelyhigh in normal classroom interaction, but Trans

8 is unusually critical in moving from a condof high teacher initiation to a condition of highinitiation. Assuming that interaction is frequteacher-initiated, one way to encourage pupils tpress their opinions or make procedural suggesis to become genuinely concerned with their ideasing the skill of responding to pupil responses is astep in moving away from the predominant paof teacher initiation. Transition 8, rather than 7cilitates this stratagem.The basic teaching skills which are involved are

tered primarily on how a teacher reacts to pupil sments made in response to teacher initiation.A t

er inventories pupil ideas as he listens and selecttain of these ideas for further development; a



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r acknowledges those ideas zuhich are not se-so as to encourage continued pupil participation.

tions 9 and 10

nsitions 9 and io involve teacher response and

r initiation and, therefore, occur within an ex-d period of teacher talk. Transition 9, from re-

e to initiation, has a higher incidence of occur-since a teacher may respond to what a pupilst said before going on to introduce his ownTransition io is somewhat awkward but can

d to relate what the teacher has just said to some-a pupil has mentioned earlier.basic teaching skill which might be inferred ishe teacher has the ability to respond to pupiland then show how those ideas are related to

ain of thought that the teacher wishes to follow.

tions 11 and 12

nsitions m and 12 involve pupil initiation andresponse. These transitions occur during ex-

d periods of pupil talk and, therefore, are notly under the control of the teacher. Perhaps the

frequent transition is the shift from pupil re-e to pupil initiation. For example, a teacher maynarrow question to which a pupil may at firstnd but then continue to develop his answer inthat go beyond the scope of the original question.open questions can also be answered with this

n of pupil talk.there is a basic skill to be inferred from these

tions, it is that the teacher can ask questionsstimulate the transition from pupil response to

initiation.

ification of the Basic Skills

he preceding section, i5 basic skills were identi-om an analysis of 12 transitions. Here they areanized and grouped according to two dimensions:

whether the skill is more likely to be used justa pupil stops talking or just before a pupil starts; and second, whether the skill involves teacherion or teacher

response.Two of the skills do

easily into this two-by-two classification andalt with separately.

Used immediately Following Pupil Talkthe moment a pupil stops talking, the teacherhe choice of responding to what has been saidmore or less ignoring the pupils statement byg to another topic. Both actions are necessaryching, but the teachers predominant choice is ae of the interchange over a period of time. Pat-of response as the teacher starts to talk include

rcement in general, selective reinforcement in

ular, and various ways of using pupil ideas.An-

possibility is criticism or corrective feedback. On

the other hand, patterns of nonresponse may include

teacher initiation of a new topic, thereby moving tothe next phase of problem solving, or introduction ofa new unit of thought. The skills listed below reflectthese two alternatives.

Responsive skills When a teacher chooses to re-

spond to what a pupil has just finished saying, severalskills come into play.Ateacher can-

i. inventory pupil ideas as he listens and selectcertain of these ideas for further development(from Transitions 4 and 8).

2. reiterate, paraphrase, or expand ideas suggestedby pupils (Transitions 4 and 8).

3. acknowledge pupil ideas not selected for fur-ther development and thereby sustain pupil par-ticipation (Transition 8).

4. show how ideas previously expressed by pupilsare related to his own ideas (Transitions 9 and10).

5. react constructively to the surprise of unex-pected pupil statements (Transition 6).

Initiation skills When a teacher chooses to take

the initiative and introduce his own point of view or

his own ideas after pupil talk, there are several skillswhich come into play.Ateacher can-

6. give criticism and corrective feedback in a con-structive manner (Transition 2).

7. introduce his own ideas in ways that do not

inhibit further pupil participation (Transition

6).8. react to ideas in a way that fosters an objective

analysis of ideas (Transition 6). (Skill 8 couldoccur in a responsive mode. It is classified underinitiation because the teachers point of view ismore often &dquo;new&dquo; to the pupils who are in-volved.)

Skills Used Immediately Preceding Pupil Talk

Just before a pupil starts talking, the teacher mayextend an invitation for pupil participation or he maydirect the pupils to participate. Under the conditionsof

Transitions 5and

6,when both teacher and

pupilsinitiate, the opportunity to talk may occur just be-cause the teacher paused for breath. It is interestingthat Borg (6) found it necessary to train teachers to

pause for three to five seconds after asking a question(a euphemism for &dquo;keeping your mouth shut&dquo;) in orderto give pupils time to answer. It is reasonable to sup-pose that &dquo;pausing for breath&dquo; will provide opportuni-ties to enter the conversation for only the most alert

pupils and that most will require a genuine invitation.Responsive skills When a teacher chooses to sup-

port the continuation of pupil initiation or when heis trying to create opportunitics for pupil initiation,

hecan

ask questions about what pupils have said orotherwise develop selected pupil ideas.Ateacher can-

&dquo;A teacher

reiterates and

expands pupilsideas, comparesone idea with

another, initiates

problem-solvingand guides theinductive thought

cycle toward higherlevels of

cognitive thinking.&dquo;



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&dquo;A teacher

inventories pupilideas and selects

certain ones for

further

development.&dquo;

9. ask questions which solicit comparison of pupilideas, call for further development, extended ex-planation, etc., or otherwise make use of pupilideas (Transition 3).

io. ask open or narrow questions about pupil ideas(Transitions 3 and 7).

Initiation skills Ateacher can offer invitations to

participate on his own terms, so to speak, by askingfor reactions to his own ideas or actions.A teacher

can-

iz. ask narrow and open questions based on hisown ideas (Transitions i and 5).

12. give directions that can be clearly understood(Transition i).

13. ask questions which stimulate a pupil to expandbeyond the expected answer (Transition :11).(This could be considered a special case of ask-

ing broad questions.)Not ClassifiedAbove

Two of the 15 suggested basic skills are not clas-sified at this point. It is difficult to classify these skillsbecause it is not obvious whether they would occurjust before a pupil starts to talk or just after he finishes.The two skills are listed below.Ateacher can-

14. express and explain his ideas clearly (usuallyTransition z).

13. guide conversations according to models of in-ductive and deductive thinking (Transitions 3,1, 2, and 4).

Toward a Core of Basic Skills

The 15 skills listed in the previous section wouldmake an interesting curriculum for skill training inteacher education. However, it is possible that this listis too long for application in a preservice teacher edu-cation program. First, skill training of all kinds isbut one part of the professional education of a teacher,even though an important part. Teachers will also needto learn something about the history, philosophy, andpsychology of education, and then there are also thefields of curriculum development and teaching meth-

ods within the specialized areas of the curriculum. Sec-ond, there are other kinds of basic teaching skills. Itis possible that some preactive skills for planning in-struction, skills associated with classroom manage-ment, skills of individualizing and evaluating pupillearning, and perhaps others will also be consideredessential. The z5 skills just listed are based on verbalcommunicalioi-i and thus refer to that one part of

teaching.If I were to nominate two skill clusters from among

the skills that have been identified, I would chooseand combine as follows. First, skills i and 2 form a

core of responsive acts which can occur just after a

pupil stops talking. The teachers ability to use pupilideas so that he can reiterate, paraphrase, or expand

these ideas seems to me absolutely critical. Secoskills 10 and m form a core of initiatory acts whisolicit pupil participation and are likely to occur jbefore pupils participate. Here we are concerned wthe skills of

formulatingand

pacingdifferent ki

of questions as well as directions.

Glaring Omissions

Based on my own writing and thinking about bateaching skills, the foregoing list fails to includefollowing basic teaching skills which are more orrelated to verbal communication.

First, the most effective and artistic teachers whave turned up in my research studies knew how

integrate what educators often identify as the &dquo;ative&dquo; and the &dquo;cognitive&dquo; elements of communicatio

It is my impression that these teachers did not csider these as separate and distinct elements as is

often done in educational writing. Instead, they seemto know that cognitions about subject matter usuaprevail but that discussion can turn to cognitiabout feelings and attitudes. In fact, logical analycan be applied to the affective components of a prlem whenever this is necessary. The skill, if there

one, is the ability to know how and when to interrthe prevailing subject matter emphasis and insteadcus on the feelings and attitudes of the pupils. Trantions from a cognitive to an affective focus would

pear in our simple model of conversation if initial

and responsive statements were further divided ithese two divisions.

Second, there is some evidence (4) to suggest t

more effective teachers create interaction pattewhich display a degree of &dquo;flexibility.&dquo; In termsour model, a flexible teacher would be one whoa wide repertoire of initiative and responsive acts acan arrange these acts into a great many differ

sequences. The skill, if one exists, is to know how a

when to shift from a responsive to an initiative mo

and vice versa in terms of the exigencies of the sit

tion. Further, a skillful teacher might actually pthis kind of flexibility as part of a lesson plan. T

only way considerations of this kind could be inferfrom our simple model of conversation would beextend the time span and trace teacher and pupil inittion over longer periods of time.

Third, a model of conversation is not likely to lto what I think is the most basic of basic teachi

skills, namely, the ability to inquire into ones o

teaching behavior regularly using systematic produres in order to analyze whether different teachiskills are being used appropriately. Stated another wthere is the skill of choosing the right skill. Perhone shouldnt fault a model of conversation for t

omission; a person interested in developing the skof using skills would more likely start with a moof inquiry and apply it to procedures for self-devel



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31

Nevertheless, skills of inquiry are clearly re-to speaking and listening. If different kinds ofing were incorporated in our model, inferencesthis kind of inquiry would become possible.

Tentative Conclusions

rting with a simple model of conversation, it haspossible to identify about -15 proposed basicof verbal communication. It was suggested thatessure to include many different kinds of train-

preservice and in-service teacher education maythe total number of skills primarily related tocommunication which can be given attention.

ore skill areas were nominated as essential: (a)nsive acts which make use of pupil ideas andoccur just after a pupil stops talking; and (b)

ory acts which solicit pupil participation andoften occur just before a pupil starts talking.r two omissions were noted, and these appearedthe result of starting with a highly restrictedof conversation.

Elaborate the Model?

section contains a short discussion of the con-

ces of making finer distinctions in initiation andponse, the two kinds of events incorporated inodel of conversation. The thesis is that the model

ntially independent of the number of distinctions

ay wish to make in order to identify basic teach-ll.

ellacks Four Movesacks (2) total system for analyzing the languageclassroom involves the multiple coding of single; in fact, no less than eight classifications areof each event. Each of the eight classificationss own category system: the first classification

egorized into teacher talk and pupil talk; thed involves distinguishing between soliciting,ring, responding, and reacting; and the six sub-ve/logical/instructional classifications whicheach make use of many subdivisions involvingas nine or as many as 22 categories. The totalof distinctions is very large since all possible

tions are theoretically possible. In the total sys-he number of distinctions is of the order of 70

which would permit approximately 4,830 differenttransitions. Some of these transitions can be eliminated

because of low incidence, awkwardness, or redundan-

cy. Nevertheless, it is clear that with more elaborate

category systemsthat make use of

multiple coding,finer distinctions will give more information.There is a relationship between the two categories

of initiation/response and the four moves of solicit-ing, structuring, responding, and reacting. This rela-tionship can be shown by the decision ladder whichthe encoder moves down in order to classify.

Given the practical limitations of educating bothexperienced and future teachers, it should be possibleto agree that identifying too many skills based on toomany transitions would make training impossible andthat too few transitions would make the training in-

effective, or at least inconsequential. This is to say that

there must be an optimum number of transitions whichcould be analyzed to identify the fewest number ofbasic teaching skills. In this context, the word &dquo;fewest&dquo;means that some small number (one, two, or three?)of basic skills within each of several classes of basic

skills (communication, planning, evaluation, class-room management, etc.) is selected for the first round

of teacher training. If successful, the first round of

training with selected basic skills would prepare a

trainee for further self-directed training and inquiryinto his own teaching behavior in each skill area.

Inclusiveness and Cycles of Training

One purpose of showing the three steps of the en-coding procedure on the preceding page is to illustratethat each concept used to describe behavior can be

subdivided to make finer distinctions. What Flanders

means by initiation is quite similar to what Bellackmeans by soliciting and structuring, and response isquite similar to responding and reacting. The conceptof initiation is more inclusive since it comprehendsboth soliciting and structuring.One might defend using a model of conversation

which permitted only four events (and therefore pro-duced only 12 transitions) by proposing the fol-

lowing principles. First, the events of the model should

be conceptualized at the highest level of inclusiveness(in the sense of abstraction) that still permits practicaldistinctions in terms of behavior. The point here isthat any event that is abstracted must be described so

that a trainee can determine the presence or absence



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&dquo;A teacher

responds to pupilideas and relates

them to the train

of thought to befollowed.&dquo;

of this event in order to practice the skills which are

involved. Second, since the events chosen are more

inclusive, subsequent training can proceed by several

cycles of subdividing in which more subtle distinctionsare made at each new cycle. Third, as recycling intro-duces more refined and subtle distinctions, the trainee

can practice teaching skills which become increasinglycomplex and difficult.

Perhaps an illustration will help. Suppose the first

cycle of training in the basic skills of communication

began with making a distinction between teacher and

pupil talk and between initiation and response. Thebasic four event model could be introduced, the notionof transitions could be clarified, and the significanceof behavioral events just before and just after transi-

tions identified. The skills involving each type of tran-sition would be practiced.At the transitions from

teacher to

pupil,the trainee learns that the skills are

related to the question, &dquo;How do I (the teacher) pro-vide an opportunity for pupil participation that is most

appropriate at this point?&dquo;At the transitions from pu-

pil to teacher, he learns that the skills are related to

the question, &dquo;What can I (the teacher) do with the

contribution that the pupil has just made?&dquo; Certainskills and methods of analyzing teaching behaviorhave been learned, and the trainee has learned how a

model can be used to guide thinking.As soon as helearns this much, if not before, the trainee will identify

problems which require more subtle distinctions

among behavioral events. He may decide, for example,that he would like to divide initiation into

solicitingand structuring. Hopefully, he has the necessary skillsin analysis and behavior modeling to make this ex-tension in his thinking. He has started down a roadthat leads to more advanced problem solving. His

learning is automatically arranged to proceed fromless difficult tasks to the more difficult.

A Parsimonious Solution

The thesis that the model of conversation which has

been presented is independent of the number of dis-

tinctionsto

be made among behavioral eventscan now

suggest a parsimonious solution. First, the most simplemodel should provide an opportunity for the traineeto learn transitions, sequential analysis, and a limitednumber of basic teaching skills. Second, through re-finement and subdivision, the number of events takeninto consideration can be increased in subsequent cy-cles of training, and this, in turn, may permit an anal-

ysis of more complex teaching skills and teachingstrategies. In the second stage, the model itself is rea-

sonably independent of the number of distinctions be-cause the trainee can move on to more complex skills

by using more categories for classifying verbal com-

munication, while the model itself remains intact.

Designing Practical Training Programs

The purpose of proposing basic teaching skills isidentify a core of skills for teacher training. If tskills proposed do not lend themselves to practic

training procedures, one can question the utility of tproposals. Preservice teacher education is especiallimited in terms of time, space, and instructional r

sources, and the same is true of in-service educatio

although the time pressure may be somewhat less strigent. In either case, the contribution is incomplewhen only basic skills are proposed because practictraining procedures are equally important from tstandpoint of a viable teacher education program.Given the limitations of teacher education, the co

ceptualization of basic skills should be parsimoniouand the training procedures should be efficient. Tsimple model of conversation used in this position pper helps to identify certain behavioral events of vebal communication. These behavioral events can

strung together to form patterns of interaction. Thpatterns can be called basic skills and the abilityidentify these patterns, to create them, and to strithem together into teaching strategies is what we meaby applying basic teaching skills to instruction. Tbe parsimonious, there are relatively few conceptssuch as transition, classes of transitions, sequence, in

tiation, response, and so on-and each of these co

cepts should lend itself to subdivision in order to pemit dealing with more complicated problems. To befficient, the training procedures should establish tec

niques for analyzing teaching behavior which can thebe applied to a number of different skills.When concepts and training procedures fit neatl

together, efficiency is more likely to result. The cocepts have to be recognized as behavior or featurof behavior. Training provides opportunities to pratice these behaviors under conditions which permit costructive feedback to occur. The skills and associate

training procedures are more efficient when they a

arranged into a sequence that is compatible with adulearning.

Training procedures which are compatible with tconcepts introduced by the model of conversation ha

already been published. (i) Below is an outline of tmore salient features of what might become an effcient, compatible training program, given further d

velopment.A. Two models might be combined.

s.Afive-step inquiry model which guides profesional self-development when ones own bhavior is to be an object of inquiry is omodel.

2.Aflexible system of interaction analysis, wicategories which can be subdivided and whi

supports microteaching experiences and prvides a &dquo;timeline display&dquo; ready at the insta

observation ceases is a second model.



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33

ccessively more complex training using theove two models are possible.Level z : Three patterns involving lecture, drill-review, and giving assignments are usuallyskills teachers already use.

Level a : Three patterns involving open ques-tions, responsive skills, and &dquo;because exten-sions&dquo; is a useful place to start training.Level 3:Advanced self-development projectsthat include strategies for controlling pupil in-dependence and teacher initiation, analyzingfeelings and the affective domain, identifyinglevels of thinking, and further refinement ofLevel One skills.

training techniques outlined above and devel-urther inAnalyzing Teaching Behavior are di-

applicable to analyzing, identifying, and prac-skills which appear just before a teacher stops

g and just aftera

teacherstarts to

speak fol-a pupil.As a result of contemporary work on

g modules for teacher education, (6) it now

appear that carefully developed training mod-

vering different steps of the process will be help-not necessary.Any practical system which mightwould have to be continuously evaluated andriate revisions carried out.

ing and Basic Teaching Skills

speaking and listening are included in theof interaction presented earlier (see Figures

and

3).This model has been used to

identifyteaching skills that are involved in speaking;w turn to an analysis of listening. The goal istify the fewest number of listening skills thathance initial training and then will lead natural-

earning more complex skills. The procedure islate about the mental processes which occura teacher listens to pupils and then to analyzeching skills that are involved.he analysis of speaking, nonverbal behavior re-very little attention. One consequence of ignor-e nonverbal behavior of a speaker, especially a is that a good deal of communicative behavior

red. For example, teachers can give directionshe movement of a finger, or they can focus at-n with eye contact or by pointing while theythe blackboard; and this list of nonverbal be-s could be extended until it is quite long. Yetot clear how much the omission of nonverbal

ors in the first sections of this article actuallythe main purpose of identifying important

of teaching. The responsive and initiative skillsere identified in the analysis of speaking couldeen derived from an analysis of nonverbal be-by using essentially the same procedures be-

these skills can be performed verbally or non-

y. Thus, it may be argued that ignoring non-

verbal behavior has not seriously weakened the prop-ositions that have been identified as basic teachingskills.

Listening and the skills associated with it may notlend themselves to the same treatment. Here we are

concerned with the activities of the silent member ofa conversation circle.Attention to nonverbal behavior

may now play a more significant part in analyzingteacher-pupil interaction, especially when the teacheris listening to pupil talk. However, our purpose is notto carry out an extended analysis of listening itself.Instead, our goals are restricted to the teaching skillsassociated with listening. The nonverbal behaviorsthat will play a part in the analysis are those whicha pupil exhibits as he talks, and thus they become partof the phenomena with which a teacher is concernedwhen he listens. In short, a teacher not only receivesinformation by sensing tempo and hearing sound, in-flections, and emphasis; he also sees shapes and colorsand perceives motion. In this section, we assume that

both hearing and seeing are essential to the analysisas well as to the skills of listening itself.

A Model forAnalyzing Listening

It is hard to imagine any aspect of teaching that ismore critical to success than receiving, classifying, ab-

stracting, storing, and then acting on the informationthat is inferred from pupil behavior. The total processis extremely complex and deserves a more extendedtreatment than is

possiblein this article. The

approachI will take is to present a model of the critical steps of

listening and then see if this leads to the identificationof basic skills of listening for the teacher.An outlineof this model is shown in Figure 7. To read this dia-

gram, begin with pupil behavior represented in theupper left-hand box. The verbal and nonverbal ele-

ments of this pupil behavior are heard and perceivedby the teacher. It is quite possible that the activities ofPhases i, 2, 3, and 4 occur simultaneously or at leastcannot be considered as distinct and separate activities,

one following another.In Phase i, behavioral phenomena are received and

subjected to mental operations which give themmean-

ing. Expected events may trigger a quick recycle ofteacher listens, teacher reacts, and pupil acts.

In Phase 2, the consistency of verbal and nonverbal

phenomena is checked in terms of the teachers pur-poses or the purposes of the pupil which a teacher caninfer. In the event of inconsistency, a teacher mayinitiate questions designed to clarify his interpretationof what he has seen or heard which creates a recycle topupil behavior.

In Phase 3, the teacher may decide that the affective

component of the behavior is so predominant that itshould be dealt with separately rather than letting it

remain an unidentified feature of the main subject mat-

&dquo;A teacher asks

questions that

stimulate thetransition from

pupil response to

pupil initiation.&dquo;



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hasis which characterizes most teacher-pupiltion.Again, the recognition of anomalies mayte teacher questions for clarification and there-

le to pupil behavior.e 4 proposes that there is a continuing atten-

completed events and a continuing anticipationt will happen next which create a dynamic bal-r tension system within the teacher. This ten-

stem builds conjectures about what will happenmpared with the presumed purposes of the inter-such that at some moment the teacher acts. He

op listening and start to talk or simply instigateerbal behavior while he continues to listen.

ight be described as a shift from passive to

participation. The classification of the teachersbehavior will depend on the category systeme observer prefers. This action usually leads tovert pupil behavior.

ing Basic Teaching Skills

-Creating Meaning

l behavior impinges on the senses of a teacherl bits. My preference in theorizing about theseto borrow the &dquo;foreground-background&dquo; no-rom Gestalt psychology. Because a teacher hasose and looks for certain events he expects will

the occurrence of an expected event is quicklyzed, assumes a position in the foreground, andacted on immediately. Thus, a single bit, suchrd or a gesture, has sufficient meaning for theto react.Arapid interchange between teacherpil illustrates this pattern. Simultaneously,other events occur, but these assume positionsbackground where they may be inventoried,d, and stored, if not ignored.As the bits as-to the background gradually assume meaning,cher may choose to react to them, providingdevelop a useful relationship among the mean-a cluster, the present state of affairs, and his

tional purposes.

steps of thinking in perceiving, classifying,ng, and abstracting meaning are largely induc-owever, the skills of using inductive thoughtses may well be unfamiliar to most teachers.

rs have little formal training in logical thoughtes and their other learning experiences, suchacts with parents and former teachers, seldom

age the individual to become self-conscious

he steps that are involved in thinking. Further-he thought processes exemplified by instructorsher education have a more deductive than in-

character. Usually generalizations are statednd then examples are given to illustrate what

eralization means. These observations suggeste basic skills of inductive thinking are likely

nderdevelopedin

manyteachers. It

may

be this

familiarity that causes many teachers to be-

come excited about the inductive emphasis of &dquo;inquiryteaching&dquo; since it presents a new way to guide pupilthinking, one that many teachers have not experiencedvery often.

Hilda Taba (5) believes that principles of inductive

thinking can be taught to both teachers and youngstersproviding enough is known about the steps involvedand providing repeated practice in using these stepscan be arranged.A few teacher educators with whomI am acquainted have developed instructional materi-als for this purpose. Many of these materials permitthe adult learner to: first, inventory objects, the at-tributes of objects, or simply the concepts which rep-resent ideas; second, group these items into clusters

according to some stated logic; third, label the clusterswith a concept; and fourth, use labels in forming sen-tences which stand for functional relationships ortentative generalizations. Such materials follow the

procedures recommended by Taba for teaching socialstudies or science in the elementary grade levels.The activities in Phases do suggest basic teaching

skills. These may be a family of skills which are in-volved in the inductive thinking processes: the abilityto perceive bits of information, to classify these bits,to organize them into clusters with labels, and to for-

mulate functional relationships using the labels.Asec-ond skill or family of skills may some day be formu-lated which is concerned with thinking simultaneouslyabout expected events as well as those events whichare stored and dealt with at a slower pace. It requires

goodjudgment to decide when it is appropriate to turn

away from the expected events and attend to a growingsyndrome of background events, originally assignedto storage, by retrieving and acting on them because

they create a higher priority.

Phase 2-Checking InconsistencyOnce events assume some kind of meaning, a teach-

er may wish to check the consistency of these mean-

ings. When a teacher asks a pupil whether he is inter-ested in arithmetic, the reply may be, &dquo;Well, I guessso,&dquo; but the pupil may speak indifferently and beslumped back in his seat as if to withdraw. The verbaland nonverbal information is inconsistent. Alterna-

tively, a few pupils may be actively providing expectedbehavior while the majority of the class presents un-

expected symptoms of indifference. This is a case ofinconsistency between foreground and background in-formation. Inconsistencies such as these, along with

many others that could be imagined, provide informa-tion from which an alert teacher may infer that the

goals of teaching are not adequately accepted by thepupils. Planning activities that actively involve the

pupils in clarifying the goals of instruction and estab-lishing individual learning tasks may consequently beactivated to correct the situation.

If a basic

teachingskill can be

proposedwith

regardto Phase 2, it could be to have the teacher know how



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&dquo;Conceptualizingteacher listening

skills has been

ignored too longin teacher

education.&dquo;

and when to initiate questions that attempt to clarifyinconsistencies between verbal and nonverbal informa-

tion and between the goals the teacher infers from

pupil behavior and the instructional goals the teacherhas in mind.

Phase 3-interpreting the Cognitive/Affective EmphasisThis section is included with some misgivings. First,

we educators cling to the affective/cognitive dichot-

omy without really understanding its utility in the

analysis of teaching; and second, the phenomena to bediscussed in this section might better be conceptualizedin Phase 2 as an inconsistency between goals andneeds of pupils and the goals and needs of the teacher.

Nevertheless, circumstances arise in teaching inwhich the predominant emphasis on subject matter

cognitions is better set aside to attend to cognitionsabout pupil attitudes, feelings, and the generalemotional tone of the class. It is unfortunate that

the examples usually suggested to illustrate attentionto the affective domain often stem from negative at-

titudes expressed as disruptive pupil behavior. There

may be a far greater pay-off when a teacher choosesto attend to the more constructive feeling tones of

enthusiasm, happiness, and the sheer joy of success.Ateacher may also find it useful to anticipate posi-tive feelings, talk about them with the pupils, andeven generate excitement and curiosity about howthese feelings will develop.The reason for considering the affective domain in

thisseparate

section is that there is a

particularskill

which teachers who are more effective usually possess.This is the skill of knowing when and how to focusattention on feelings and attitudes in ways that supportrather than detract from the subject matter goals of

learning. Probably several steps are involved. First,awareness and sensitivity to pupil feelings and atti-tudes may reflect special skill in Phase i activitiessuch that behavior clues which express emotional tone

are perceived with greater sensitivity, are stored witha higher priority, and conceptualized more accurately.Second, judgments are made in Phases 2 and 3 in whichthe affective elements in the situation are compared

with the purposesof the teacher and the inferred

pur-poses of pupils, and these judgments may make pre-dicting more accurate in Phase 4. To summarize, theskill is knowing when and how to clarify feelings andattitudes in order to support anticipated learning ac-tivities or to avoid detracting from them.

Phase 4-The Dynamic Balance of the Moment

It was H.A. Thelen (7) who said: &dquo;Time is a moun-

tain whose peak is the present. The past slopes off oneside and the future off the other. Looking in one direc-tion we make explanations: looking in the other, pre-dictions.&dquo;As a teacher listens, he tries to make sense

out of what is happening and predict what will happennext. Phase 4 is inserted into this analysis in order to

explain why a teacher will suddently shift from mopassive listening and engage in more overt particition.

According to our conjectures thus far, a teachmakes sense out of what has happened by placsome events in the foreground and others in the baground of his thinking. (How he does this maylustrate a teachers biases, his stereotypes, and the porities of his value system.) Expected events may mooften be placed in the foreground since they are molikely to be associated with his teaching purposes. Uimportant events and those that are unexpected insense of being less related to the teachers purposare inventoried, classified, and put into clusters, co

ceptualized in some way, and then stored in the baground of his thinking. Some dramatic unexpectevents, of course, assume positions in the foregroubecause

theycannot be

ignored,but this is an

exceptirather than the rule. Since the phenomenal field pvides constant input and since we may presume t

there are limitations in our capacity to store informtion for immediate recall, there must be a fairly costant loss of specific events as they are graduallyplaced by higher order abstractions.As a result, aries of encounters which occurred during the first fminutes of instruction may be almost lost so minut

later because they are hidden under the abstract lab&dquo;the introduction was successful in stimulating clinterest.&dquo; Once this inference is reached, the teach

may be less sensitive to cues which indicate that

particularchild is not interested in his

learningta

The dynamic balance of past explanations andture predictions that is in the mind of the teacher ccreate a tension system because his teaching stratis based on learning goals and particular purposesinstruction. The events that are now occurring a

the past events which have been stored are constan

being reevaluated in terms of goals and purpose. Leassume that there are two basic ways that the teac

can act. First, he can respond to current events a

support their continuation because he sees them

consistent with goals and purpose. Second, he cantervene to initiate a new direction by modifying wh

is going on. This modification may be very slight,it may be quite abrupt and apparent, but in either cathe intervention occurs because the teacher sees so

inconsistency between goals and purpose comparwith anticipated next events. How long a teacher wtolerate a trend in the events which is away from h

goals and purpose probably varies greatly within tsame teacher and certainly between teachers. Therealso great variation in what action is most often tak

once the teacher does decide to act. For example,teacher may take matters into his own hands and i

tiate corrective action. On the other hand, he mchoose to ask questions designed to help pupils s

the inconsistency that he sees and in other ways shathe responsibility for taking corrective action. Ho



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37

teacher does act, what he does will depend onlls associated with phases i, 2, and 3. In thisPhase 4 summarizes and incorporates the first

hases of the model.there any particular teaching skills associated

Phase 4 activities? I dont really know, but Ilike to think that we teacher educators would

rt enough to conceptualize the behaviors of de-when and how to intervene and that we could

esign training experiences which would improvepect of teaching. Here are some skills that mightinated as worthy of further investigation. First,uld train teachers to use response actions which

encourage pupils to share in diagnosing incon-ies between what is happening and what needs

pen in order to reach agreed upon goals of in-on. Second, we might find a way to train teach-be more tentative in

formulatingtheir abstract

ries of past events and thereby be more sensi-unexpected events that suggest misconceptionsmarizing past events.Athird skill might result

giving teachers training experiences which show

ometimes it is possible to change the goals of in-ion and still achieve desirable educational pur-Afourth skill is to learn to use various inter-

n techniques so that teachers have a large reper-nd can choose the most appropriate type of inter-

n.

ary of Listening Skills for Teachers

m Phase i comes the most important set ofAteacher has the ability to perceive bits of in-ion from pupil behavior, to classify these bits,anize them into clusters with labels, and to for-e functional relationships using the labels.ses s, 2, and 4:Ateacher reacts to expectedone after another and, at the same time, in-

ely processes information in such a way thatummary labels are kept tentative so they do nott the receiving and processing of conflicting in-ion.

ses 2, 3, and 4:Ateacher has the sensitivity,

and convictions necessary to initiate questionsill help to clarify inconsistencies among the be-al phenomena whenever such inconsistencies are

ed-especially in regard to cognitions about feel-attitudes, subject matter, and group processes.Phases:Ateacher is quite self-conscious about

aining a balance which rests on a fulcrum of

d upon goals of instruction which compares theations of past events with the predictions of next; the teacher can establish flexible patterns of

ention because he has a wide repertoire of inter-n skills; a teacher develops the courage, patience,onvictions necessary to use intervention judi-

y.

Some Reflections on Teacher Listening and

Speaking

The conceptualization of teacher listening skills hasbeen ignored too long in the field of teacher education.

These skills are basic to all teacher-pupil encounters.Listening and speaking skills are so intimately inter-

related that in some instances they seem to be almostidentical. For example, responsive speaking skills mayactually be listening skills since they often serve toimprove listening accuracy and correct a teachers mis-conceptions.

The dynamic balance described in Phase 4 of themodel for teacher listening may suggest some kind ofdecision-making model. How does a teacher decidewhen he should intervene? How does he choose amongalternative interventions? Here again, the close inter-

relationship of listening skills with speaking skills is

quite apparent since a decision point recognized bylistening will most often provoke a verbal interven-tion. It is quite possible that the skills of speaking andlistening should not be taught separately to teacherseven though they are conceptualized in different sec-tions of this article.

The central challenge to those of us who seek toidentify basic teaching skills is to select for the firstround of teacher education those skills of speaking and

listening which have the greatest potential for subse-quent professional self-development. These would bebasic skills because they are pervasive whenever teach-ers and pupils interact and because they provide heu-ristic experiences that facilitate continuing educationfor teachers.

Notes

1 Ned A. Flanders, Analyzing Teaching Behavior

(Reading, Mass. :Addison-Wesley, 1970), p. 3142 A.A. Bellack, H.M. Kliebard, R.T. Hyman, and F.L.

Smith Jr., The Language ofthe Classroom (NewYork: Teachers College Press, Columbia Univer-

sity, 1966), p.4.

3 Flanders,Analyzing Teaching Behavior, p. 35.4 NedA. Flanders, Teacher Influence, Pupil Atti-

tudes, and Achievement, Cooperative Research

Monograph No. 12 (OE-25040), U.S. Office of Ed-ucation (Ann Arbor: University of MichiganSchool of Education, 1965).

5 H. Taba, "The Teaching of Thinking," ElementaryEnglish, 42:5 (May 1965), p. 534-42.

6 W.R. Borg, M.L. Kelley, P. Langer, and M.D. Gall,The Minicourse:A MicroteachingApproach toTeacher Education (Beverly Hills, Calif. : Mac-millan Educational Services, 1970).

7 H.A. Thelen, Education and the Human Quest

(New York: Harper Bros., 1960), p. 188.

Basic Teaching Skills Derived from a Model of Speaking and Listening

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