Teaching Research Assistance to Childcare Providers

EffectiveCommunication

Communication consists of a person sending a message and another person receiving the message.

The purpose of communication is to ensure that the person receiving the information understands the message exactly as it was intended when transmitted by the person sending the information.

Levels of Communication

The CONTENT is the first level

The FEELINGS that accompany the words are the second level

The third level is the INTENT of the speaker - the real message

Effective Teacher-ParentMid-Atlantic Regional Laboratory

• Make it Positive

• Make it Practical

• Make it Personal

Effective Communication Skills

• Intentions, ideas and feelings of the sender

• Encoded into a message by sender (NOISE element)

• Sending the message to the receiver

• Message is appropriate to the receiver’s frame of reference

Effective Communication Skills

• Receiver understands the message

• Receiver internalizes the message for a response

• The NOISE element for the receiver

Remember everyone is doing the best they can!

DVD Activity

Three Aspects of Communication

• Attending• Reacting• Responding

Attending

“Remember that you have two ears and one mouth and use them accordingly”

James Lundy

Attending

• Listening is critical in communication• Listening is both verbal and nonverbal• Listening is attending to and accurately

comprehending what is said• Listening is an active process that demands

our full attention

Rules for Good Listening

• Rule One: - listen with intent to understand

• Rule Two: - Recognize your own listening practices

• Rule Three: - Develop empathic listening skills

Listening requires ACTIVE involvement

Obstacles to listening

• Formulating your response while the other person is talking

• Taking the time to think about other things when you should be listening

• Getting off task due to an emotional reaction to certain “hot” words

Obstacles to listening

• Listening for a while and then “tuning out”

• Being distracted by extraneous details

Reaction Process

• Identify biases, values, beliefs

• Evaluate how they effect our reactions

• Determine how to respond

Influencing Factors

• Internal factors that we are not aware of:– Social, economic, and cultural factors– Values, beliefs, biases

• Being aware of these allow us to be intentional in responding

• Individuals select data based on their past

Ladder of Inference (Chris Argyris) help the process

Actions

Beliefs

Conclusions

Assumptions

Meanings

Select data

Observable data and experiences

The Ladder of InferenceOr, Why we develop misunderstandings

Responding

• Opening the door

Feelings are ignored

Closing the doorFacts are emphasized

Encourage the person to clarify the problem

Invite the person to talk about the issue.

Responding Strategies

• Paraphrasing - process of restating what was said

• Questioning - asking clarifying questions

• Summarizing – crystallize the essence of what was said

Check off each time one of the following Responding Strategies is used:

 

Paraphrasing 

Questioning  

Summarizing

Activity:Role Play Checklist

 At the end of the role play check all the effective communication

skills the communicator demonstrated: 

Listened to other person before speaking  Listened attentively and actively.  Gave eye contact.  Acknowledged and allowed negative feelings  Dealt with feelings first, then with the content  Avoided giving advice unless asked for it  Reflected back what is said in clear terms  Conveyed respect 

Effective Communication

REMEMBER• Communication is fundamental for effective teams

Provider staffFamily members and providers