A Brief Overview of the Problem
The definition of an at-risk student is broad and varied. A review of the literature (Zill, 1992) reveals that students of all ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds can be at risk for school failure for various reasons. Major factors that put today's students at risk include changing societal values, boredom with school, the media and other extraneous distractions, poverty, teenage pregnancy, low self-esteem, truancy, child abuse and neglect, suicide, alcohol &
drug abuse, gang violence, and other childhood safety issues.
The "at-risk" label was initially applied to students who experienced school failure. National concern for the improvement of the education for our youth was greatly stimulated by the Nation At-Risk Report of 1983, published by the National Commission on Excellence in Education. One of the report's recommendations was that American students be required to take harder classes, do more homework, and increase their study habits, note taking and
classroom listening skills. During the late 1980's and the 1990's, the term "at-risk" took on a much broader scope when educators began to concede the fact that student performance in the classroom was highly correlated with family and other environmental factors (Bruckner, 1995; Drazen, 1992; Levine & Havighurst, 1992; Levine & Levine, 1996, White, et al., 1993), and that kids with behavioral problems constituted a large part of disadvantaged learners. A large portion of the literature identified a rising problem among youth with conflict resolution, communication, and attention span deficits.
Conclusions drawn from an early pioneering work in urban education, The 1966 Coleman Report, suggesting that children bring their academic disadvantage with them to school from home, has long been a source of bitter debate among educators and policy makers throughout the years. The question of the role schools should play in stemming the tide of academic disadvantage has been written about many times over. Although we know that school reform without family intervention only addresses a small part of the problem, few educators find themselves refusing to look at new ways to help children in need.
In regards to minority and inner-city youth in particular, we also understand that family socioeconomic status, environmental factors, and community conditions impact classroom performance much more than does race per se (Drazen, 1992; Levine & Havighurst, 1992; McCartin & Meyer, 1988; Ricciuti et al., 1993; Spencer, Kim & Marshall, 1987; Thompson, 1996). The complicated interplay between race, poverty, family and neighborhood conditions, peer pressure, and so-called "learned helplessness" has yet to be fully understood. Still, we are quite aware that educators have the potential to do both harm or good to students through the classroom practices they institute.
Children attending inner-city schools appear to be especially vulnerable. For example, the practice among some districts to send the least qualified educators to tougher areas of town, as well as the practice of "dummying-down" the curriculum has not served disadvantaged kids well (Levine & Levine, 1996; Levine & Lezotte; Peng, et al., 1995; Thompson, 1997; Sue & Sue, 1990). Because the topic of academic disadvantage and subsequent remediation steps requires more time and space than what can be provided here, this article will concentrate on one limited aspect of the problem: The promotion of improved listening skills for at-risk students and disadvantaged youth.
Listening - A Skill That Can Be Taught
Unfortunately, very few people are good listeners. Research claims that 60-75% of oral communication is either ignored, misunderstood, or quickly forgotten (Bolton, 1986; Nichols & Stevens, 1957). In general, humans listen at one of five levels: (1) Tuning out what is being said, (2) Pretending to hear the message, (3) Selectively hearing only parts of a conversation, (4) Attentive listening, and (5) Empathetic listening - listening with the intent to understand (Covey, 1990; Walker & Brokaw, 1998). Because of the level of hyperactivity among many disadvantaged youth, the Empathetic stage, one that few educators themselves practice, is ultimately the one we wish all students to operate from in an educational setting.
Good listening skills are essential for academic success by students in today's classroom. However, this very important aspect of the learning process, which requires conscious effort and continued practice, is rarely recognized as a developed skill by many teachers. In all too many cases, the primary emphasis on listening skills involves the teacher asking students to be quiet so the child can take notes or attend to the day's activities. Although there is a place in the classroom for traditional approaches, today's teachers can take more definite steps toward helping disadvantaged learners become better listeners.
The first step in the realization of this goal is to make the student aware of blockages in student-teacher communication. The literature identifies the following as general barriers to effective listening (DeVito, 1991; Hanna, 1995; Walker & Brokaw, 1998):
* Preoccupation with self;
* Preoccupation with external noise - i.e. distracting environmental influences, and internal noise - i.e. lack of sleep, headache, daydreaming, etc.;
* A process of "sharpening" - when one or two aspects of a communication become highlighted at the expense of the whole message;
* A process of "assimilation" - a tendency to reconstruct messages in a way that they reflect one's own attitudes, prejudices, needs, and values;
* Psychological filters, and the friend-or-foe factor. Listeners sometimes distort a message positively or negatively dependent upon preexisting biases; and
* Hidden agendas or a process of only hearing those things we want to hear.
Good listening is a skill that must be developed. It may be wise to take time away from the regular curriculum to have students practice listening skills. Taking the last half of a class period on a Friday, for example, to allow students to talk about such current topics as the influence of pop music on youth behavior using the above rubric for building effective listening would provide a great forum for youth to practice communication skills. Once students are comfortable identifying listening impediments in an area of their own interest, the skills can be easily transferred to note-taking and other classroom assignment skills.
Finally, it is important to stress to students that listening is not a simple stimulus and response interaction, but rather a circular process that is continuous and didactic. One must first receive the message, then understand the content of what is being said. The next step involves remembering what was said. An important and often overlooked step is the need to experience at least some part of the communication in a positive way, before proceeding to the next step of evaluating the content of the message. Lastly, the listener is asked to respond to the presenter in order to appropriately complete the communication feedback loop (DeVito, 1993, Farley, 1988; Hanna, 1995).
Classroom Tips for Developing Listening Skills
Based upon findings from the literature, as well as teacher craft knowledge gained from the combined years of classroom experience of the writers, we offer the following twelve suggestions which may prove useful to teachers and other help professionals working with at-risk and disadvantaged youth. We believe the suggestions help `set the stage' for a good listening environment, allowing students to listen and learn more effectively:
1. Before teaching or giving directions, establish a listening environment for at-risk students in your classroom.
Good listening is encouraged by putting the mind in a `ready to listen' mode. Inform students that sitting in a comfortable position and being ready to listen with a pencil and paper is important. Begin your discussion by telling students they are now going to learn some interesting facts and concepts, and they should prepare to act as `critical learners.'
2. Take time to teach listening and study skills in the classroom.
Teachers cannot assume that listening and study skills will be taught in the home or picked up in study halls. Educators must become "orchestrators of the learning environment" by tailor-making classroom atmosphere utilizing communication building blocks.
3. Slow down your message and let the listener process the information that is given.
The disadvantaged learner needs time to process the teacher's message as he or she hears it. This process means not only hearing what the teacher has said, but it also involves decoding and analyzing specific events which often signify fairly complicated concepts. Some authorities (Hanna, 1995) have indicated that the average teacher speaks at approximately 150 words per minute when in front of a group. With disadvantaged learners, it may be necessary to reduce that rate to 75 to 100 words per minute with appropriate pauses to provide the student time to process the information the teacher has presented.
4. Enumerate and prioritize the important points of the message for the listener.
Lectures given by the teacher can be broken down into smaller parts of a composite whole. Provide clear examples of how parts of a task, activity, or issue fit together. Highlighting and numbering the essential steps of an issue is a helpful teaching strategy for helping the disadvantaged learner achieve overall understanding.
5. Repeat and redefine critical parts of the message for the listener.
Educators severely strain the disadvantaged student's listening abilities when they state, `listen closely, I will say this only once!' Even the best student may require certain information to be repeated or redefined. By frequently repeating and redefining information, teachers reinforce the students' background knowledge upon which new concepts are built, and thus provide a stronger basis for better comprehension and understanding of the new material.
6. Paint a picture of the message so the listener can visualize what is said.
An effective teacher helps the at-risk student do a better job of listening by painting a picture of a concept, using clear examples and analogies with which students can identify. Utilize phrases like, "Picture, if you will, an individual 7 feet 5 inches tall who must bend over to get through a doorway." Help disadvantaged learners visualize abstract concepts in a more concrete way.
7. Encourage the disadvantaged learner to keep an open mind when listening. Teach students how to avoid over-reacting to trigger words and phrases.
Triggers are words or phrases that have such an emotional connotation that after hearing them, the student quits listening for a few moments or a sustained period of time. When a student hears a trigger word, his or her attention is redirected to the consequences implied by that word. This brief interruption in the listening process often causes some of the most critical parts of the teachers message to be lost. Avoiding the usage of such trigger words, and encouraging the disadvantaged learner to listen to the complete message are key to the development of good listening and improved teacher-student communication.
8. Recognize and reward good listening on a regular basis.
All students need to be reminded frequently that good listening is a skill that requires constant practice in order to demonstrate competence. By putting a high priority on good listening in the classroom, teachers can `redefine' the student's typical perception that listening `is something we are born with and not a skill that can be learned and improved upon.'
9. If you use an extrinsic reward system to start off with, have a plan in mind that helps students transfer over to an intrinsic form as the year progresses.
Remember, the goal is to encourage learning for learning sake, not to create a generation of youth who desire a reward for what they should want to do anyway.
10. Use graphic aids to supplement lecture material.
The use of curriculum aids such as computers, overhead transparencies, and graphs can help students listen and gain more information through a combination of visual and auditory learning. The teacher might say, `Listen carefully to what I have to say about this picture and look carefully for the details I have mentioned.' Using such an approach is a realistic start in getting slow learners to focus on what the teacher is saying.
11. Evaluate students for physical or emotional problems which deter listening.
Effective listening by students in today's classroom is partially dependent upon the teacher being aware of physical or emotional problems experienced by the students. For example, a simple change in the seating arrangement might do wonders for a student with a hearing loss. Without teacher intervention, many physical and emotional problems make good listening difficult for students.
12. Summarize your lecture in a way that students may use several listening skills at once.
Summarizing what has been said at the end of the lecture in a way that lets students use several listening skills provides greater opportunity for disadvantaged learners to achieve success in concept attainment. Using this approach, the teacher demonstrates to the disadvantaged learner that the use of listening skills is a very important part of good closure.
Summary
In the teaching profession where much of the learning process is focused on the `spoken message,' it is surprising that more emphasis is not put on `listening' to what is said. The twelve suggested steps can help teachers assist slow and disadvantaged learners become more successful in their academic pursuits by being better listeners. Few educators would argue the importance of good reading skills in the goal of promoting the academic improvement of all types of learners. Improved listening skills is also essential for attaining that goal. Perhaps the most important reason we should promote better listening is that it helps to enhance the probabilities for the acquisition of higher order thinking skills, a critical component of academic success for both slow and advanced students.
