Effective Communication with Students, Teachers, and Other Professionals

Unit 7: Effective Communication in Schools

Welcome to the study unit on communicating effectively with teachers and students. This unit contains both suggestions for effective communication and case scenarios to self evaluate your communication styles. Paraeducators will be exposed to different forms of communication, listening strategies, and techniques for resolving conflict with students, staff members and teachers. Throughout this unit we encourage the paraeducator to try the techniques suggested and self evaluate to find the communication style which works best.

Communicating effectively is the cornerstone of education. Without effective communication ideas, directions, and thoughts are lost or misunderstood. In education this can have serious repercussions. Students may not understand lecture material, paraeducators may not understand directions given to them, and teachers may not understand that a gap in communication is forming. In order to be understood in the manner in which we intend we must learn to communicate effectively.

Objectives

The paraeducator will demonstrate awareness of the importance of communication in school
The paraeducator will demonstrate knowledge of effective communication and listening strategies with students and staff
The paraeducator will examine techniques to aid in the communication with students.
The paraeducator will demonstrate the ability to question and direct student responses.
The paraeducator will demonstrate knowledge of ways to appropriately deal with conflicts between themselves and teachers or administrators.
The paraeducator will demonstrate the ability to work as a collaborative team with both general and special education teachers.