5 minute snapshot on … Effective Communication: How can I approach this theme?

As part of a series of blogs this autumn, today we take a step back to consider aspects of PPS and the questions to ask when establishing your course. These blogs are a precursor and blueprint for new resources to follow that make up the growing portfolio of Reflective Project and PPS resources on www.thinkib.net/ibcp

‘Life is not how high you fly, but about how well you bounce...It’s about how you encourage and propel yourself, letting the fear of failure become a barrier standing in your way’.

These are the words of one headteacher in the UK this week as they introduced themselves to their new staff. What could be more fitting as a response to 2020 than to take this as the mantra behind the PPS course that is already designed to be the place to do just this. Where does Effective Communication play a part?

What might be the questions to ask to shape Effective Communication?
What are my students’ needs? What role does context play here? What does effective communication mean for the educator as well as the student? What does an effective communicator look like in 2020? What is our ultimate goal?

What role does context play in developing effective communication?
A hugely important role – the individual, family, school, community, national and international context play both a fixed and fluctuating role in young people’s lives and influence their identity as a communicator and ability to communicate. The teenage years is the time where young people characteristically shift away from primarily parental influences and gravitate increasingly towards peer company and interaction with other adults such as teachers. And with the disrupted schooling and isolation that 2020 has brought, this natural communicative process has been disrupted. Developing a course that can respond to the fixed and fluctuating needs of students who possibly do not fully realise the impact this year has had on them until they are back in a school environment is a sensitive mood. Build confidence in communication slowly with plenty of small group interactions where students feel safe to express ideas.

What are my students’ needs?
Exploring visible thinking tools that can help students become more confident communicators. For example, when a student has used a thorough decision-making tool and is comfortable with the outcome, they feel vastly more able to communicate their thoughts. Ask students to carry out a ‘forcefield analysis’ and you take a simple pros and cons list to the next level; it is an effective process that helps students employ ethical, reflective and critical thinking in their decision making. However, it is not just for them. A quick forcefield analysis to help you weigh up the forces acting for and against young people becoming an effective communicator can make your PPS course bespoke to your context.

What does effective communication mean for the educator as well as the student?
It should come as no surprise that as part of the attributes of the lifelong learner, what motivates you will be mirrored in your students’ response. Ask yourself what is expected of you as an IB educator in terms of communication? Can you communicate with passion for what the IB is about and place international-mindedness and the learner profile as a priority. In short, do you use communication to impact, influence and inspire?

What does an effective communicator look like in 2020? What will an effective communicator look like in 2030? 2040? These can be the very first questions you ask of students. A short exercise for them to explore what they know and their own needs before branching out into creative thinking. Furthermore, a carefully designed reflection where students audit their strengths as a communicator can be revisited throughout the course as part of their personal development. How far do they see themselves as emotionally intelligent, clear, confident, empathetic, respectful, open-minded, inquisitive and a good listener?

What is the ultimate goal? Ultimately we all want to help young people articulate themselves as confident, considerate, creative and critical communicators who can ‘bounce’, ‘encourage’ and ‘propel’ themselves through life.