SPED 568 Collaboration Skills in Special Education SPED 568

Communication Skills Personal Commitment Programs or Services Interaction Processes Context

Personal Commitment Context Communication Skills Communication Skills

Interpersonal Communication

A Model of Communication  Earliest models focused on one-way communication a sender delivered a message and the passive receiver decoded it. HEY

A Model of Communication  More contemporary models view as a dynamic and complex communication process HEY

A Model of Communication  More contemporary models view as a dynamic and complex communication process What?

Common Attributes of Communication Models  Communication is a process of exchanging information between a sender and a receiver totality of the exchange  Communication through Channels (tactile? Olfactory?)  “Noise”  Continuous feedback  Multichannel sharing of information (my whole being!)

Story time!

Definition of Communication Interpersonal communication is…  Complex, reciprocal process  through which participants create meanings  as messages are transmitted  continuously and simultaneously  from one communicator to another  via multiple communication channels including electronic!

Prerequisites to Effective Communication  Frame of reference:  Your role  In Multicultural settings In Multicultural settings

Consider alternate frames of reference… “What do you mean?”  Teacher: “I really don’t know what to do to help her. I’m not sure she should be in my class.”  Parent: “He’s been in special education for three years now. Isn’t he caught up yet?”

Cross-Cultural Communication Individualistic  Low-context: “to the point”  Talk  Directness  Uneven turn-taking Collectivistic  High-context: from experience  Silence  Indirectness  Balanced turn-taking

Prerequisites to Effective Communication  Frame of reference:  Your role:  In Multicultural settings: your values and orientation  Selective perception: what did you notice?

Non Verbal Communication  Spatial relations spatial zones  Body movements gestures and facial expressions  Vocal cues paralanguage  Minimal encouragers silence

Understanding Nonverbal Communication: Yours and Mine!  Non verbal cues are in line with verbal message  Congruence communicates sincere understanding and genuine interest  Subjectivity involved in interpreting non- verbal communication  Need to identify your own patterns of nonverbal behavior

Verbal Communication Principles Effect Your Message  Exchange concrete, specific information  Imprecise language is the cause of much miscommunication  Promotes trust  Conveys a nonjudgmental and accepting attitude

Try this:  Can you be specific? (teacher) “How is his home life?” “She’s not really invested in her work” “That parent is always upset”

Why is Listening so Important?  Helps establish rapport  Allows accurate understanding  Demonstrates a desire to understand

Listen to me!

Factors that Interfere with Effective Listening  Responding to assumptions  Insufficient time  Rehearsing my response  Daydreaming  Hot Words  Filtering the message  Extraneous details

What might interfere with your listening? How would you get around it?  A colleague with whom you collaborate demeans some of the students’ cultural or religious beliefs, calling them foolish or irrelevant  At a team meeting, your proposal for a new block scheduling plan – which you developed based on concerns expressed by the team and the quality of which you believe reflect the many hours you spent on it – is severely criticized and rejected by the team

Ideas for Effective Listening  Paraphrasing - Restating what another person has said in your own words Paraphrasing  Asking Open Questions - explores a person's statement without requiring a simple ``yes'' or ``no'' answer Asking Open Questions  Feeling reflection - your perception of the speaker's feelings based on words, tone, and body language Feeling reflection

Paraphrasing…  I think it’s ridiculous that the girls have their heads covered all the time.  You believe they shouldn’t have to cover their heads.

Asking Open Questions…  What part of the block plan did you find most difficult to understand?  Where do you feel the plan does meet your concerns?

Feeling Reflection…  I get sick of all these changes to our schedules!  I hear you feeling angry and resentful at being asked to deal with more change” The most difficult active listening response to make. You have to listen to what is said and the feeling behind it!

Improving My Listening Skills  Mentally prepare to listen  Mentally review the information you’re given  Categorize the information  Make notes of informational details  Seek to differentiate and make opinions between inferences, facts and opinions

Tonight:  Reflect on your listening skills as you discuss the project with your team: What are your strengths What are your areas for improvement?

Improving My Communication Skills  Become a student of communication  Nurture and communicate openness  Keep communication meaningful  Use silence effectively  Adapt your communication to match the task and the relationship