7 techniques to boost communication skills for teachers & administrators

A teacher’s role is to comprehend and break down complex information into the simplest form that can be easily conveyed to the students. Effective communication sustains students’ attention, listening, and understanding, and also helps teachers resolve students’ queries.

What are communication skills?

The skills you apply when giving or receiving various types of information are known as communication skills. Examples include sharing new ideas, feelings, or even project updates. Communication skills include empathy, observation, speaking, and listening.

How to develop communication skills that make teachers more effective?

Teachers can be more effective when they develop good communication skills. Teachers having good communication skills can use different teaching methods to improve their students. Different teaching levels require various forms of communication, so it is important to know how to communicate with students, parents, and other teachers. Continuous practice and feedback improvement are essential to improving these skills. To develop communication skills
1. Paying attention to body language, voice tone, and facial expressions can improve understanding to make the listener understand your message.
2. Practicing active listening, which helps attentively hear students’ questions and feedback, understand students’ needs and further build trust thereby promoting a supportive environment.
3. Taking considerate feedback from your mentors or colleagues as it gives a scope for improvement.
4. Controlling emotions by staying calm and remaining positive and respectful. This will help to deal with other overwhelming emotions.
5. Using visuals such as photographs, pictures, and videos can be helpful for teachers to help students and improve their communication with students.

Here are 7 techniques teachers and administrators can use to boost communication skills:

1. Active Listening: 

Teachers are guides for students. They need to listen to students carefully in order to understand and help them better. Active listening is important for effective communication as it helps teachers analyze students’ understanding of concepts and resolve their queries. Active listening also helps avoid any misunderstanding and this is a great way to develop trust and build relationships.

2. Body language and voice tone:

Body language is an important part of verbal and non-verbal communication. Teachers should ensure that signals given through their body language must be positive, confident, and engaging. For example, eye contact motivates students to pay attention, helps them in learning, makes them feel involved, and shows that teachers are being attentive and supportive.

Also, when teachers teach, their gestures emphasize their words which makes them more memorable. To improve your body language, smile more often, move around the classroom, keep your hands open, and give thumbs up to appreciable actions.

3. Build emotional quotient:

Sometimes noise or disruption in communication can lead to misunderstandings, which can lead to overwhelming behaviours and emotions such as anger, yelling, and so on. It’s crucial to have emotional control in the teaching profession. The ways of dealing with negative emotions are to be mindful about your own emotions, words and actions and focus on remaining calm and positive.

4. Sense of humour:

Sense of humour can keep the communication light and fun. Having a sense of humour can help you build rapport with your students and keep them interested in the lesson. Make a joke while teaching, use lighthearted examples, and laugh at appropriate humour from students. Avoid using negative humour that could offend or embarrass students. Only use humour that has received positive feedback from students.

Also Read: 5 Ways Data Analytics Is Enhancing Education Technology in Schools

5. Safe environment:

The supportive relationship between teachers, students, parents and the school has a positive impact on teacher morale, participation, and achievement. A safe environment makes communication easier where teachers can express their thoughts and challenges without any fear. 

Creating a safe environment shows teachers that they are free from judgment and humiliation in the classroom. Provide safe space and freedom to teachers to express their thoughts and creativity. A safe environment boosts confidence and communication skills. 

6. Encouraging teamwork:

Teachers need to work in collaboration with colleagues and the administration. Apart from teaching, teachers participate in other activities in the school where communication is the key to ensuring good performance. Teamwork helps teachers make their task easier and learn from each other like designing lesson plans, sharing ideas, and solving problems in a better way. Teachers can encourage students to perform in teams. Dividing students into small groups helps them to easily share ideas, ask questions and receive feedback which ensures good communication.

 7. Feedback:

Constructive feedback is essential for professional growth and also is an important component of effective communication. Constructive feedback from teachers helps students grow and vice-versa. The teacher should be mindful of the feedback they are sharing; it must contribute to students’ growth and should not demoralize them. Teachers can acknowledge students’ performance by giving them feedback and guiding students to work on their areas of development. Constructive feedback helps students as well as teachers in self-reflection and boosting confidence and growth. 

Conclusion

Effective communication is crucial for teachers’ professional growth. An important aspect of improving communication is that it acts as an example for students. It also helps in developing communication skills in students which makes them feel safer and more comfortable. Teachers’ communication skills impact student’s academic performance. It also helps teachers collaborate with colleagues, deal with parents and build good relationships with administration which ensures success in daily processes.

FAQs

1. What are 3 ways teachers use to communicate effectively?

3 ways teachers can use to communicate efficiently are

• Positive Feedback and Praise: Students are likely to believe in their abilities and participate actively in the learning process when they get positive feedback and praise for their achievements and efforts.
• Making Use of Handouts and Digital Communication: Digital platforms and handouts are useful resources for sharing knowledge and involving students in the educational process.
• Engaging with Families: Teachers may build an effective relationship with families by listening to parents’ concerns, asking for feedback through surveys, and hosting parent-teacher group meetings.  This will encourage student engagement and academic performance.

2. What are the soft skills for teachers?

Soft skills for teachers are empathy, communication, adaptability, patience, creativity, organisation, leadership, teamwork, problem-solving, and emotional intelligence. These skills enable teachers to connect with students, manage various classrooms, promote learning effectively, and support student development beyond academic learning.

3. Why is effective communication important in school administration?

Effective communication in school administration encourages collaboration among staff, ensures clarity of goals and expectations, builds trust within the school community, and promotes problem-solving. It enables administrators to convey policies, initiatives, and feedback efficiently, leading to a cohesive and supportive educational environment suitable for student success.

4. Why do teachers need to improve communication skills?

Teachers need to enhance communication skills to communicate clearly and create understanding, trust, and a supportive learning environment,  enhancing student learning outcomes and overall classroom effectiveness. By communicating effectively teachers can engage students, build positive relationships, address different learning needs, and promote student success. Good communication skills also enable teachers to build strong relationships with students, parents, and colleagues.