Thinking about Listening
Lani Shapiro
“Listening” frequently functions as a call to obedience: listening to directions, attending to the voice of the adult or waiting for a turn to talk. The Reggio Approach offers a different, much deeper understanding:
“Listening: An active attitude of listening between adults, children and the environment is the premise and context of every educational encounter.”
from Indications
Long before we can speak, we converse through body, expression and gesture, and can listen with our eyes.
“Very early in life, children demonstrate that they have a voice, but above all that they know how to listen and want to be listened to. Sociality is not taught to children: they are social beings.”
There are different kinds of listening: to the self, to others, to the world…
…to listen not so that we agree but so we have an opportunity to understand each other and the world.
“…school should be: first and foremost, a context of multiple listening. This context of multiple listening, involving the teachers but also the group of children and each child, all of whom can listen to others and listen to themselves, overturns the teaching—learning relationship.”
“Thus, moving from one language to another, from one field of experience to another, and reflecting on these shifts and those of others, children modify and enrich their theories and conceptual maps. But this is true if, and only if, children have the opportunity to make these shifts in a group context—that is, in and with others—and if they have the possibility to listen and be listened to, to express their differences and be receptive to the differences of others. The task of those who educate is not only to allow the differences to be expressed but to make it possible for them to be negotiated and nurtured through exchange and comparison of ideas.”
Quotes above are from In dialogue with Reggio Emilia: Listening, researching and learning. (Rinaldi, C. 2005, p.49-51).
The above ideas about listening reference children, others and the world. These intrepid explorers need adults as partners. To be available as this kind of listener, we must embrace listening as an act full of curiosity, desire, wonder, doubt or interest.
Whether you are a teacher, administrator or policy maker, you can ask yourself questions such as, “What do I wonder…
about children and their approaches to learning?
about the work of teaching and learning?
about the roles of the teacher, parents and children?
or about the purpose of school?”
To launch conversations, consider possible “think-about-questions,” rather than “do-you-know-questions.” For the ‘think-about-questions’ to be effective in generating conversation, building relationships and deepening thought, you must listen (with all your senses) and build upon what follows.
I would like to know more…
This is very interesting…
You started to say…
I am wondering…
…and then?
Does this remind you of anything?
What are your ideas about this?
I wonder…?
What do you think about…?
Could you tell me more…?
Would you mind sharing…?
I’m curious…
What might happen if…?
What do you suppose happens when?
Why do you suppose this happens?
How do you think that happens?
What happens after that?
Has this happened before?
What was it like when…?
However, even more important than a set of useful open-ended questions is cultivating a curious disposition within yourself. Notice that these questions invite thinking, not judgement.
Think about the way your decisions about space, materials, tools and time affect conversation. Dialogue is enriched when you are genuinely curious about others’ beliefs, assumptions, or theories and when peers share group work. Language is intertwined with deep listening, a capacity for dialogue and the ability to think critically. It is only when we are open-minded that we can listen with empathy, see unique perspectives and learn from each other.
Adults can offer language that children can borrow to support genuine listening and peer exchange:
I think…
My idea is…
In my opinion…
Thanks for sharing your opinion. I have a different one. Here’s mine…
It’s ok that you don’t agree with my opinion. We can have different points of view.
I have a different idea.
Carla Rinaldi insists that in order to listen in this way, you must give up the idea that you control the outcome. Under these circumstances, uncertainty, doubt and error are resources. This kind of deep listening leads all the parties, the speakers and the listeners, into entirely new terrain. This process is true for all of us, not just children!
