Listening is the first Language Art
Mon, 12/29/2008 - 18:51 — anne
I'm open to correction on this, but I seem to have heard or read that the infant in the womb is able to hear. It is said that they recognize the voice of the mother and perhaps others in the home. They also respond to music.
By the time a child grow up and goes to college, they are expected to be able to use hearing as a major input to learning. Is this done automatically, through human development? Or are their ways and means by which we can enhance and improve Listening as a Language Art?
What do you think?
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Listening
Bob,
I could not agree more. At one time, hearing impaired children were assumed to have limited thinking abilities because they could not hear. In many Autistic Support classrooms, teachers & psychologists will still refuse to expose the ASD student to academic knowledge until the student can demonstrate he is able to actively listen and respond "appropriately". Often this means they want the child to be able to sit still for a predetermined period of time and sustain eye contact. Listening may be the earliest portal to learning for most of us. But educators can't count on it for all. We must be flexible enough to rise to the challenge of finding the best portal for each student.
One of the first "learn style theories" I explored separated students into visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learners. Although there are now many of these theories, this one is still quite popular because it encourages educators to mix and match learning strategies to the students' natural inclinations rather than force students to always adjust to the teacher's preferred methodology.
Listening is the First Language Art
I have no idea whether the sense of hearing is the first sense a child develops in the womb. However, it is the first sense parents can actively access to help develop a relationship with their child. I remember my husband and I playing music for both of my pregnancies and being overwhelmed by the change in my boys' movements. Interestingly, the music I played to de-stress when pregnant also helped calm my newborns. For this reason, I believe listening can be a powerful learning tool for most human beings.
The goal of Language Arts is to assist the child in developing communication skills necessary for all aspects of his life. Many educators believe it is the basis for all other areas of learning - academic, physical, social, and emotional. Since we believe the child develops his sense of hearing before he develops physical traits necessary for speaking, reading, writing, keyboarding, or drawing, it makes sense to develop that sense into a skill that will support the development of others. And, if done in a positive manner, can make the learning process a very pleasant experience encouraging the development of natural curiosity.
However, not all of us process sound the same way. For this reason, teachers and parents cannot count on listening as being the most effective way to process new knowledge for all children. They must be prepared to adapt their teaching methods to accommodate those who are hearing impaired, have sensory integration disorders, etc. These adaptations should include opportunities to process new information in the manner most effective and/or comfortable for the child. It must also include opportunities to develop listening (or listening-like) skills so that the child will not be inadvertently ignored by the rest of society.
Listening is not only the first Language Art. It is our first opportunity to encourage positive human interaction; to recognize a child’s individual interests, needs, and strengths as part of their developmental process; and to demonstrate that human diversity is to be celebrated.
Learning Styles and hearing
csonita wrote "They must be prepared to adapt their teaching methods to accommodate those who are hearing impaired, have sensory integration disorders, etc." I would go one step farther. Teachers and parents must be ready to accept the learning by listening is not necessarily the most effective way to learn for all children.
While listening skills must be fostered and encouraged, we must be ready to seek alternative approaches and not hold a child back or let them move as quickly as they might because of a blind insistence they must learn by listening.
Bob
Language Arts Listening
Bob,
I just made a page for "Listening" on Language Arts: http://www.educationalsynthesis.org/language/index-Listen.html
I put some of the resources already on our site on there, including the benchmarks and objectives Chris wrote last year. If anyone can think of anything else to go on there, post it here.
Anne
Anne Pemberton
Vice President, Educational Synthesis
weezo45@gmail.com
What is SkyHi
I see the SkyHi link on EdSynth, but the page just has links to various objectives and activities. There is no explanation of what SkyHi is. I have heard you mention it and discuss it with Chris, but what is it? Is it a name you just made up? Was it created by others? Is there a website for it?
SkyHi Curriculum
Bob,
Back in the late fall, Chris and I started discussing doing a curriculum. We got as far as creating some benchmarks and objectives for listening and speaking. Reading and writing are next to be done, but we've been doing other things, including the holiday, and Andrew, and my new worksheets, and the new forum, that have gotten in the way. It will be, when it gets further along, a universal curriculum that can be used with any child, and adapted to any child. Eventually, resources will be tied to each objective in SkyHi. But, for now, it is just a "work in process".
Anne
Anne Pemberton
Vice President, Educational Synthesis
weezo45@gmail.com
SkyHi
Thanx for the clarification. If I needed that clarification, imagine a new reader of Edsynth. A summary of what SkyHi is would be helpful.
SKyHi
Bob,
I added a brief explanation to the opening pages. Thanks for point that need out.
I did it before this thick peasoup of a flue rolled in acrosss my head!
Anne Pemberton
Vice President, Educational Synthesis
weezo45@gmail.com