Oral and Nonverbal Expression

Ivan Muse

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2013
• ISBN:
  9781317921103
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Didattica
• Subtopic: Didattica generale

With this book, principals will become more successful at communicating with difficult people, delivering speeches, and will maximize the effectiveness of groups and committees.

1

WHEN THE PRINCIPAL SPEAKS-EVERYONE LISTENS

Communication is a process of sharing experience till it becomes a common possession. It modifies the disposition of both parties who partake of it.—John Dewey

The social lives and the work of humans involves a constant interplay of communication with individuals and groups. Most school administrators are aware that of all the knowledge and skills that they possess, that of creating information and communicating with others ranks at the top in terms of importance. Principals are involved constantly with communication in all that they say and do. Through interpersonal relationships, principals interact with teachers, students, staff and parents on a daily basis. The effect of this interaction establishes relationships and professional harmony with associates. Through group communication, principals interact with others, sharing experiences and ideas, solving problems, handling conflicts, articulating beliefs and values, and building trust and rapport.

On occasion, even the best of communication intent by the principal can diminish relationships and cause interpersonal conflict and anxiety. Not surprisingly, there may be in some schools as much poor communication as there is good. Some type of consequence to communication will always occur because individuals on the receiving end of the process interpret messages with differing meaning. Often, the meaning of a message is considered on a continuum of rightness or wrongness. The degree of personal acceptance of a message may relate to its timing, the receivers field of experience with the sender, message interpretation, personal involvement, etc.

Communication is the glue that binds every school organization together. Developing, giving and sharing information links individuals and groups together in the common task of effectively operating the school program. The school administrator is responsible for setting school objectives, organizing tasks, motivating teachers and students, informing parents, evaluating school program results and making decisions. In this key position, it is obvious that when the principal speaks, everyone listens. Without a clear understanding of the process of communication and the ability and desire to communicate effectively, the work of the principal will be diminished and the school will not run well.

The communication process involves the exchange of information in some manner between a sender and a receiver. In most instances, whether well planned or hurriedly delivered, the sender hopes that the message will be received exactly as it was intended. Unfortunately, barriers to successful communication frequently occur and cause the transmission and the message itself, to be distorted.

Exchanging information in the school is an ongoing process and seems simple, and at other times complex. On occasion, it is necessary to convey information rapidly without considering how the information will be received. Often, principals must react to emergencies and rely on judgment and common sense to resolve problems and handle conflicts. I can recall one of those critical moments when the importance of communication lay heavily on my mind.

The day, the place and the time are etched in my memory just as vividly as words chiseled out of granite on a memorial in a park. What would I say to 1300 high school students, 46 teachers and 12 office workers? The P.A. system was on, my voice would soon reach all of those in the school building, yet I was hesitant. My own emotions were running like a river cascading out of control over high falls and cracking on the rocks below. My secretary was standing by her desk, her fists clenched, cheeks drawn and tears welling in her eyes. There was no question whether or not this message would be misunderstood. The concern was, could I deliver the message in a calm and controlled manner and expect the listeners to likewise manage the information without becoming completely “unglued” or emotionally distraught.

I clutched the grey metallic microphone in my hand and clicked the “on” button with my thumb. I glanced quickly at the clock from habit, straightened my tie and began with a voice surprisingly controlled.

“Dear students, faculty and staff, I am sorry to disturb your classes and school activities at this time, but I do need your complete attention for the following message. I am very sad to report that we have just received news that President John F. Kennedy has been assassinated by a gunman in Dallas, Texas. This comes as a shock to all of us and we will mourn his death. Please remain in your classrooms, and I will keep you informed of the details as they come to us. I also expect that shortly we will receive word from the school superintendent regarding any changes in the school schedule the rest of this day and in the days to come.”

I paused, clicked the microphone button to “off” and softly replaced it on the counter. Turning to my secretary, I nodded, “Let’s get a memo out to every teacher with instructions on how to handle student concerns, use of radios to listen to the news reports in class, and other problems. Also, call in the counselors and staff members so we can plan supervision between periods and during the lunch hour.”

Thankfully, not all communication efforts are as intense and totally involving as the one mentioned. However, most of us have had those times when communication was serious and the situation was “real” and emotionally involved. While I, as many of you, can remember vividly what they were doing on the day President Kennedy was shot, many younger individuals do not feel the impact of that tragic and emotional ordeal. It is difficult to imagine that some 50% or more of our population are now too young to remember the death of President Kennedy. Times and people change and information causes different reactions in different people. The purpose of presenting this scenario is to stress the fact that as school leaders we are emotionally engaged in relationships that require the creation of information and its transmissions. We live in a dynamic society, and communication is a necessary ongoing process that keeps organizations and individuals stable, rational and in harmony with objectives and goals.

Each of us, whether in a school, district office, university, state office of education, etc., lives and works for a large part of our daylight hours within an organizational structure. The organization called education is unique in that the product happens to be students, and the process involves teachers and other educators working to provide information and ideas to young people that will ultimately help them to be successful in life and contribute to a better society.

THE WORK OF THE PRINCIPAL

School administrators are primarily responsible for administering all aspects of the school. The principal in today’s school organization has a complex job, requiring a wide range of leadership, supervisory and administrative proficiencies. Because students, teachers, parents and the community play vital roles in shaping the school’s mission, responsibilities and character, communication skills are vital to the principal’s well-being as a school leader. Few organization executive officers in any work endeavor spend more time at communication, and interact as much with others as the school administrator. It has been reported, and from experience I can testify to its truth, that principals spend 90% of their time interacting with people and 10% of their time interacting with things. Just as a check, when was the last time you were able to spend more than a 10 minute session in a quiet setting with your office computer? Principals often express frustration that they have new computers on their desks and never seem to have time (unless in the evenings) to use them. The situation probably won’t change in the foreseeable future.

As school leaders are aware, they typically work some 50 plus hours a week, and much of this time is talking and listening time. Martin and Willower (1981) and Doud (1982) categorized the work of principals into a number of specific tasks. The principals in the study were involved with unscheduled meetings for 27.5% of their time and scheduled meetings for 17.3% of their time. Personal exchanges and conversations involved 14.1% of the principal’s involvement, with phone calls taking 5.8% of the time, and classroom and hallway monitoring taking 7.7% of the time. Lastly, the principals had 16% of the day for desk work, which often involved preparing reports, projects and letters that had to be completed by a prescribed deadline. The critical aspect of this data is that face-to-face contact in single individual or group settings involves some 59% of the principal’s time on the job. Without question, of the various proficiencies or skills that distinguish outstanding school principals, one of the most important is the ability to communicate effectively.

The better the principal is at communication, the better the school will run. In good schools, school administrators are seen constantly interacting with others in a variety of settings. Proficient principals capitalize on such encounters to honestly and openly address questions and problems, to underscore the school’s program and mission and to communicate a positive image of the school.

Realizing that communication is so important, why do there appear to be so many examples of poor communication taking place within the schools? Ask a school superintendent why a particular principal may be having a run on difficult problems, and the answer most often will focus upon communication breakdown. Obviously, communication is more than just a message or a response, and in a large organizational setting, communicating to everyone is no easy task, but the administrator usually receives the blame if a lack of communication is cited as the major cause of a school problem.

Actually, the typical principal is very good at handling the “things” of communication. It is not so difficult to send a message from one location to another, to talk to a student, teacher or parent about a problem involving a school policy, to conduct a structured meeting following an agenda, or even to give a prepared speech to a group of parents or community folks. The difficulty is that, while we expect to control and handle easily the content of our messages as well as the vehicle for communication (memo, newsletter, telephone call, face-to-face interaction, etc.), our listeners perceive these messages in an entirely different personal environment and context. Principals are often too busy, are not aware of, or ignore the signals that indicate communication has gone awry.

Margaret Wheatley (1992) indicates that “information is unique as a resource because of its capacity to generate itself.” She concludes, “As long as there are senders and receivers linked together in a context, fertility abounds.” Of course, that is a fear that school leaders share. Information can easily be misinterpreted, twisted, enhanced, expanded and so forth, until it becomes totally different from what was originally intended. This is the real context that defines meaningful communication. Information is not just a message plying itself along some physical pathway to be absorbed as purely black or white without any variation of meaning or intent. To think of communication as only a system is to miss the human element that exists within the sender and the receiver. If the principal doesn’t communicate well, those with whom he or she works will make up missing dialogue and create their own responses and feelings about the school leader. The organization grapevine, with its vast supply of rumors, thrives on communication that is missing, inadequate or not trusted. Contrary to what may be thought about the old “out of sight, out of mind,” that does not hold true for most individuals in any organization. Remember the faculty room when you were a teacher? Miss a noonday session of the members of the “let’s roast so and so today” group and you were soon to be the topic of discussion. People l...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Foreword
• About the Author
• Preface
• Introduction
• 1. When the Principal Speaks—Everyone Listens
• 2. The Process of Communication
• 3. Understanding and Using Nonverbal Behavior
• 4. Listening to Others
• 5. Sensitive Words and Comments
• 6. Working and Communicating with Groups
• 7. Communication With Difficult People
• 8. The Principal as a Speech Giver