Effective Communication Skills

Jacob Gilliard
1. Constructive assertiveness is and approach to classroom
management that calls for the teacher to communicate to misbehaving
student(s) a direct, clear statement of the problem; maintain direct eye
contact with the student(s); and insist upon correct behavior.
Constructive assertiveness includes three basic elements: 1. A direct,
clear statement of the problem. Giving a simple and clear description
of the problem is enough to produce behavior change because
students become more aware of the behavior and will begin to monitor
it better. The statement should identify the student behavior and
describe it effects. 2. Body language. It is important to reinforce
constructive assertiveness with body language by making eye contact
with the student when addressing the problem, maintaining good
posture and matching statements with the content and tone of
conversations. 3. Obtaining appropriate behavior. To obtain
appropriate behavior it is important to not accept excuses, listen to the
student while being assertive. Students need to know that if the
behavior is unacceptable, the teacher will follow through with the
consequences.
2. Empathic Responding shows that you are aware and accepting
of the students perspective as well as to seek clarification of it when
necessary. Empathic responding helps keep the lines of communication
open between teachers and students so that problems can be
understood and resolved in mutually acceptable ways. As a teacher,
you should respond in a manner that helps the student deal
constructively with those feelings or at least avoids adding to the
students discomfort or distress. Empathic responding has several
advantages. It allows the teacher a way to deal with strong emotions
without taking the responsibility for solving the students problems.
3.

Problem solving is a process used to deal with and to resolve

conflicts. Conflicts arise between teachers and students because
different roles give rise to different needs and because individuals have
different goals and interests. In a crowded classroom, diverse paths
can cross, and individuals can find themselves at odds with one
another. If conflict arises, teachers need a way to manage it
constructively so that teaching and learning can continue in a
supportive classroom climate. An effective means of accomplishing this

is the problem-solving process in which the teacher works with the

student to develop a plan to reduce or eliminate the problem. Steps in
the problem-solving process include (1) Identifying the problem. You
can begin the discussion by stating the purpose of the meeting and
asking the student to express his or her viewpoint. Obtaining the
students views gives you useful information for later steps, and it also
enables you to gauge the students degree of cooperation and
understanding of the situation (2) Discussing alternative solutions. One
way to begin this phase is to invite the student to suggest a solution to
the problem. If the student is unable to do so, you can offer one.
Whenever possible, it is best to have two or more alternatives so that
options can be compared and the most desirable one chosen. (3)
Obtaining a commitment to try one of them. In this step, the teacher
asks the student to accept the solution and try it for a specified period,
usually with the understanding that it will be evaluated afterward. The
students commitment can be given orally or in written form, as in a
contract.