In the words of Marge Piercy, “If you want to be listened to you should put in the time listening.” The more we practice the more it becomes a habit. It also helps us re-evaluate our intentions and concentrate on the speaker instead of ourselves. I know that when I first read this, I was surprised in the simple truth of that statement, and it has served as a reminder to me to slow down and pay attention when I am feeling rushed. Covey, author of the Seven Habits series: “Most people do not listen with the intent to understand they listen with the intent to reply.” One of my favorite quotes comes from Stephen R. Eventually we get to the stage where we feel confident our children are actually hearing what we say. Isn’t this a skill we teach our young children? Is there a parent alive who has not said, “Please listen” to their young child? Then we often ask for feedback by saying, “What did I just say?”.
It assumes that good listeners listen attentively. Whew! Sounds like a major process, doesn’t it? But the truth is most of us are probably doing much of it already.Īn anonymous person once said, “Every good conversation starts with good listening.” This is the Cliff Notes version of active listening and says it all. Feeding back to the speaker what is heard.Listening for total meaning without judgment.Responding to feelings (nonverbal cues).Rogers and Farson state the basics of active listening as: Goal: to ensure that understanding is accurate so instructions can be directed to the student’s (person’s) actual needs and the student can be encouraged to engage with the material.” Rogers and Farson define active listening as “listening to and confirming an understanding of what another says as well as the emotions and feelings underlying the message.
#Listening to understand how to
Farson, and the term “active listening.” Some graduate students assumed this would be easy because, after all, who doesn’t know how to listen? It was hard to imagine this was a skill we would actually have to learn and practice. As graduate social work students we were introduced to the book, “Active Listening,” by Carl R.
You may be thinking, “How complicated could it be?”Īs a Youth First social worker, I do a lot of listening. I feel fairly sure most of us believe we know how to listen.
0 kommentar(er)
