We know that listening and attention are vital precursors necessary for language skills, social relationships, and educational attainment. But what are the components of listening and attention, and do we think about and teach them enough?
Listening is complex! For children to become good listeners who can focus on their learning, and on what is being said, they need to initially learn “listening rules”: the foundations of listening upon which the building blocks of language and educational attainment can be built.
Readiness for listening
There is a crucial preparation to get right before we expect a child to listen – they have to be in a ‘ready state’ for it. Consider how difficult it is to listen, attend and take in information if you are feeling scared, anxious, angry, or wound up. We cannot expect children to make a fast switch from vigilance or extreme alertness, to being ‘ready for listening’.
Level of alertness and regulation are therefore essential for active listening. Many schools help children to find this ‘optimum state’, by providing early morning sensory circuits, a golden mile, a readiness activity or a ‘wake up shake up’ to reach this. For those children with lower levels of alertness, additional support and alternative approaches will be needed to engage and be active in their learning.
The environment also plays a key role. A communication friendly classroom with minimal audible and visual distractions will go a long way towards aiding pupils’ ability to engage.
There are some excellent approaches to help children develop insight into their level of alertness, (for example, The Alert program* or The Zones of Regulation**) and develop strategies which help them to find the state at which they feel ready to listen and learn.
Learning the foundations of listening… and the evolution
When children first learn about a topic, such as the planets of the solar system, they are taught broad facts and ideas – later they add to these, with more complex information. Likewise, with younger children (key stage 1, and below) we often refer to ‘good listening rules’ as a broad set of instructions that start the conversation about listening. As children mature, they add to these ideas to develop finetuned, responsive listening and attention cues.
Good looking
We teach children that, to show they are listening, they need to look at the person who is talking. As the ‘rule’ matures, children learn that this does not have to be intense focus but refers to the way that we ‘check in’ with the speaker, by looking, nodding, interjecting or making affirmatory noises to show that we are tuned in.
Good sitting
Young children are taught the ‘rule’ that, at carpet time, they sit still; keeping their limbs to themselves means that they are not distracting others and are showing listening readiness. As they mature, they learn that ‘sitting’ is not the aim, rather it is to be attentive to the person speaking and not prevent others from doing so. This might even be standing, so long as they are close and focussing on the speaker rather than another task.
Good thinking
To help young children to make sense of what they are hearing, we ask them to think about the meaning of the words, not just listen to the incoming sounds. This is an active process – a way of joining in with the ‘listening conversation’. Children need to learn to employ thinking skills so that, as they mature, they can add more complex reasoning skills to their repertoire. They also need to develop the skills to effectively let the speaker know that they are thinking rather than ignoring them, to avoid awkward silences and communication breakdowns.
Moving beyond the foundations
Children who find listening and attention difficult in the early days of their education are likely to need ongoing help to learn to advance these skills to meet their learning and communication needs. As the foundation of all learning, listening skills will need to be a focus throughout their education. Towards the end of key stage 2, children can start to identify for themselves the particular strategies that help them to listen and use these throughout their lives.
Referring to listening and attention is important, and often overlooked. We may talk about ‘good listening’, but we might not overtly acknowledge and praise it, particularly with older children, and whilst we might commend a young child for ‘good sitting’, we might not consider praising their ‘good checking in’.
So how can we ensure that listening and attention remains high on the agenda, given that it is such a vital prerequisite for the development of language and learning? Here are a few pointers…
Make sure you’ve done the groundwork
Never skip the vital ‘listening readiness’ step. Every person, of every age, needs to be in the right ‘zone’ for listening. Be aware of your role in this readiness and what signals you can give to help them find their optimum zone. Help children to recognise how alert they are feeling and give them strategies to use if they need a boost.
Make it a priority
After key stage 1 it’s often forgotten that listening and attention skills underpin learning throughout our lives. Bring it to the forefront by highlighting to children what they are doing right, what they do differently, and talk about the roles of both the listener and their partner in the listening interaction
Expect it to evolve
We fine-tune our listening skills as we mature, and this has a direct impact on learning, engagement and relationships. Expect to see a progression in skills, awareness, and strategies over time and importantly, acknowledge them, talk about them and encourage them.
The Infant Language Link and Junior Language Link interventions include a fully planned and resourced 8-session Listening Group which can be used by teachers or support staff with whole classes or smaller groups. The intervention helps children to think about and develop their listening skills and covers the ‘rules of listening’.
Take a FREE trial of Language Link and get access to a resourced Listening Group session.