Authentic Listening

Description
Personal Reflection | 15 minutes

Authentic listening is a foundational way to show students that you are fully present, that they are worthy of your full attention, and that you care about them. Studies have identified five major techniques [3] of authentic listening: pay attention, show that you're listening, provide feedback, defer judgment, and respond appropriately. You can use this worksheet for more guidance on applying active listening to your context. Click here to download this page as a PDF. This reflection activity can help you:

Consider your own authentic listening skills.
Think about concrete authentic listening practices that could help you Express Care to your students.

A spreadsheet showing the Authentic Listening techniques and various examples in a tutoring program

Instructions

1. Pay attention.

Focused attention helps educators listen for (1) challenges to provide support and encouragement (2) successes to celebrate with praise and affirmation (3) interests and experiences to connect with students (4) non-verbal cues to understand students' learning experience. Example: Attention can begin the moment students walk into the room as you notice their mood and non-verbal communication.

2. Show that you're listening.

Nonverbally, demonstrate listening through eye contact, nodding your head, and positioning yourself so you're face-to-face (instead of standing over a student, which reinforces a sense of hierarchy). Verbally, you can demonstrate listening with gentle “hms” or occasional interjections. Example: Validate students as they work through a math problem (“that’s a great step,” “I’m glad you’re writing your steps out”).

3. Provide feedback.

Feedback can be specific to the subject matter, student experience, and anywhere in between. By first responding to students’ personal and emotional lives, educators introduce encouragement tailored to the moment. For more, see the WOOP Technique. Example: Summarize what your students said to check understanding “I hear that you are frustrated with not getting the answer, and that’s okay.”

4. Defer judgment.

Deferring judgment means practicing a fundamental openness and remembering that students are influenced by home environments, interest, cultural backgrounds, and everything in between. Deferring judgment helps students feel cared for and helps educators adapt their teaching to best respond to each student’s strengths and needs. Example: Giving students time to explain their steps/thinking before correcting their answers.

5. Respond appropriately.

Be open, honest, and even vulnerable in responses. You can begin by first verbalizing the speaker’s experience. Use a phrase like “What I hear you saying is...” to demonstrate that you understand what you've heard. Remember that the response should be free of judgment. Example: Be okay with saying “Honestly I don’t know, but let me ask someone who might have an answer and get back to you.”

Tips and Tricks

Online Adaptation. If you're using videoconferencing, make sure to amplify your non-verbal responses to students so that authentic listening translates through the screen. Also, to help students sense your eye contact, look directly at your computer's camera and not at the live video of your students.

Group Adaptation. While much of the above is based on one-on-one conversations, it can all apply to group settings. Whether asking for general feedback after a lecture, listening in as students pair off and share ideas, or asking for feedback from a group of students, every moment is an opportunity to listen carefully as students navigate the learning experience.

Keeping other cultures in mind. Remember that many of the suggestions above come from a generally Western framework, and they aren't necessarily universally true. For example, while maintaining eye contact can denote attention in some settings, in other cultures the opposite is true. You can ask students directly when and how they feel listened to most. For more, see Culturally Responsive Relationships.

Listening is non-linear. It’s an intentional choice to remove numbered lists from this specific activity. Authentic listening can start from any of the instructions above, and it takes practice. Approach authentic listening with a spirit of experimentation and a knowledge that you'll get better over time.

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