essay on teaching communication skills

Why Good Communication Skills Are Important For Teachers

July 16, 2022

Table of Content

One of the most important skills of a good teacher is good communication skills . Communicating effectively with students creates a positive learning environment and fosters student success. Good communication skills also enable teachers to build strong relationships with students, parents, and colleagues.

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Communication is essential in the workplace. Good communication skills can help you build strong working relationships, resolve conflict, and increase productivity. Therefore, the importance of communication in the workplace cannot be underestimated.

Good communication skills are important for several reasons:

When you can communicate effectively, you can better teach skills to others.
Good communication skills can help you build strong relationships with the people around you.
Effective communication can help you better understand the world around you.

One of the most important skills in the workplace is effective communication . Communication is essential to maintain relationships with co-workers, superiors, and customers. Good communication skills can help to resolve conflicts, build relationships, and increase productivity. A few key things to remember when communicating effectively in the workplace: be clear, concise, and respectful.

Good communication skills are essential for teachers. They need to be able to communicate effectively with their students and other teachers, and school staff. Good communication skills can help teachers to better understand their students and to build positive relationships with them. In addition, good communication skills can help teachers resolve conflicts and manage their classrooms effectively.

Teachers need to be able to communicate with students and parents. Good communication skills are important for the success of any teaching profession . In this article, we explore why it is necessary to have good communication skills and some other ways teachers can improve their effectiveness in delivering instruction and educating students.

Suggested – Psychological Principles of Teaching

First impressions do matter! A teacher’s first impression of a student can affect future interactions with that student in or out of school. Therefore, a teacher must demonstrate positive images through verbal cues and nonverbal messages such as tone of voice, facial expressions, body language, eye contact, etc.

Here are a few other ways how teachers can improve communication skills

Have a systematic plan with clear goals, objectives, and expectations for each class period.
Have enough engagement with students by involving them in academic activities and experiences outside the classroom.
Show enthusiasm for the activities that teachers are facilitating in their classrooms.
Communicate the importance of their role as a teacher and role models to their students.
Demonstrate positive behavior, language, and instructional techniques.
Help students find success in school and remind them that they are all learners as well.

7 Reasons Why Good Communication Skills Are Important For Teachers?

Good communication skills keeps students in control.

Unlike other professionals (like doctors, pilots, or engineers), teachers are not in control of their environment. It is not their job to manage the everyday operations of a classroom. However, in today’s fast-paced society, teachers must exhibit leadership skills and positive behavior to ensure that students stay focused and have a positive relationship with the teacher and school.

Improves Students Learnings

Students need to be able to learn in a classroom setting if they are going to complete their education and then enter the workforce. On the flip side, students need to be able to understand and interact positively with teachers if they want an education that will help them reach their educational, career, and life goals.

Decreases Teacher Turnover

Teachers who exhibit poor communication skills may not last long in a classroom job due to student or parent complaints or teacher resignations due to stress, burnout, or other issues related to the job.

Improves Parent-Teacher Interaction

By not communicating with parents or the school, teachers can put themselves in a position to be continually picked on or reprimanded for things that other parents or teachers find offensive. Communication is a two-way process, and mutual respect is the key to any good relationship.

Suppose a teacher has a good professional relationship with the parents of their students . In that case, it generally means that they are more likely to have continued employment and retain their students’ trust and respect.

Helps Teachers Spot Problems

By identifying potential problems with a student early, the teacher can adjust their plans accordingly to help the student reach their various educational goals . For example, suppose a student is slipping in school or exhibiting behavior outside the expected norm. In that case, an observant teacher can explore ways to adjust the class schedule, curriculum, and other activities to help support these students’ needs in school.

Helps In Dealing With Special Needs Children

Basic communication skills will help teachers respond appropriately when their special needs child(ren) asks for extra attention or needs an emotional release from some type of stressor in he/her day. Skills such as patience and the ability to listen to what the child is trying to express or needing help with can make all the difference in a teacher’s ability to support these students’ needs.

Influencing Parents’ And Students’ Perceptions Of Teachers

Students and parents have much information about teachers based on their initial interactions, classroom interactions, and ongoing conversations with other students or parents who have had positive experiences with that teacher. Teachers who can remain positive and approachable and keep the lines of good communication skills open with students and parents tend to have fewer problems with their instructional program and professional reputation.

Final Thoughts

The preceding list of why good communication skills are important for teachers might be the tip of the iceberg. Possibly teachers will have just one or two reasons that can make a difference in their instructional program and success as well as their professional reputation, but it is very important to keep all the other ways in mind that show how beneficial good communication skills can be to both them and their students. A classroom conducive to a learning environment should also include many other beneficial elements for student success.

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Why Good Communication Skills Are Important For Teachers FAQs

A1. Five good communication skills are written communication skills, oral communication skills, non-verbal communication, contextual communication, and active listening.

A2. A good communicator is made by practice and some tips such as choice of words, creating a connection with the audience, and understanding their audience.

A3. Communication is important because it helps to make connections with people and understand them. It helps to communicate our needs and wants.

A4. The most important communication skill is listening. A person that does not listen to the other person can never do effective communication.

A5. The greatest challenges to good communication are the irrelevance of the receiver, lack of attention, distractions, and interest.

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Teaching Communication Skills

A framework for exploring with students what good communication looks like and for helping them develop the necessary skills.

Picture a great speaker—a famous politician, maybe, or a poet or performer. Maybe you’re thinking of someone speaking to an audience in a high-stakes scenario.

Most of the talk that happens in your classroom does not look like this. In small group or whole class discussions, students are more concerned with learning than with audience: Their talking is exploratory rather than presentational.

This is one of the challenges of teaching communication skills: What “good” looks like depends on the context. The skills needed to speak in front of an audience and hold a room are different from those needed to solve a problem or engage in a group discussion. If what you’re trying to teach is slippery and hard to define, how can you go about teaching it?

A Framework for Looking at Communication

Academics at Cambridge University and teachers at my school created a framework for describing good communication skills in different contexts. It divides these skills into four distinct but interlinked strands:

Physical: How a speaker uses their body language, facial expressions, and voice.
Linguistic: The speaker’s use of language, including their understanding of formality and rhetorical devices.
Cognitive: The content of what a speaker says and their ability to build on, challenge, question, and summarize others’ ideas.
Social and emotional: How well a speaker listens, includes others, and responds to their audience.

This framework provides a starting point for working out what exactly constitutes great communication in different situations. But how can a teacher create a classroom culture that values and actively develops students’ communication skills?

Start by talking explicitly with your students about what good communication looks like for a given context. While there are plenty of examples of great public speakers to hold up and analyze, it can be harder to find examples of excellent exploratory discussions. One fun way to explore what makes a great discussion is to film a group of teachers having a terrible discussion (fidgeting, going off topic, one person dominating and making irrelevant points while others aren’t listening) and then look at a really strong example (listening, building on or challenging each other’s ideas, working together to reach consensus). Comparing the two discussions, you and your students can start to build a shared understanding of what “good” looks like.

You can use this understanding to write, with your students, a set of discussion guidelines, including things like:

We build on, challenge, summarize, clarify and probe each other’s ideas
We are prepared to change our minds.
We include everyone by inviting them into the discussion.

Creating guidelines with your students provides an opportunity to establish a positive culture for talk. It also enables you to dispel any negative, perhaps unspoken, misconceptions students may have about discussion, such as: “She always does well on tests, so I’ll just say what she says,” or “He’s my friend, so I shouldn’t disagree with him.”

Of course, creating discussion guidelines alone is unlikely to transform talk in your classroom—your students will need each skill to be explicitly taught, modeled, and praised, at least initially. You can establish the culture by saying things like, “I listened to what X said, and actually it’s made me think differently—I’m starting to change my mind,” or, “I’m not totally sure yet, but I think _____. What do you think?”

You’ll also need to explicitly and deliberately teach many communication skills. Take for example the skills involved in summarizing a discussion. Your students need to know what a summary is. They may also need some sentence stems to scaffold summarizing a discussion (“The main points you raised were...,” “In summary, we talked about...”). They may also need practice judging when it’s useful to summarize a discussion.

Over time, you can work on each guideline in turn and strengthen your students’ understanding of it. Continually returning to your discussion guidelines provides an opportunity for students to reflect on and talk about talking—to engage metacognitively in the learning process.

Supporting Quiet Students

For quieter students, increasing the amount of talk in your classroom may feel daunting. Ensuring that you have a guideline that requires all students to be included in discussions gives more confident students a responsibility to ensure that everyone is heard from. Again, you may need to explicitly teach what it means to invite someone into a discussion: developing an awareness of who has and hasn’t spoken yet, and turning your body to face someone who has been quiet and saying their name or asking them a question.

You can also support quieter students by providing them with scaffolds such as sentence stems, or by giving them a specific role, such as summarizer, that provides a clear route into discussion. Increasing the number of low-stakes opportunities to speak, in a supportive environment, may give some quieter students the confidence they need to find their voice.

If a student isn’t speaking as frequently as their peers, you needn’t assume that they aren’t benefiting from the increase in talking in your classroom. It’s likely that they’re listening carefully and taking in what is being said, so it’s vital to praise and celebrate listening skills as well as speaking skills.

Ultimately, learning is a process of sharing, engaging with, and responding to new and different ideas. As Professor Frank Hardman has said, talk is “the most powerful tool of communication in the classroom, and it’s fundamentally central to the acts of teaching and learning.”

Home — Essay Samples — Sociology — Effective Communication — Effective Communication: The Key to Building Strong Connections

Effective Communication: The Key to Building Strong Connections

Categories: Connection Effective Communication

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Published: Sep 12, 2023

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The importance of effective communication, key elements of effective communication, barriers to effective communication, strategies for improving communication, 1. building relationships:, 2. resolving conflicts:, 3. achieving goals:, 4. personal development:, 5. success in the workplace:, 1. clarity:, 2. active listening:, 3. empathy:, 4. nonverbal communication:, 5. respect:, 1. misunderstandings:, 2. lack of active listening:, 3. emotional barriers:, 4. assumptions and stereotypes:, 5. lack of feedback:, 1. practice active listening:, 2. foster empathy:, 3. be mindful of nonverbal cues:, 4. seek feedback:, 5. adapt to your audience: h3>, 6. practice constructive communication:, 7. educate yourself:.

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Effective Communication in the Classroom: Skills for Teachers

Communication is key in the classroom: successful teaching is generally considered to require only 50% knowledge to 50% communication skills. As a result, a teacher should be proficient in all four modes of communication – listening, speaking, reading, and writing – and should know how to utilise this proficiency effectively in a school environment. Being able to do this has been proven to impact the success students achieve in their academic lives, as well as the teacher’s own career success.

In this article, we will outline the reasons why classroom communication has such importance. You will also learn some of the strategies you can use to help you and your students attain your best outcomes.

Why is it Important for Teachers to Have Effective Communication Skills?

Teachers benefit from good communication skills in three different areas: when communicating with students, with parents, and with colleagues.

Communicating with Students

Communication skills are most vital for interactions with students, because the act of teaching itself requires them. In your role, you are responsible for comprehending and breaking down complex information, conveying this information clearly to your students (both verbally and in written resources), presenting in a manner that sustains their attention, and listening to and resolving their questions or problems.

You are also required to adapt content for different learning styles, motivate students to learn, build supportive relationships using encouragement and empathy, manage the classroom, and give feedback – making your classroom a safe and supportive learning environment. All of these things require good communication skills.

The better your communication skills, the more effectively you can perform these tasks. In turn, your students will make more academic progress. Studies have found that the success of students is directly related to interactive, engaging teaching environments formed by able teachers (see Mashburn et al., 2008). Additionally, the way that you communicate with your students can positively affect their perceptions of school, their role in the classroom, themselves and their abilities, and their motivation to succeed (see Dobbs & Arnold, 2009).

However, this works both ways: poor communication skills – and thus poor methods of teaching – causes students’ comprehension levels to drop, and may affect their academic progress negatively. It could also lead to students lacking motivation, disliking school, and believing themselves to be unable to achieve. This could have consequences for the rest of their lives.

Therefore, effective communication between teachers and students is extremely important. It allows you to perform your job well, with positive results for your pupils. An added benefit is that your class can use you as a model for improving their own communication skills, which are critical for their development and future learning.

Effective coaching and mentoring can help boost your communication with students as you focus on three key areas: foundations, principles and practice.

Looking to learn more?

Explore how to coach with consistency and plan for an effective mentoring session with our Coaching and Mentoring course which has been designed to give you the practical skills needed to get started with your successful teaching career.

Communicating with Parents

As a teacher, you will also need to communicate effectively with parents. This could take place through a variety of mediums, including phone calls, emails, and in-person meetings, so you must be skilled with both verbal and written language.

This is particularly important because you will often have to discuss sensitive subjects – such as behaviour issues, learning problems, and the student’s strengths and weaknesses – without making the parent feel confused or defensive. It is vital that you are clear, but tactful, at all times. Failing to communicate well with parents could lead to doubts on their part about your ability to teach, and possible complaints, as well as a lack of understanding of their child’s performance and educational needs.

Communicating with Colleagues

Teaching does not always involve independent work – it also requires collaboration. Whether you are planning lessons together, updating your colleagues on certain students’ progress, or sharing tips about how to handle issues in the classroom, good communication skills will be of use to you.

You might also utilise these skills in staff meetings and training sessions – being able to lead meetings, present in front of varied audiences, and give feedback to other staff could illustrate to your colleagues and superiors that you are a good candidate for promotion.

As we have demonstrated, there are many reasons why effective communication skills are imperative in a teaching career. In the next section, we will give you some strategies to improve your communication in the classroom.

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Strategies for Effective Communication in the Classroom

What we classify as ‘good’ or ‘effective’ communication depends on the context. When you are presenting in front of the class, you will use different strategies than when you are facilitating a group discussion, or speaking to a student one-to-one.

Here, we will suggest eight strategies that are applicable to each of the contexts that you may encounter.

1. Create a safe learning environment with supportive relationships

It has been proven that supportive relationships between students and teachers have a positive impact on class engagement, participation, and the students’ achievements. It has even been suggested that these supportive relationships may negate the tendency for low-income students to have poorer school outcomes (see O’Connor & McCartney, 2007).

This is because, when students feel supported, they are more comfortable expressing their own thoughts and ideas in class discussions, attempting challenges, and asking when they need help. Higher levels of engagement and participation then lead to better developed knowledge and greater achievement.

A supportive learning environment is built using communication: you should get to know your students well, and show them that they are safe from judgement or humiliation in your classroom. It is a good idea to learn students’ names early in the year, and use them often. Have an open-door policy for students to come and talk to you about any issues, and be empathic and caring when you interact with them at all times: don’t tell them off for not understanding and don’t ridicule their thoughts and ideas.

Additionally, you should recognise that some students don’t feel comfortable talking in front of the class. If you do ask them to participate, you could use scaffolding (such as sentence starters) to make them feel safer doing so. However, forced participation is usually unnecessary: it is likely that quieter students have excellent listening skills, and are learning just as much, despite not sharing their own thoughts.

2. More teamwork

Teamwork and group discussions contribute to making the classroom a more comfortable environment. By working in small groups, students are able to share their ideas more easily, and improve their own communication skills. These activities also give them a good opportunity to ask you questions and get feedback on their work, leading to effective communication between you, better understanding of the lesson, and academic benefits.

You could also try to improve your communication skills through teamwork with your colleagues. Planning more lessons together, sharing ideas, and problem-solving together will develop the way that you interact.

3. Body language

Communication is not only verbal, but also non-verbal: you should ensure that the signals you are giving out through your body language are positive, confident, and engaging.

For example, making eye contact with students when you are talking to them shows that you are being supportive and attentive. Making eye contact is also important when you are presenting to the whole class – it motivates everyone to pay attention, which helps them to learn, as well as making them feel involved. In order to make more eye contact, you may have to learn your lesson content more thoroughly in advance, so that you don’t have to look away to read your notes.

As you teach, you should use gestures to emphasise your words. This increases the interactivity of the lesson, making it more visually interesting and hence, more memorable. Keep your arms open – do not fold them – and use smiles, nods, and thumbs up to encourage students when they participate. Moving around the classroom while you teach can help to remove the barrier between you and your students, and gives them less opportunity to zone out or get distracted.

Body language is also important when dealing with negative behaviour. To avoid being confrontational, ensure that you don’t stand directly above or in front of a student, point, or invade their personal space. It may be effective to get down to their level and talk quietly about their behaviour, or speak to them outside the classroom, to avoid drawing too much attention. Remember that students’ behaviour is also a form of communication, and think about what it is telling you.

You can find out more about dealing with challenging behaviour from our dedicated article: ‘ How to Deal with Challenging Behaviour in the Classroom ’.

4. Active listening

The ‘listening’ component of communication should not be overlooked – over 60% of all misunderstandings result from poor listening (Caruso, Colombi, & Tebbit, 2017).

Practising good listening in the classroom can benefit you in two ways. Firstly, you will be a model for your students, who will improve their own listening skills, and thus retain lessons better. Secondly, by using active listening , you can correct misunderstandings and extend learning, resulting in a better education for your students.

Active listening involves listening carefully to what your students say, checking that you have understood them correctly (for example, repeating back to them what you think they have said), building on their ideas, and challenging or questioning them. It is the best approach to use to foster understanding in the classroom, and is an excellent example of effective communication.

5. Feedback

Feedback is also an important component of communication in the classroom. There have been many studies focusing on feedback in recent years. It has been shown that positive feedback (i.e. praise) builds students’ confidence – making them more likely to believe that they can succeed – and helps to create a supportive environment and increase academic success.

You can also use positive feedback to modify students’ behaviour: for example, praising a student for having their hand up is likely to cause the students around them to stop ‘shouting out’ and copy this behaviour, in order to be praised themselves (Howell, Caldarella, Korth, & Young, 2014).

However, positive feedback can be detrimental to learning if it is used without being deserved, or too frequently (Cannella, 1986). Phrases such as ‘good job’ or ‘beautiful’ may not motivate students, because they do not understand what they are specifically being praised for, while over-praising can cause children to lack interest in situations where they are not being praised (e.g. Howell et al., 2014). As a result, you should give specific, deserved positive feedback – use the student’s name, explicitly state what they are doing right, and thank them enthusiastically.

Negative feedback is used more often in the classroom than positive feedback, and many researchers have argued that this should not be the case. While negative feedback can help students to improve – for example, by changing their behaviour, or trying harder at a task (Conroy et al., 2014) – it does also contribute to conflictual relationships with students (e.g. Allen et al., 2013). It has also been suggested that it can cause lower levels of academic success (e.g. Wu et al., 2010).

These disadvantages are compounded by the fact that the negative feedback is not always successful – students tend to continue the behaviour despite negative feedback around 20% of the time – and it tends to decrease students’ motivation and interest in a task (e.g. Spilt et al., 2016). Other consequences include decreased self-worth, which impacts children’s academic success (e.g. Harter, 2012).

As such, you should ensure that you use negative feedback only sparingly; for general classroom management, using positive feedback to illustrate the behaviour that you want to see is much more effective. In situations where you do have to use negative feedback, you should explicitly address the behaviour you want to stop, give an explanation why (e.g. ‘don’t do that. I don’t think it is safe’), allow the student to think about morality (e.g. ‘are you doing the right thing?’), or use a simple form of ‘no’ (e.g. ‘no’, ‘mm mm’). These techniques increase the effectiveness of negative feedback, and decrease any detrimental impact that it might have.

Finally, you should give students the opportunity to give you feedback on your lessons or teaching styles. This shows that you value their opinion, increases communication between you, and helps you to improve your teaching and their learning.

6. Sense of humour

The use of humour in the classroom has been found to increase learning, self-motivation, and positive relationships between students and teachers (see Segrist & Hupp, 2015). It allows you to establish a rapport with your class, and keep them interested in the lesson.

For example, you might tell jokes or funny anecdotes, give light-hearted personal examples, or laugh at students’ own jokes. However, you should ensure that you don’t use negative humour – where you demean or embarrass students – or humour that is either irrelevant to the lesson, disturbing, violent, sexual, or forced. Only continue to use humour that has received a positive response from the class (such as laughing).

7. Technical skills

Using up-to-date teaching aids such as computers, videos, and online resources is another way to keep students engaged and reinforce their understanding. It can also increase the effectiveness of your communication with students with different learning styles, who may benefit more from online resources than more old-fashioned ones. Try to work some of these aids into your lessons on a regular basis.

8. Be clear

Good communication – and good teaching – is about understanding and being understood. For this reason, you should always be clear and unambiguous, and adapt your words to your audience. Think about this while writing lesson plans (ensure that you break complex ideas down into simple, logical parts for your audience to understand), but also while you interact with the children after presenting the lesson. For example, you may wish to check that your teaching was clear by asking your students questions, or requesting summaries of the lesson in their own words.

When you ask your students questions, use appropriate scaffolding to ensure that they understand exactly what you are asking. If you teach in a primary school, your students’ language abilities won’t yet be fully developed. Closed questions (eliciting yes/no responses), forced alternatives (such as ‘is he angry or happy?’), and sentence starters (e.g. ‘a noun is…’) are most effective for communicating with younger children. For older children, open-ended questions (such as ‘how do you think…’ or ‘tell me about…’) allow them to extend their thinking and develop their problem-solving skills.

The importance of effective communication in the classroom should not be underestimated – it can have an impact on your students’ academic progress, feelings of self-worth, perceptions of school, and your own career. Using communication strategies like the ones we have detailed above could allow you to become a more successful teacher who better meets your students’ needs.

Further Resources:

CPD Courses for Teaching Staff
What is Effective Questioning & Why Should I Use it in My Classroom?
Professional Development Plan for Teachers
What is Contextual Safeguarding & Why is it Important?
Marking Symbols: A Guide for Primary School Teachers
How to Set Behaviour Expectations in the Classroom
How Understanding Different Types of Memory Can Help in Teaching
What is Adaptive Teaching?
Metacognition in the Classroom: Benefits & Strategies
How to Create a Positive Learning Environment
How to Use Assessment for Learning in Schools
Promoting Effective Communication with Parents in Education
Communication Skills Quiz

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The Role of Communication Skills in Teaching Process

Classroom is a complex communication space. Communication processes involves verbal, nonverbal and para verbal components and is designed to mediate student and teacher behaviour. The impact that partners exercised over others depends on the quality and depth of interaction. If long thought that working style of the teacher, the way they organize their speech is very important for the efficiency of its business, the focus now moving towards how partners are picking up mutual interaction and means which are co-participants. In order to develop communication skills in relation with the teaching process we must identify the future needs. That is why this article intend to established how important this process is and which are the implication of this action. Effective communication, especially in educational field is based on the ability to express your own ideas and views clearly, with confidence and concisely, permanently adapting your content and style to the class. Interaction between teachers and students can contribute to effective communication in the classroom or may be the source of problematic situations. Keywords: Communication skills teaching-learning process classroom management school behaviour

Introduction

The concept of communicative competence has evolved a lot, encompassing areas of knowledge today increasingly wider. Council of Europe considers that there are six components in communication skills: language skills, socio-linguistic competence, discourse competence, socio-cultural competence, strategic competence and social competence. Communicative competence is considered by many authors as a global capability comprising communicative capacities of individuals acquired throughout life. They can be improved by applying a special methodology that would help develop communicative competence.

The concept of competence is subject to several different approaches depending on the area it evokes. Educational field suggests a specific approach for this. In science education are many definitions of the concept of competence:

- Competence is always associated with a situation or with a set of situations and also with experience of a person or group of persons;

- Skills development is based on the mobilization and coordination by a person or group of people of a wealth of resources: personal resources and resources for specific circumstances of the situation and its context

Competence is built in case of a complete and social acceptable processing of the situation;

Competence resulting from the processing of dynamic and constructive situation; competence should not be confused with the process; process consists in processing the situation by a person or group of persons; a person or group of persons are declared competent after processing situation;

Competence is not predictable and therefore can not be defined a priori; it depends on a person or group of persons, on their own knowledge and understanding the situation. What they imagine can do in this situation, available resources, constraints and obstacles that comes in this situation, are depending of their areas of expertise etc. ( Chiş, 2005 ).

The research goal

To evaluate the role and importance of communication skills in the teaching-learning process

Specific objectives

To analyze the components of curriculum implemented aimed at developing communication skills in the system of initial training (methods, teaching aids used, the design of educational situations, evaluation);

To identify perceptions on the importance of communication skills in the didactic field;

To identify the future needs in order to develop communication skills in relation with the teaching process ( Jonnaert, Ettayebi, Defise, 2010 );

Methods and investigative tools

Given the fact that the theme of research is relatively new in Romania and there are no previous data significant to define more clearly the problem, we propose in this investigation a qualitative approach, exploratory, identifying general aspects about skills development related with teacher’s communication abilities.

The main method used will be investigation based on group interviews. Using this method will permit us to capture a global perspective on the importance of communication skills, but also differences in perception of the causes of these differences and also will give us some examples.

Compiling the information we developed an group interview guide adapted to this group investigated. The main issues addressed in the interviews were:

the importance of the curriculum changes related with the communication skills development;

teaching methods used to develop communication skills;

ways of measuring communication skills;

concrete situations for the use of communication skills in teaching process;

proposals to improve the system of initial and continuing training from the perspective of improving the communication skills of students

The investigated population

The categories of subjects investigated are:

• 8 students who are already teachers in pre-school or primary education process

The target group was represented by teachers selected from the final year of study. There were conducted 2 group interviews with teachers. These teachers teach subjects in which developing communication skills is a priority: - Romanian language and literature, foreign language; school counselling, civic education, information technology and communication.

Findings on teacher perspective on communication skills

The target group is build from teachers because they can best evaluate the way that initial training ensures the development of communication skills of graduates. Because on the one hand, the teaching-learning process is an act of communication, and a teacher is one of the two central factors of educational communication. On the other, teachers designs, organize and implements content related to the development of communication skills and assess their influence on their students. This research was based on interviews with 2 groups of students who are also teachers who teach and study subjects with the greatest impact on the development of communication skills.

The interview focused on inventory opinions of teachers / students on communication skills from the following perspectives: - the importance of developing communication skills for students - teaching style contribution to the development of communication skills; - Teaching-learning methodology used to develop these kinds of skills; - Ways to assess communication skills used in teaching.

Respondents supported the need and importance of developing communication skills both at individual and social level and also at the professional one. They emphasized primarily the role of communication skills in personality development. This argument is very important for students because their work at school and at home is based on how they manage these skills. The teachers also sustained that the idea building strong communication skills is a must in today's society because communication is the activity of the utmost importance. This is because the new communication technologies bring a lot of information and therefore there is need to teach students how to select and process it.

Contemporary society has produced significant changes in the spoken language, with both, positive and negative effects. People put less and less emphasis on the literary aspect of the language and increasingly on the functional one determine various communication problems. In this context, the teachers interviewed say that, for better social integration, any student should have the skills to select, to use, communicate and create information. Overall, the teachers appreciated the fact that the new curriculum, has moved from centering learning on memorizing and reproduction of knowledge to focus on skills training and practical skills and the delivery of a rigorously model conducted autonomy in educational activity. This is very important because it allows students to develop more consistent these communication skills.

In terms of the need for teacher training regarding adopting a teaching style that contribute to the development of communication skills, interview participants showed that more practice is needed in this situation. Thus, they proposed activities such as: participation in specialized courses, practice in schools on the subject, and applications in summer schools.

Through the specific school subjects, through content or features for their teaching-learning activity as a communicational situation, teachers made an inventory of a variety of communication skills developed at students:

using a rich vocabulary;

at list a minimal use of specialized language;

use of language (in the general context of communication);

use of Information Technology;

information search skills;

argumentation skills of personal opinions;

non-verbal skills;

networking skills in group

Teachers appreciate that including in school curricula of specific themes centred on developing communication skills do not automatically lead to develop those skills. To achieve this goal, the new curriculum requires appropriate teaching strategies and consistent teacher training programs. The main goal of this research was to determine the perception of teachers / students on the needs of developing communication skills that underlie the activities of teaching and learning ( Muste, 2012 ).

Interaction between teachers and students can contribute to effective communication in the classroom or may be the source of problematic situations and even school violence. In the centre of this approach in action is the teacher and he knows how to communicate with his students. Hoy and Winstein (in Evertson, Weinstein, 2006) by a synthesis of different perspectives from the literature reveals three important aspects that put a teacher in position to be considered a "good teacher" by his students: (1) the ability to establish positive interrelations with students (to demonstrate that "cares" for them); (2) ability to exercise authority and provide structure and clarity of rules without doing so in a rigid, threatening way, or following the use of punishment; and (3) the ability to make learning fun by using creative teaching strategies.

Chiş, V. (2005) –Pedagogia contemporană – pedagogia pentru competenţe, Editura Casa Cărţii de Ştiinţă, Cluj-Napoca
Evertson, Weinstein (2011) – Handbook of clasroom management, Routledge, New York
Jonnaert Ph., Ettayebi M., Defise R. (2010) - Curriculum şi competenţe: un cadru operaţional; trad. din fr. Iulia MateiuCluj-Napoca: Editura ASCR.
Muste, D. (2012), Stimularea motivaţiei la elevi prin intermediul unui program educaţional specific, Ed. Presa Universitară Clujeană, Cluj-Napoca

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About this article

Publication date.

22 December 2016

Article Doi

https://doi.org/10.15405/epsbs.2016.12.52

978-1-80296-017-4

Future Academy

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Edition number.

1st Edition

Teacher, teacher training, teaching skills, teaching techniques, special education, children with special needs

Cite this article as:

Muste, D. (2016). The Role of Communication Skills in Teaching Process. In V. Chis, & I. Albulescu (Eds.), Education, Reflection, Development - ERD 2016, vol 18. European Proceedings of Social and Behavioural Sciences (pp. 430-434). Future Academy. https://doi.org/10.15405/epsbs.2016.12.52

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Teachers’ Communication Skills for Students’ Academic Success Essay (Critical Writing)

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General Design

Literature review.

The selected research article for this discussion is “Communication Skills of a Teacher and Its Roles in the Development of the Students’ Academic Success” by Alamgir Khan, Salahuddin Khan, Syed Zia-Ul-Islam, and Manzoor Khan. The purpose of this paper is to analyze and critique it.

After going through the document, it is agreeable that it is not well written. Some of the sentences are poorly punctuated or grammatically incorrect. For example, the paper reads: “As the variety of skills are needed for good teaching and teachers” (Khan, Khan, Zia-Ul-Islam, & Khan, 2017, p. 18). Although the authors have avoided the use of jargon, it is evident that the article is poorly organized.

The title of the report is ambiguous, unclear, and poorly formulated or developed. However, the abstract gives a clear overview of the entire study, including the sample, research problem, methodology, findings, and conclusions.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate and understand the role of practical communication skills in supporting students’ performance. The authors present such a purpose in a transparent manner. However, they failed to offer a problem statement for the study.

Research Aims/Objectives/Questions

The researchers have identified the aims and hypothesis of the intended study clearly. It is also evident that they reflect the ideas and discussions presented in the document’s literature review (Khan et al., 2017). This approach explains why the information guides the targeted readers effectively.

The authors have managed to identify what is known regarding the suggested topic. For instance, they begin by highlighting the unique attributes associated with communication skills in the learning environment and how they can empower learners to achieve their aims. However, the authors indicate that the existing ideas regarding the role of such competencies in improving or undermining the academic success of the targeted learners are limited (Khan et al., 2017). In order to address such gaps, the authors believe that a detailed research study can present evidence-based concepts for empowering future teachers and students.

The use of different articles and publications to develop the work’s literature appears outstanding. This approach made it possible for the authors to present detailed background information about the topic. However, the researchers failed to utilize recent sources since some of them were published over 20 years ago. This means that the information was not up-to-date and could have affected the anticipated outcomes (Khan et al., 2017). The use of classic articles is not evident in the selected theme. However, there are some publications dated less than five years that make the report more informative to the reader.

Some of the sources consulted during the study were primary, thereby making the final document meaningful. Consequently, the literature is well-organized and capable of adding information to the selected field.

Due to the nature of this study, the researchers did not include a control group. Multiple settings were not used for the survey since a general target population was considered (Khan et al., 2017). The selected group was treated equally to ensure that the recorded results or findings were homogenous.

The article clearly identifies the target population. It is notable that 30 percent of physical education students from Pakistan universities were selected for the study (Khan et al., 2017). This sample size was capable of delivering desirable outcomes or findings. Unfortunately, the included and exclusion criteria were not correctly identified. Instead, the authors reveal how 30 percent of the targeted population were considered to be part of the study.

Based on the study design, the sample size was sufficient. The rationale behind this argument is that the participants were capable of presenting timely insights and views regarding the importance of specific communication skills in supporting the learning process of different students.

Ethical Considerations

Ethical consideration remains a critical issue to consider when completing research studies targeting human subjects. The scholars ensured that every participant was informed and updated about the nature of the intended research. The concepts of confidentiality and autonomy were considered throughout the process (Khan et al., 2017). They were also protected from any form of abuse and harm. The relevant authorities or bodies granted ethical approval for this study.

The researchers failed to identify or define the significant concepts and significant that was intended for the study. This gap explains why the reader would be forced to research them in order to understand their meaning and relevance to the entire report.

Study Methods

The research design is clearly identified since the authors developed a powerful tool and used it to pose one-on-one questions to the targeted respondents. They also selected professional attitude skills (PAS) as an appropriate data-gathering instrument. The researchers presented such a model and gave it to field experts. However, the reliability and validity tests were not undertaken while their results were not reported. Additionally, a pilot study was not undertaken.

The authors describe the data collection methods in a transparent manner. It is notable that they developed PAS for the exercise. This model was also presented to 20 field experts to ensure that it was appropriate for the intended study. The researchers relied on the use of personal contact surveys whereby respondents answered specified questions (Khan et al., 2017). This means that the data collection methods have been defined or outlined clearly. The response rate was >25percent, thereby making the study successful.

Study Results

The undertaken statistical test was that of Regression. SPSS Version 20 was used as the best statistical tool for testing the outlined hypothesis and analyzing data. This approach was appropriate based on the nature of the collected information. The total sample is significant to the recorded findings (Khan et al., 2017). It is evident that the researchers managed to present the collected data and results in a proper manner. The narrative is also consistent with the table content.

After going through the selected document, the reader realizes that the results resonate with the discussions and ideas presented in the literature review. Additionally, the promoted communication skills are critical determinants of students’ academic performance and success. The research hypothesis, questions, and objectives have been met after the successful completion of the study (Khan et al., 2017). This fact explains why the reader can acquire numerous insights for empowering more students.

The authors present the implications and significance of the study results. For instance, they explain why policymakers and teachers should consider such insights to improve communication in the learning environment and maximize students’ outcomes (Khan et al., 2017). Unfortunately, they fail to address the limitations of this study. The results obtained after the successful completion of this study inform such conclusions.

The references cited in the text have been indicated in the reference list. This approach makes the selected document convincing and informative to the reader.

Khan, A., Khan, S., Zia-Ul-Islam, S., & Khan, M. (2017). Communication skills of a teacher and its roles in the development of the students’ academic success. Journal of Education and Practice, 8(1), 18-21.

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Bibliography

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8 Ways You Can Improve Your Communication Skills

Your guide to establishing better communication habits for success in the workplace.

Mary Sharp Emerson

A leader’s ability to communicate clearly and effectively with employees, within teams, and across the organization is one of the foundations of a successful business.

And in today’s complex and quickly evolving business environment, with hundreds of different communication tools, fully or partially remote teams, and even multicultural teams spanning multiple time zones, effective communication has never been more important — or more challenging.

Thus, the ability to communicate might be a manager’s most critical skill.

The good news is that these skills can be learned and even mastered.

These eight tips can help you maximize your communication skills for the success of your organization and your career.

1. Be clear and concise

Communication is primarily about word choice. And when it comes to word choice, less is more.

The key to powerful and persuasive communication — whether written or spoken — is clarity and, when possible, brevity.

Before engaging in any form of communication, define your goals and your audience.

Outlining carefully and explicitly what you want to convey and why will help ensure that you include all necessary information. It will also help you eliminate irrelevant details.

Avoid unnecessary words and overly flowery language, which can distract from your message.

And while repetition may be necessary in some cases, be sure to use it carefully and sparingly. Repeating your message can ensure that your audience receives it, but too much repetition can cause them to tune you out entirely.

2. Prepare ahead of time

Know what you are going to say and how you are going to say before you begin any type of communication.

However, being prepared means more than just practicing a presentation.

Preparation also involves thinking about the entirety of the communication, from start to finish. Research the information you may need to support your message. Consider how you will respond to questions and criticisms. Try to anticipate the unexpected.

Before a performance review, for instance, prepare a list of concrete examples of your employee’s behavior to support your evaluation.

Before engaging in a salary or promotion negotiation, know exactly what you want. Be ready to discuss ranges and potential compromises; know what you are willing to accept and what you aren’t. And have on hand specific details to support your case, such as relevant salaries for your position and your location (but be sure that your research is based on publicly available information, not company gossip or anecdotal evidence).

Before entering into any conversation, brainstorm potential questions, requests for additional information or clarification, and disagreements so you are ready to address them calmly and clearly.

3. Be mindful of nonverbal communication

Our facial expressions, gestures, and body language can, and often do, say more than our words.

Nonverbal cues can have between 65 and 93 percent more impact than the spoken word. And we are more likely to believe the nonverbal signals over spoken words if the two are in disagreement.

Leaders must be especially adept at reading nonverbal cues.

Employees who may be unwilling to voice disagreements or concerns, for instance, may show their discomfort through crossed arms or an unwillingness to make eye contact. If you are aware of others’ body language, you may be able to adjust your communication tactics appropriately.

At the same time, leaders must also be able to control their own nonverbal communications.

Your nonverbal cues must, at all times, support your message. At best, conflicting verbal and nonverbal communication can cause confusion. At worst, it can undermine your message and your team’s confidence in you, your organization, and even in themselves.

4. Watch your tone

How you say something can be just as important as what you say. As with other nonverbal cues, your tone can add power and emphasis to your message, or it can undermine it entirely.

Tone can be an especially important factor in workplace disagreements and conflict. A well-chosen word with a positive connotation creates good will and trust. A poorly chosen word with unclear or negative connotations can quickly lead to misunderstanding.

When speaking, tone includes volume, projection, and intonation as well as word choice. In real time, it can be challenging to control tone to ensure that it matches your intent. But being mindful of your tone will enable you to alter it appropriately if a communication seems to be going in the wrong direction.

Tone can be easier to control when writing. Be sure to read your communication once, even twice, while thinking about tone as well as message. You may even want to read it out loud or ask a trusted colleague to read it over, if doing so does not breach confidentiality.

And when engaging in a heated dialogue over email or other written medium, don’t be too hasty in your replies.

If at all possible, write out your response but then wait for a day or two to send it. In many cases, re-reading your message after your emotions have cooled allows you to moderate your tone in a way that is less likely to escalate the conflict.

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5. Practice active listening

Communication nearly always involves two or more individuals.

Therefore, listening is just as important as speaking when it comes to communicating successfully. But listening can be more challenging than we realize.

In her blog post Mastering the Basics of Communication , communication expert Marjorie North notes that we only hear about half of what the other person says during any given conversation.

The goal of active listening is to ensure that you hear not just the words the person is saying, but the entire message. Some tips for active listening include:

Giving the speaker your full and undivided attention
Clearing your mind of distractions, judgements, and counter-arguments.
Avoiding the temptation to interrupt with your own thoughts.
Showing open, positive body language to keep your mind focused and to show the speaker that you are really listening
Rephrase or paraphrase what you’ve heard when making your reply
Ask open ended questions designed to elicit additional information

6. Build your emotional intelligence

Communication is built upon a foundation of emotional intelligence. Simply put, you cannot communicate effectively with others until you can assess and understand your own feelings.

“If you’re aware of your own emotions and the behaviors they trigger, you can begin to manage these emotions and behaviors,” says Margaret Andrews in her post, How to Improve Your Emotional Intelligence .

Leaders with a high level of emotional intelligence will naturally find it easier to engage in active listening, maintain appropriate tone, and use positive body language, for example.

Understanding and managing your own emotions is only part of emotional intelligence. The other part — equally important for effective communication — is empathy for others.

Empathizing with an employee can, for example, make a difficult conversation easier.

You may still have to deliver bad news, but (actively) listening to their perspective and showing that you understand their feelings can go a long way toward smoothing hurt feelings or avoiding misunderstandings.

7. Develop a workplace communication strategy

Today’s workplace is a constant flow of information across a wide variety of formats. Every single communication must be understood in the context of that larger flow of information.

Even the most effective communicator may find it difficult to get their message across without a workplace communication strategy.

A communication strategy is the framework within which your business conveys and receives information. It can — and should — outline how and what you communicate to customers and clients, stakeholders, and managers and employees.

Starting most broadly, your strategy should incorporate who gets what message and when. This ensures that everyone receives the correct information at the right time.

It can be as detailed as how you communicate, including defining the type of tools you use for which information. For example, you may define when it’s appropriate to use a group chat for the entire team or organization or when a meeting should have been summarized in an email instead.

Creating basic guidelines like this can streamline the flow of information. It will help ensure that everyone gets the details they need and that important knowledge isn’t overwhelmed by extraneous minutia.

8. Create a positive organizational culture

The corporate culture in which you are communicating also plays a vital role in effective communication.

In a positive work environment — one founded on transparency, trust, empathy, and open dialogue — communication in general will be easier and more effective.

Employees will be more receptive to hearing their manager’s message if they trust that manager. And managers will find it easier to create buy-in and even offer constructive criticism if they encourage their employees to speak up, offer suggestions, and even offer constructive criticisms of their own.

“The most dangerous organization is a silent one,” says Lorne Rubis in a blog post, Six Tips for Building a Better Workplace Culture . Communication, in both directions, can only be effective in a culture that is built on trust and a foundation of psychological safety.

Authoritative managers who refuse to share information, aren’t open to suggestions, and refuse to admit mistakes and accept criticism are likely to find their suggestions and criticisms met with defensiveness or even ignored altogether.

Without that foundation of trust and transparency, even the smallest communication can be misconstrued and lead to misunderstandings and unnecessary conflict.

Communicating with co-workers and employees is always going to present challenges. There will always be misunderstandings and miscommunications that must be resolved and unfortunately, corporate messages aren’t always what we want to hear, especially during difficult times.

But building and mastering effective communication skills will make your job easier as a leader, even during difficult conversations. Taking the time to build these skills will certainly be time well-spent.

Want to build your skills? Find the program that’s right for you.

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About the Author

Digital Content Producer

Emerson is a Digital Content Producer at Harvard DCE. She is a graduate of Brandeis University and Yale University and started her career as an international affairs analyst. She is an avid triathlete and has completed three Ironman triathlons, as well as the Boston Marathon.

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Home » Blog » General » A Comprehensive Guide to Teaching Communication in Elementary School

A Comprehensive Guide to Teaching Communication in Elementary School

Welcome to my blog! In this comprehensive guide, I will provide you with the best practices for teaching communication skills in elementary school. Communication is a vital skill that plays a crucial role in a child’s academic and social success. By implementing these strategies, you can create a supportive classroom environment and help your students develop strong communication skills.

Understanding Communication

Before we delve into the best practices, let’s first understand what communication is. Communication is the process of exchanging information, thoughts, and feelings between individuals. It involves both verbal and nonverbal cues and is essential for effective interaction.

Effective communication consists of several components, including clear articulation, active listening, and understanding nonverbal cues. By teaching these components, we can help students become effective communicators.

Nonverbal communication is also a crucial aspect of effective communication. It includes body language, facial expressions, and gestures. Teaching students to recognize and interpret nonverbal cues can enhance their communication skills.

Best Practices for Teaching Communication in Elementary School

Now that we have a clear understanding of communication, let’s explore the best practices for teaching communication in elementary school.

Creating a Supportive Classroom Environment

A supportive classroom environment is essential for fostering effective communication. Here are some strategies to create such an environment:

Encouraging active listening: Teach students the importance of listening attentively to others. Encourage them to ask questions and seek clarification when needed.
Promoting empathy and understanding: Teach students to consider others’ perspectives and feelings. Encourage them to be respectful and empathetic towards their peers.
Fostering a safe space for expression: Create an environment where students feel comfortable expressing their thoughts and ideas without fear of judgment. Encourage open discussions and provide opportunities for students to share their opinions.

Developing Language Skills

Language skills are the foundation of effective communication. Here are some strategies to develop language skills:

Building vocabulary through interactive activities: Engage students in vocabulary-building activities such as word games, vocabulary journals, and interactive online resources.
Enhancing grammar and sentence structure: Teach students the rules of grammar and help them improve their sentence structure through practice exercises and interactive lessons.
Encouraging storytelling and narrative skills: Provide opportunities for students to share stories and practice their narrative skills. This can be done through storytelling circles, writing prompts, or drama activities.

Improving Verbal Communication

Verbal communication skills are essential for effective interaction. Here are some strategies to improve verbal communication:

Teaching effective speaking strategies: Teach students techniques for clear and confident speaking, such as maintaining eye contact, using appropriate volume and tone, and organizing their thoughts.
Practicing turn-taking and conversation skills: Engage students in activities that require turn-taking, such as group discussions and partner work. Teach them the importance of active listening and responding appropriately.
Providing opportunities for public speaking: Create opportunities for students to practice public speaking, such as class presentations or debates. This will help build their confidence and improve their communication skills.

Enhancing Nonverbal Communication

Nonverbal communication plays a significant role in effective communication. Here are some strategies to enhance nonverbal communication:

Teaching body language and facial expressions: Help students understand the importance of body language and facial expressions in conveying messages. Engage them in activities that involve interpreting and mimicking different nonverbal cues.
Promoting active listening through nonverbal cues: Teach students to use nonverbal cues, such as nodding and maintaining eye contact, to show that they are actively listening to others.
Incorporating role-playing and drama activities: Engage students in role-playing and drama activities that require them to use nonverbal communication effectively. This will help them develop their expressive and receptive nonverbal skills.

Utilizing Technology for Communication Skills

Technology can be a valuable tool for teaching communication skills. Here are some ways to incorporate technology:

Introducing educational apps and software: Use educational apps and software that focus on language development and communication skills. These tools can provide interactive and engaging activities for students.
Incorporating multimedia resources for language development: Use multimedia resources, such as videos and audio clips, to enhance language development. These resources can expose students to different accents, speech patterns, and vocabulary.
Encouraging digital communication platforms for collaboration: Utilize digital communication platforms, such as online discussion boards or collaborative documents, to promote communication and collaboration among students.

Strategies for Individualized Instruction

Every student is unique, and some may require individualized instruction to develop their communication skills. Here are some strategies for individualized instruction:

Identifying and Addressing Communication Difficulties

It is essential to identify and address communication difficulties early on. Here are some strategies:

Conducting assessments and screenings: Use assessments and screenings to identify students who may have communication difficulties. This will help you tailor your instruction to meet their specific needs.
Collaborating with other professionals for support: Work with other professionals, such as speech-language pathologists or special education teachers, to develop appropriate intervention plans for students with communication difficulties.
Developing individualized education plans (IEPs): Create individualized education plans (IEPs) for students with communication difficulties. These plans outline specific goals and strategies to support their communication development.

Differentiating Instruction for Diverse Learners

Students come from diverse backgrounds and have different learning styles. Here are some strategies for differentiating instruction:

Adapting materials and activities for various learning styles: Modify materials and activities to cater to different learning styles, such as visual, auditory, or kinesthetic. This will ensure that all students can engage and participate actively.
Providing additional support for students with special needs: Offer additional support, such as visual aids or assistive technology, for students with special needs. Collaborate with special education teachers to develop appropriate accommodations.
Incorporating cultural sensitivity in communication instruction: Recognize and respect students’ cultural backgrounds and incorporate culturally sensitive materials and activities in your instruction. This will help create an inclusive and supportive learning environment.

Collaboration with Parents and Caregivers

Parents and caregivers play a crucial role in supporting their child’s communication development. Here are some strategies for collaboration:

Importance of Involving Parents in Communication Development

Communicate with parents about the importance of communication skills and involve them in their child’s development. Help them understand how they can support their child’s communication skills at home.

Providing Resources and Strategies for Home Practice

Provide parents with resources and strategies they can use to practice communication skills at home. This can include recommended books, websites, or activities that promote language development and communication.

Establishing Open Lines of Communication with Parents

Establish open lines of communication with parents to keep them informed about their child’s progress. Regularly communicate with them through newsletters, emails, or parent-teacher conferences.

Teaching communication skills in elementary school is essential for students’ academic and social success. By implementing the best practices outlined in this comprehensive guide, you can create a supportive classroom environment and help your students develop strong communication skills. Remember, effective communication is a lifelong skill that will benefit your students in all aspects of their lives.

Start your EverydaySpeech Free trial today and discover a wide range of resources and activities to support your students’ communication development. Together, let’s empower our students to become confident and effective communicators!

Preparing for Success: Enhancing Social Communication in Grade 12

Preparing for Success: Enhancing Social Communication in Grade 12 Key Takeaways Strong social communication skills are crucial for academic success and building meaningful relationships in Grade 12. Social communication includes verbal and non-verbal communication,...

Preparing for Success: Enhancing Social Communication in Grade 12 Preparing for Success: Enhancing Social Communication in Grade 12 As students enter Grade 12, they are on the cusp of adulthood and preparing for the next chapter of their lives. While academic success...

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Teaching Communication Skills in Elementary Schools: Strategies Based in the Science of Reading

December 22, 2023

Teach Communication Skills with the Science of Reading as Your Guide

Join Waterford’s Science of Reading virtual summit to explore how the brain learns to read and get strategies for effective, research-based instruction from literacy expert and Vice President of Curriculum Julie Christensen. Guidance for teachers and administrators is included!

Plus, find upcoming and on-demand video series led by early education experts through the Webinar Library , featuring topics chosen with administrators in mind, like:

Impactful Family Engagement Made Easy
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Professional Learning: Teaching the Science of Reading

What Are Communication Skills and Why Are They Important for Early Literacy Development?

What role does communication play in a student’s ability to read? A strong connection exists between reading comprehension and the other domains of language. Early oral language skills are connected to a student’s reading comprehension development later on. Speaking, listening, and writing skills not only work in tandem with reading development but also heavily influence and support it.

The opposite is also true. As students learn to read, their oral language skills and writing skills tend to improve as well.

For these reasons, designing our instruction to encompass and connect the reading, writing, listening, and speaking domains leads to strong overall language proficiency.

How to Develop Verbal and Written Communication Skills in the Classroom

A language-rich environment helps students build their verbal communication skills. Providing continuous opportunities for active listening and purposeful conversation is the key to building oral language skills. The development of these oral language skills means that students are expanding their vocabulary and background knowledge as well as their understanding of increasingly complex language structures, all of which support reading comprehension and writing skills.

A good conversation includes listening to understand and speaking to respond. To encourage this, make room throughout the school day for plenty of high-quality conversation. Read-alouds provide good opportunities for interactive discussion before, during, and after reading. Teachers can share these narrated tales with families to encourage read-aloud experiences at home.

Facilitate conversation for students in pairs, small groups, or with the whole class. Advise teachers to give students a prompt and tie it to something they are learning in class. As students practice speaking to prompts and listening to their classmates’ responses, they will strengthen their oral communication skills, which in turn boosts skills with written communication.

Written communication involves the reading and writing domains. We read to gather information and write to share information. Reading and writing skills are closely connected. Students should write about what they are reading and read to inform their writing. We should give students daily opportunities to write for various purposes and for various audiences. Journaling exercises provide excellent writing practice for students of all ages. Through journaling, students learn to reflect and share their viewpoints—skills that are crucial in written and verbal communication.

Modeling good communication skills is also important. After all, communication skills are central to skilled teaching—whether getting to know a class at the beginning of the school year or holding parent-teacher conferences. As educators in your school teach academic skills like reading, math, science, and more, encourage them to also model and teach communication skills .

The bottom line is this: to help students learn about anything, we should guide them to read about it, write about it, and engage in conversation about it.

5 Communication Skills Activities for Elementary Students

Communication skills allow students to receive and share information. By modeling and teaching communication skills to students, educators can help them engage more in class and interact with their peers to learn and grow.

To build students’ communication skills, share these free resources with teachers or families in your districts as classroom or home learning resources. Each one is available to download in English and Spanish.

2. Word tree (Spanish: Árbol de palabras ): Keep track of vocabulary words in class with this printable word tree worksheet, then encourage students to use those new words in conversation.

3. Sentence builder activity (Spanish: Constructores de oraciones ): With this downloadable activity, students can practice structuring and writing a sentence.

4. Journal page (Spanish: Página de diario ): Pair this printable journal page with this list of prompts to encourage reflection while students practice their communication and writing skills.

5. The Three Little Pigs (Spanish: Los tres cochinitos ): Read this book with students and then extend the learning with communication-building activities designed for use in the classroom and at home ( Spanish ).

Read Waterford’s full Foundations of the Science of Reading article series and learn how to support your teachers with research-driven strategies as they plan for classroom instruction. Continue learning with three more articles in the series:

The Science of Reading: How to Understand and Apply the Basics
How to Teach Phonics and Decoding Skills
How the Science of Reading Informs Waterford.org Curriculum

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Essay on Importance of Communication for Students and Children

500+ words essay on importance of communication:.

Communication is one of the important tools that aid us to connect with people. Either you are a student or a working professional, good communication is something that will connect you far ahead. Proper communication can help you to solve a number of issues and resolve problems. This is the reason that one must know how to communicate well. The skills of communication essential to be developed so that you are able to interact with people. And able to share your thoughts and reach out to them. All this needs the correct guidance and self-analysis as well.

Meaning of Communication

The word communication is basically a process of interaction with the people and their environment . Through such type of interactions, two or more individuals influence the ideas, beliefs, and attitudes of each other.

Such interactions happen through the exchange of information through words, gestures, signs, symbols, and expressions. In organizations, communication is an endless process of giving and receiving information and to build social relationships.

Importance of Communication

Communication is not merely essential but the need of the hour. It allows you to get the trust of the people and at the same time carry better opportunities before you. Some important points are as follows –

Help to Build Relationships

No matter either you are studying or working, communication can aid you to build a relationship with the people. If you are studying you communicate with classmates and teachers to build a relationship with them. Likewise in offices and organizations too, you make relationships with the staff, your boss and other people around.

Improve the Working Environment

There are a number of issues which can be handled through the right and effective communication. Even planning needs communication both written as well as verbal. Hence it is essential to be good in them so as to fill in the communication gap.

Foster strong team

Communication helps to build a strong team environment in the office and other places. Any work which requires to be done in a team. It is only possible if the head communicates everything well and in the right direction.

Find the right solutions

Through communication, anyone can find solutions to even serious problems. When we talk, we get ideas from people that aid us to solve the issues. This is where communication comes into play. Powerful communication is the strength of any organization and can help it in many ways.

Earns more respect

If your communication skills are admirable, people will love and give you respect. If there is any problem, you will be the first person to be contacted. Thus it will increase your importance. Hence you can say that communications skills can make a big change to your reputation in society.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Don’t Go Overboard With Your Point

The conversation is about to express your thoughts. And to let the other person know what you feel. It is not mean to prove that your point is correct and the other person is wrong. Don’t Overboard other With Your Point.

Watch Your Words

Before you say something to Watch Your Words. At times, out of anger or anxiousness, we say somethings that we must not say. Whenever you are in a professional meeting or in some formal place, where there is a necessity of communicating about your product or work then it is advised to practice the same beforehand

Communication is the greatest importance. It is important to sharing out one’s thoughts and feelings to live a fuller and happier life. The more we communicate the less we suffer and the better we feel about everything around. However, it is all the more necessary to learn the art of effective communication to put across ones point well.

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Five Characteristics of an Effective Communication Arts Teacher

What are the characteristics of an effective communication arts teacher? This article deals with the five characteristics of teachers who would like to teach communication arts subjects effectively. This article also tackles the three levels of conceptualization and organization in language teaching, namely: the approach, method, and technique.

Are you a student majoring in English? Or perhaps, you have been teaching English for so long but are still interested in honing your craft in teaching? To begin with, you must be familiar with the characteristics of an effective communication arts teacher.

1. A competent user of the language

2. ability to interact with students.

Interacting is not just merely asking the low-level type of questions where the students give their responses from a book. Good interaction is when students present their answers by relating what they have learned to their own experiences or current issues. Or when they give their opinions or ask thought-provoking questions to their classmates.

Thus, as a teacher, there is a need for you to diagnose your students’ needs and interests and plan for activities that will improve their critical thinking ability.

3. Interested in literature

There are great books and literary pieces to read about and share with your students. Literature is the best way to educate the heart and minds of students.

Teach your students the knowledge they need for work and teach them how to be more compassionate with others and live life without prejudices or biases due to skin color and religious affiliations. After all, we are all human beings who need to love and be loved.

4. Adopts a positive attitude towards communication arts

Sometimes, you may not like a particular subject matter or activity to teach in class. However, if that subject matter or activity is mandatory, you still have to show your enthusiasm and interest in teaching it, for interest begets interest.

Even if you wouldn’t tell the students of your teaching attitude, they could discern if you are interested or not in imparting knowledge to them. So, you better adopt a positive attitude and always wear a smile while teaching them.

5. Applies various teaching approaches

A good communication arts teacher should apply the various approaches, methods, or strategies in teaching. Since you will be teaching students from different backgrounds, interests, and needs, it is, therefore, vital to have a repertoire of approaches, methods, techniques, and teaching strategies to meet your students’ individual needs.

Approach, Method, and Technique

Once you have a technique in mind, think about how you will implement it in class. The classroom procedures or practices you have learned can help you carry out the plans.

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Top 10 Communication Skills For Teachers: A Depth Discussion

Teachers are the main backbone of our education; they make things easy for us and possible in some easy steps. Communication skills for teachers can make the education process easy and help students to understand smoothly. Let’s discuss the thing in detail today.

Teachers play a major role in our classroom-based education system. They help children and adults learn and study. Many students look forward to school and learning as it brings them happiness. A teacher makes things easy for their students.

Students need a teacher who can make things simple and easy to study. Teachers make their students study and follow through with their homework easily. They motivate them to do their best.

Table of Contents

Best Methods of Communication Skills for Teachers

There are several methods of communication skills for teachers that they can use and make their classes enjoyable. So, we will discuss some effective skills that can make your classes more live and interactive. Those are:

Interactive lesson delivery
Ask Questions
Q&A Sessions
Group Discussion
Class Tests

With these methods, a teacher can communicate properly with his students, and in this way, students can learn better lessons. Teachers should cope with all these techniques, and you can get better results from these methods.

The importance of communication skills for teachers

Communication skills are essential for teachers, not only because they are responsible for ensuring that pupils learn effectively, but also because good communication can break down barriers and build relationships. Good communication allows teachers to understand their pupils’ feelings and motivations, which helps them to better intervene when needed. It also enables teachers to provide clear instruction and enforce rules in a non-harsh way. Furthermore, effective communication between parents and teachers promotes positive student outcomes by establishing trust and cooperation between the two parties involved in raising children.

Communication skills are critical for you as an instructor. Everyone benefits from good communication. It has a positive impact on relationships, insight, and modeling good interactions.

Teachers need to be able to listen attentively and understand the needs of their students to provide quality education. They also need to be skilled at building relationships with their students and colleagues, as well as maintaining constructive communication throughout the school year.

Effective communication can help prevent conflicts from arising and enable an effective collaboration between teachers and students. It can also promote creativity by allowing educators to share new ideas or strategies with their peers easily. Finally, good communication skills allow educators to effectively resolve issues that may arise.

In short, being able to make successful connections with others is an essential skill for anyone in today’s society, which includes teachers.

Importance of communication in teaching

Teachers know about their subjects properly and need to communicate with the students. They conduct sessions and teach students, so communication skills here are very important. We understand that a teacher can teach a student well with proper communication.

There are many things teachers have to think about when they are teaching classes. They have to consider all of the student’s individual needs and desires. Teachers must ensure that they prepare their lessons to match the class’s interests. In addition, teachers must ensure that they involve the students in positive discussions and engagements that will make them interactive.

They should take time to teach students and be friendly to each other.

The best teachers are also enthusiastic. They show excitement about what they are teaching and can even involve the students in learning. Students should be motivated to listen to what the teacher says and how they get results. You should encourage them to ask questions if they need help understanding something. Finally, they should enjoy their classes.

Communication for teachers

Communication is very important for teachers; they need to develop their skills to reach close to their students. As we discuss communication skills, online and offline courses will develop your skills. You, both the party, have to communicate with each other from the heart. Best Parent Teacher Communication App helps you to know details about their communication.

Many people want to teach and may have a passion for it. A teacher should teach adequately; then, they should ask the students to ask him questions. If there is no question, they should ask the students about their understanding. Communication between teachers and students is the key to education.

In this way, student and teacher communication is fruitful. You have to make things easy for the students, and in this way, they will also learn better. It is also an excellent way to establish a relationship with the students. You can use some tools in your lessons to assist you in achieving this goal.

Top 10 Communication Skills For Teachers

here is a unique top 10 Communication Skills for Teachers:

Active Listening: This involves paying close attention to what students are saying, both verbally and nonverbally. It also means asking clarifying questions and showing that you understand their perspective.
Clear and Concise Communication: Use language that is appropriate for the age and developmental level of your students. Avoid using jargon or technical terms that they may not understand.
Positive Body Language: Make eye contact, smile, and use open gestures to convey warmth and approachability.
Empathy: Try to understand how your students are feeling and respond accordingly. Be patient and supportive, especially when they are struggling.
Respectful Tone: Treat all students with respect, regardless of their academic ability, background, or behavior. Avoid using sarcasm, put-downs, or other forms of negativity.
Effective Questioning: Use a variety of question types to assess student understanding, promote critical thinking, and encourage participation.
Timely Feedback: Provide feedback to students in a timely and constructive manner. Be specific about what they did well and how they can improve.
Cultural Sensitivity: Be aware of and respect the cultural backgrounds of your students. Avoid using stereotypes or making assumptions about their beliefs or values.
Technology Integration: Use technology to enhance communication, such as online discussion forums, instant messaging, or video conferencing.
Collaboration: Collaborate with other teachers, parents, and administrators to ensure that all students are receiving the communication they need to succeed.

By developing these communication skills, teachers can create a more positive and productive learning environment for all students.

What is communication in teaching and learning

For teaching, you have to communicate with the students properly, and they will be able to learn better. In the case of learning, you have to reach your teacher or mentor to know better; these are both sides of communication where you can do better. Both student and teacher should have a straightforward relationship to reach each other.

Students usually enjoy learning a lot more when taught with another person’s help. This means that you must always work together when you are in school. It is very important that you are a team member and then you can learn better. You know how to play and win when you both play as a team.

If you are a student, you might find it challenging to follow your teacher when you have to learn alone. It would help if you were a student to know what your teacher wants you to understand, then stick to it and do some after-research. When you are working with another person, you will be able to learn better than you would when you are alone.

Read to know: Are Public School Teachers Federal Employees ?

Effective communication in the classroom

In the classroom, the teacher should adequately explain the subject very well. Also, eye contact is very important when you reach every student individually. Also, the Q&A session will improve your communication with students in the classroom.

We should focus more on teaching children about learning skills. We should help them learn how to communicate in the classroom and discuss with others. To help children better understand, we should use many different ways to teach them. One of the most effective ways to help children is to apply some games and activities there.

The more we involve children in learning, the better they will be. Teaching methods and techniques used to teach children should be exciting and easy for them to follow. Teachers must know what the students are learning and where they are struggling.

The Importance of communication in schools

In school, the kids are not adults; they need more care and attention to teach things. The importance of communication in schools for learning if their communication is truly effective. But on the other hand, they can learn new things quickly as they are new learners that should have proper input from teachers. If the teacher gives better effort, they can handle the school students better, and you can disseminate new things. On the other side, students should be interested in learning it and complying accordingly.

Children need more patience than adults. They are still in the stage of learning, and they still need to be able to think rationally. The teacher should be patient when the children don’t pay attention to the teacher or don’t listen to them. Don’t worry that your students may not hear you, and they may be rude to you.

The teacher must accept the students’ behavior and explain things to them patiently, even though they do not like it. It’s also easy to learn a new topic from younger kids. When you teach your children something new, you are helping them to learn a few new things. Similarly, when the students are interested in learning things, the teacher will get interested too.

How to communicate effectively as a teacher

To be a teacher, you have to deliver your knowledge to students; for this purpose, you have to make it easy, and, on the other hand, they can make the students communicate with them. The teaching style should be communicative, and students will cope with that.

For those who want to teach, knowing that students learn better when they love it and feel interested is essential. To be a good teacher, you must have an open mind and a pleasant attitude. Understanding what makes your students respond to the teacher’s query is necessary. It is also significant to have a way of discussing with your students early. When the students have much interest, they will focus on the topic, and similarly, the teacher will appeal to explain it easily.

Students learn best when they have an opportunity to communicate with you. They need to be encouraged to feel free to knock you for any information and queries. They will learn faster if they have an opportunity to ask you questions. Being friendly is essential too.

Be familiar with your students so they will want to learn from you. Students will do a better job if you are friendly. Students who like you will learn from you. Similarly, a teacher can select some kids who are their favorite to him to learn things.

Effective communication with teachers

Students also need to communicate with teachers; they should ask questions and be clear about the topics. As you ask questions, you will have a clearer idea about your subjects. This way, you can communicate appropriately with teachers and clarify your queries.

When you ask a question, you are interested to know something. Sometimes, you will ask questions only to clarify certain things. In these situations, you should not feel guilty or inadequate. You can learn a lot by asking something to your teacher. You can also use these questions to clarify what you are supposed to understand. A teacher usually tells a story so that it can help his students to understand things better.

If you need clarification about a specific topic, you should ask someone who has already gone through that situation.

How can a teacher make effective communication in the classroom

Q&A session is convenient; after teaching any matter, the teacher should ask students to ask questions. On the other hand, the teacher can also ask students questions. This way, both parties, teacher, and students, can communicate better and learn more.

This is an excellent way for teachers to communicate with their students. Teachers are great communicators, and they know what they are teaching. A teacher can efficiently conduct a class with this method. It is also an excellent way for a teacher to learn something that he hasn’t known before.

After they have taught a subject to their class, they should answer as many questions as possible. They should also get the students’ feedback. There are several ways to ask questions in a classroom.

There are many reasons why teachers should take a question and answer those queries with their students; it will make the students feel free with the teacher. It is the best way to improve teacher and student communication . You will also know how well the students understand the teacher is teaching and how they are disseminating the message. This way, you can be communicative in the classroom as a teacher.

How teachers communicate with students

Generally, students feel shy to ask things of teachers; the teacher should be easygoing and let students speak. In this way, the teacher can ask students what they have understood.

They should feel comfortable when they are asking the teacher questions. When the students feel comfortable, it will be easy for them to ask things and be very clear on any subjects. They should feel free to talk to the teacher whenever they think to ask anything; in this way, they can be better communicative and get better responses.

If you think that you understand a topic, then ask about it. By doing this, the teacher will let you speak and will be able to communicate with you. Let the teachers know what you have learned so that the teachers can help you to understand topics better.

A good teacher has to be friendly and approachable. He should be ready to listen to his students’ needs and questions. The teacher should refrain from forcing the students to learn what he wants them to. He should respect the different learning levels and abilities of the students.

Role of communication skills in the teaching-learning process

Both parties, student, and teacher, should be communicating; they should talk with each other and improve their learning. So, not only the teachers but also the students should be communicative. Here they both will be getting benefits from this. Besides, it is an essential part of the communication between parents and teachers, for helping students’ successive careers.

Communication is an essential thing in any both-party relationship. Both parties, the student and the teacher, should be open and communicative. It’s necessary to communicate when you are doing something together or when you are doing something related to each other. Teachers should teach the students, and the students should learn what they are taught.

The most important thing about communication is that the audience should listen to what the other person is saying, and in this way, the people get better results. This way, both parties will understand the message more clearly. You can use the phone, text messaging, e-mail, and face-to-face contact. In the olden days, people communicated using letters, but those days were gone.

Why are communication skills important in education?

There are many reasons why good communication skills are important in education. First and foremost, effective communication is essential for sharing information effectively. Teachers need to be able to communicate clearly with their students so that they can understand the material being taught, and students need to be able to listen attentively and engage in class discussions if they want to learn effectively.

Effective communication also helps teachers keep track of student progress, eliminates misunderstandings between students and educators, encourages collaboration among classmates, leads to positive classroom dynamics, enhances teacher-student relationships overall, promotes active learning behavior in pupils, and facilitates disciplinary action when necessary (such as handing out punishment tickets). Supports assignment compliance rates within a school district or university setting…the list goes on. In short – good communication skills promote success both inside and outside the educational institution.

Why are communication skills important for teachers?

Having proficient communication skills is crucial for teachers as it enables them to develop a deeper understanding of their students and foster positive connections with them. Furthermore, effective communication skills assist teachers in resolving conflicts and effective classroom culture management . Teachers need to possess the ability to communicate both with their students and parents .

What should the communication skills of a teacher explain?

A teacher’s communication skills should explain complex concepts clearly, foster student engagement, promote a positive classroom environment, and facilitate effective parent-teacher collaboration.

Final words

Some students like to act tough and intimidate others. If you’re having problems with these students, don’t get into arguments. You must remain calm in these situations and discuss the issue directly with them. Tell them what you expect from them and explain to them why.

We have discussed the Communication skills of teachers. Also, we have mentioned some tips for teachers and students so they can communicate better. Now you know how to develop yourself and be a good teacher in your classroom.

Essay on Importance Of Effective Communication

Students are often asked to write an essay on Importance Of Effective Communication in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Importance Of Effective Communication

Understanding each other.

When people talk and listen well, they understand each other better. Just like friends sharing secrets, clear talking and careful listening make sure no one gets confused or upset. It’s like playing catch – if you throw and catch well, the game goes on smoothly.

Getting Things Done

Good communication is like a key that opens doors. At school or at home, when you explain what you need clearly, it’s easier for others to help you. It’s like giving clear directions to someone so they can find the way without getting lost.

Building Relationships

Talking and listening to each other is the glue in friendships. When we share our thoughts and feelings, we grow closer. It’s like building a bridge between two islands, making it easier to meet in the middle.

Stopping Arguments

When we talk clearly and listen to what others say, many fights can be avoided. It’s like seeing a stop sign before a crash happens – it keeps everyone safe from misunderstandings and hurt feelings.

250 Words Essay on Importance Of Effective Communication

Why good communication matters, learning together.

In school, if a teacher explains lessons in a way that’s easy to get, students can understand and remember things better. If students ask questions and give answers clearly, everyone learns more. This is why being good at talking and listening can help in getting good grades and knowing more.

Work and Teamwork

At work, if a boss tells workers what to do in a simple, clear way, the job gets done right. If team members talk to each other well, they can work together without getting mixed up. This means the work is better and everyone is happier.

Making Friends

With friends, talking and listening are keys to having fun and helping each other. When we share stories and listen to what others say, friendships grow. If we can’t talk well or don’t listen, misunderstandings happen, and feelings might get hurt.

Solving Problems

When there’s a problem, talking in a calm and clear way can fix things faster. If we listen to others and explain our side without getting mad, most problems can be solved easily.

In short, good communication is a superpower for learning, working, making friends, and solving problems. It’s a skill worth getting better at every day.

500 Words Essay on Importance Of Effective Communication

What is effective communication, why is talking well important.

Imagine you have a great idea during a class project. You share it with your friends, and because you explain it well, they all get excited and want to help. This is one reason why talking well is important. It helps us share our ideas and feelings in a way that others can understand. When we talk well, we make friends, solve problems, and get things done.

Listening is Part of Talking Well

Talking isn’t just about speaking; it’s also about listening. When we listen, we learn what others think and feel. This helps us to know them better and to work together well. Good listeners show they care about what the other person is saying. This makes the other person feel important and happy to talk more.

How Does Talking Well Help at School?

Talking well helps with problems.

Sometimes we have disagreements or problems with others. Effective communication helps us solve these problems. When we talk about what’s bothering us in a calm and clear way, we can find solutions faster. It’s like untangling a knot instead of pulling it tighter.

Talking Well is Important for the Future

As you grow up, you will meet many new people and do different things. You might work on big projects, help others, or lead a group. To do these things well, you need to talk well. People who communicate effectively are often chosen for important tasks and leadership roles because others trust them to share ideas and information clearly.

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Apart from these, you can look at all the essays by clicking here .

Effective Communication in Teaching

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Open access
Published: 01 August 2024

To teach is to learn twice, revisited: a qualitative study of how residents learn through teaching in clinical environments

Takeshi Kondo ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-3307-671X 1 , 2 ,
Noriyuki Takahashi ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-1982-7019 3 ,
Muneyoshi Aomatsu ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-1871-7232 4 &
Hiroshi Nishigori ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-0715-7073 5

BMC Medical Education volume 24 , Article number: 829 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

336 Accesses

Metrics details

Teaching helps the teacher’s own learning as a professional—as the saying goes, ‘to teach is to learn twice’. Near-peer teaching in clinical practice has been shown to contribute to the development of both teaching skills and necessary competencies for doctors. Research on how near-peer teachers learn through their teaching roles has mainly focused on classroom learning. However, understanding how the phenomenon of ‘teaching is learning twice’ occurs in clinical settings and its influencing factors is important for the development of a quality workplace learning environment. Therefore, this study investigated how residents learn through teaching in clinical practice and the factors influencing this process.

This study’s methodology is based on the constructivist grounded theory from a social constructivist perspective. Several teaching hospitals in Japan were included, and the study participants were post-graduate year 2 residents (PGY2s) from these hospitals. The interviews were recorded, transcribed into text, and analysed by the first author.

From January 2016 to July 2022, 13 interviews were conducted with 11 PGY2s from nine educational hospitals. The PGY2s played diverse educational roles in clinical settings and learned competencies as physicians in almost all areas through such roles. We found that knowledge transfer and serving as role models stimulated PGY2s’ intrinsic motivation, encouraged reflection on their own experiences, and promoted self-regulated learning. Further, educating about procedural skills and clinical reasoning prompted reflection on their own procedural skills and thought processes. Supporting post-graduate year 1 residents’ reflections led to the refinement of PGY2s’ knowledge and thought processes through the verbal expression of their learning experiences. Such processes required the formation of a community of practice. Thus, education promoted learning through reflection and clarified the expert images of themselves that PGY2s envisaged.

Conclusions

The study found that residents acquire various physician competencies through multiple processes by teaching as near-peer teachers in clinical settings, that a community of practice must be formed for near-peer teaching to occur in a clinical setting, and that teaching brings learning to those who teach by promoting reflection and helping them envision the professionals they aim to be.

Peer Review reports

The adage ‘To teach is to learn twice’ implies that acting in the role of a teacher contributes to one’s growth as a learner [ 1 ]. This means that in a near-peer teaching situation where learners teach other learners of the same or slightly lower grade, near-peer teachers can also learn through teaching [ 1 ]. Several studies have reported on the knowledge and competencies that near-peer teachers acquire through teaching. Medical students who are involved in teaching are better at acquiring and retaining knowledge than those who are not involved in teaching [ 2 , 3 ]. Near-peer teachers also learn skills in self-reflection, leadership, and communication through teaching [ 4 ]. Here, an understanding of the contents and methods of their learning is required to enhance the learning environment [ 5 ]. Thus, further research on how near-peer teachers learn through teaching is required.

In this regard, Dandavino et al. [ 6 ] examined how learning by teaching occurs and developed the Dandavino model to explain how medical students learn by teaching. They outline that near-peer teacher learning through teaching is facilitated by the interaction of three processes: (1) metacognitive awareness, which is the reflection on one’s own attitude, skills, and knowledge; (2) deliberating practice, which is shown by near-peer teachers’ thoughtful instruction to support learners and when they receive feedback about the process from more senior instructors; and (3) self-explanation, which occurs in the mind of near-peer teachers when they explain learning contents to learners and which supports the detection and repair of defective mental models. The model was validated by Srivastava et al. [ 7 ] for peer-teaching in physics classrooms, where the interaction between improved practice and metacognition described in the Dandavino model was also found in the classroom. Prior research in clinical environments suggests that near-peer teachers gain confidence from the realisation that they can teach, and they reflect on their own thinking when trying to teach a particular learner [ 4 ]. However, such statements in previous research in clinical settings are only fragmentary in describing what near-peer teachers learn from teaching and are insufficient for an in-depth understanding of how near-peer teachers learn from teaching.

Clinical environments are increasingly recognized as important learning places for medical professionals [ 5 , 8 ]. However, clinical settings are often understaffed, and this is more so the case with staff for education. Therefore, there are high expectations for the enhancement of near-peer teaching in clinical settings [ 1 ]. Exploring near-peer teachers’ learning that occurs through their teaching practices in medical environments will contribute to facilitating mutual learning in this setting. Therefore, the following research questions were proposed: What and how do near-peer teachers learn through teaching in the medical field, and what factors influence this learning?

Ethical considerations

The study was conducted with approval from the Ethical Committee of Nagoya University School of Medicine (approval number: 2015-04516983) and in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. All participants received prior written explanations regarding the study and provided written consent to participate. The names of the research participants in the obtained data were replaced with letters, such as A, B, and C, and any identifiable information, such as facility names, was replaced with symbols before being treated as data for the analysis. The table linking these names and symbols is stored in encrypted electronic storage to ensure that personal information is adequately protected.

Quality assurance

As a quality assurance standard for this study, the Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research (SRQR) were used [ 9 ]. The SRQR is a set of evaluation criteria for qualitative research consisting of 21 items, created by identifying and reviewing guidelines, reporting standards, and critical evaluation criteria for qualitative research published up to July 2013. Throughout the design, implementation, and writing of this study, the researchers referred to the SRQR and ensured that all items were adequately met in the final work.

The study was conducted in residencies in multiple teaching hospitals in Japan. In Japan, medical graduates who have completed 6 years of undergraduate medical education are required to undergo 2 years of initial postgraduate residency training. During the 2-year residency, residents rotate through major departments for 4−12 weeks each [ 10 ]. They also work night shifts in emergency departments approximately 4−6 days a month throughout the residency, and their clinical responsibility tends to be higher in the emergency department than in day shift rotation [ 11 ]. Near-peer teaching commonly occurs in the workplace learning environment consisting of post-graduate year 1 residents (PGY1s), post-graduate year 2 residents (PGY2s), and supervising doctors [ 11 , 12 ]. PGY2s teach PGY1s, young supervising doctors teach PGY2s, and senior supervising doctors teach young supervising doctors.

Methodology

Based on the constructivist grounded theory, researchers have adapted the theory of how to learn through teaching that was developed in non-clinical settings into a theory for clinical settings [ 13 , 14 ]. In contrast to the traditional grounded theory, which assumes that the researcher begins the study with no preconceptions, constructivist grounded theory aims to ensure that the researcher is aware of the framework they already have and to develop this framework [ 15 ]. In this study, the researchers deemed constructivist grounded theory to be appropriate because prior literature has already provided a general framework for understanding how learning occurs through teaching, and the researchers have a strong involvement in educational settings within clinical environments, possessing internal frameworks.

Study participants

The study participants were PGY2s working in multiple teaching hospitals in Japan. Since PGY2s are both learners and educators who teach PGY1s in clinical settings, the researchers considered PGY2s to be a suitable target population for the study investigating how people learn through teaching in clinical settings. Interviewees were recruited through the clinical educator community and direct acquaintances. The recruitment of study participants was done iteratively. Initial interviewees were recruited to ensure as much diversity as possible in terms of enthusiasm for teaching, size of the institution, and geography, to gain broader insights. After several rounds of interviews, the next set of potential interviewees was considered and selected.

Data collection

One-on-one interviews were conducted to explore the experience of participants in detail. All interviews were conducted by the first author (TK). The topics of the interview questions included participants’ clinical responsibilities, their relation to PGY1s and other medical staff, their teaching role, and what and how they learned through their teaching (see Table 1 ). The interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed to text. Additional participants continued to be added until all researchers agreed that sufficient data had been obtained to construct a theory.

Data analysis

Data analysis was performed by three authors in an iterative process with an audit review. After completing a few interviews, the text data were split into chunks and tabulated into columns. As a tool for the coding process according to grounded theory, the researchers utilised the ‘Steps for Coding and Theorization’ (SCAT) method, which is a four-step coding process [ 16 ]. In this method, the process is explicitly shown in a table and a storyline, providing text consisting of codes developed to contribute to theory formation; thus, this explicit process improves confirmability [ 16 ]. TK developed codes using the SCAT method and then prepared a preliminary figure of the concept. Images used in the figure were developed with licensed authoring software or purchased from creators. Co-authors (NT and MA) examined the text, codes, storyline, and figure independently before discussing them for further refinement. They also discussed the requirements for the next participants, who were recruited based on the results of the discussion, and the same process was conducted to refine the codes and the figure. The process was repeated until the three authors agreed on data saturation. The last author (HN) examined the entire data and analysis process again with TK to complete the data analysis.

Reflexivity

This study was conducted by multiple researchers who are also medical education researchers and supervisors: TK is a supervisor at a university hospital and supervises residents in emergency medicine at Nagoya University; TK is also involved in teaching residents as an educational consultant at several teaching hospitals. TK is a medical education researcher and conducts research on resident assessments; although some of TK’s interviewees were residents whom he directly supervised, the study included interviewees with whom he was not directly involved in teaching. NT is a supervisor of residents in an outpatient general medicine department at a university hospital and is currently researching empathy in medical education. MA is a supervisor at a city hospital and is conducting research on empathy as a medical educator. HN is a supervisor at a university hospital and is conducting research on empathy as a medical educator. HN supervises residents in the general medicine outpatient department of a university hospital. He is a medical education researcher specialising in professionalism. The researchers all participated in the analysis by engaging with the residents, understanding their situations, and bringing the perspectives of multiple specialisms in medical education research. The process of analysis was articulated using the SCAT method and the discussion process was recorded during the audit trail.

Patient and public involvement

Patients or the public were not involved in designing or conducting this research. The researchers plan to disseminate this paper publicly by introducing it to members of the Japanese Society for Medical Education.

A total of 13 interviews were conducted with 11 PGY2s (seven men and four women) from nine teaching hospitals between January 2016 and July 2022. Each interview lasted 1–2 h. What and how PGY2s learned through teaching, followed by what influenced them in this process, is described below. Regarding the citations in the following descriptions, each ID is based on the interview number and the order of data extraction (e.g., 10–87). The English translations of the interview data and the list of IDs can be downloaded from Additional File 1 .

What and how PGY2s learn through teaching

The analysis of the interviews reveals that PGY2s played diverse roles as educators in the medical field. In addition to imparting knowledge and skills, they observed and evaluated PGY1s, assisted them in reflecting on their practice, coordinated learning environments to consider PGY1s’ abilities, and served as role models. Through their role as educators, PGY2s acquired competencies in almost all the domains described in the Guideline for Medical Residency 2020 [ 10 ], including medical knowledge, procedural skills and patient care, patient safety and quality improvement, lifelong learning, medical practice in the context of society, communication, practice in interprofessional teams, and professionalism. The learning that PGY2s gained through teaching, and how each aspect of learning occurred through particular educational activities, is described below.

Medical knowledge

As mentors, when PGY2s were transferring knowledge and helping PGY1s reflect, PGY2s were re-exposed to knowledge that they had learned in the past, which helped to strengthen their current knowledge. Additionally, in doing so, their awareness of the incompleteness of their knowledge and their desire to impart more accurate knowledge led them to explore diverse sources of information, including related literature, which contributed to structuring and concretizing their knowledge. A PGY2 explains rereading previous lecture transcripts and texts to reconfirm his knowledge to prepare lectures for PGY1s:

…So, first of all, I have to know what kind of presentations my seniors gave last year and what kind of knowledge is the minimum for a PGY1 to be able to treat patients. I studied by rereading and brushing up on reference books on how to read ECGs… (Dr. I, 10−87).

Procedural skills and patient care

PGY2s learned about procedural skills and patient care themselves as they taught clinical procedures and clinical reasoning. The teaching of clinical procedures motivated PGY2s to perform the procedures on their own and contributed to their awareness of standard procedures and verbalisation of implicitly learned experiences. Teaching clinical reasoning contributed to its verbalisation and reflection and observing this among PGY1s provided an opportunity for PGY2s to learn about others’ clinical reasoning.

Well, I think I had accumulated something beforehand. I showed the PGY1s the procedures, and after I finished, I taught the PGY1s the points to keep in mind I had noticed during the procedures. And then let them do the next one on their own. When they failed, I told them, ‘Well, that’s what I did, too’. When things don’t go well, you could make it work this way. (Dr. H, 9−48)

In addition, a PGY2 realised that as he observed PGY1s to teach them clinical reasoning, it led him to learn about others’ reasoning processes and was a learning experience for him as well:

… and it’s important for me to know how the first-years (PGY1s) diagnose. It is also useful for me to know how other doctors (PGY1s) think. (Dr. A, 2−43)

Patient safety and quality of medical care

PGY2s were prepared to review their own clinical processes to ensure more accurate and faster care so that they could adjust the learning environment for PGY1s in the clinical setting. In addition, by working as interpreters between PGY1s and their clinical supervisors, PGY2s gained a better understanding of work processes and were able to recognize problems in the system.

The following two PGY2s were treating other patients quickly to ensure that the less experienced PGY1 residents had adequate time to thoroughly examine and learn from their patients. The PGY2s also reviewed and prepared their own practice processes so that they could do so.

In the first year at our hospital, we have to treat each case with care and evidence; our hospital has a tradition of treating each case cautiously with evidence to acquire basic skills for medical care. In the meantime, the PGY2s and the senior doctors take care of the other cases quickly. (Dr. I, 10−10) …So, for example, I prepared my own medical record system so that I could operate my own medical records without stress to some extent. I have also started to collect various medical content such as through apps and websites. (Dr. G, 8−77)

In the following example, a PGY2 describes becoming aware of certain problems with communication. This PGY2 communicates via chat tools with a senior doctor who leaves the ward on various errands and connects the senior doctor with PGY1s and other ward staff:

…It’s the same with chat tools, the information flows one after another. When you have dozens of messages, I think everyone can honestly say that there are times when you don’t see all of them, or you miss something. If we ask three questions and the senior doctor answers two of them but doesn’t reply to one of them, then there is inevitably a misunderstanding… (Dr. G, 8−67).

Lifelong learning

PGY2s served as role models and engaged in knowledge transfer to PGY1s, which motivated PGY1s’ learning. Furthermore, PGY2s’ observations of PGY1s’ medical treatment helped PGY2s consider their own current achievements and future goals. The following PGY2 explains how, when faced with previously unexamined questions that arose in clinical practice, they began to research and summarise clinical questions in an attempt to answer PGY1s’ questions:

… there were many things I wondered about in my first year, but I realised at that time that there were many things I had wondered about but had neglected. I thought that maybe next year’s first-year residents would think the same thing, and maybe they would ask me questions, so I thought I should be able to explain things to them properly. (Dr. A, 2−149)

The following PGY2s were previously unable to grasp how they had developed as doctors over a year when they were only observing senior doctors. However, by observing PGY1s and comparing themselves with them, they were able to understand how they had developed, and based on this, they were able to clearly envision how they should progress to become the senior doctors they aspired to be in the future.

So, until the new PGY1s arrive, I didn’t really have anything to compare myself to, but I think that when the first years arrive, every PGY2 can feel that they have grown a little. (Dr. H, 9−86) The difference between the first year and the second year is huge, and of course, the speed of decision-making and the breadth and depth of what is possible is completely different in the third and fourth years. I really felt it. (Dr. H, 9−68)

Medical practice in the context of society

Through observing PGY1s’ practices and comparing them to their own practices and those of their senior doctors, PGY2s became more aware not only of the symptoms and diseases occurring in the patients they saw at that moment but also of the patients’ families and their long-term progress.

The first-year juniors are only able to see what is happening to the patient in front of them. In the second year, I am able to see a little bit more than what is happening in front of me, such as the patient’s family. I think it is amazing that senior doctors in their third or fourth year are able to see beyond the patient’s family, what to do for transfer at the time of admission, what level of care is needed, and so on. (Dr. H, 9−69)

Communication

PGY2s taught PGY1s how to communicate with patients and provided feedback to PGY1s as they observed PGY1s communicating with patients. Through this process, PGY2s became aware of the need to reflect on and improve their own communication as well. The following PGY2 began to reflect on their own communication through observing PGY1s’ medical treatment:

While watching PGY1s talk to patients, I began to notice that their language and attitude seemed arrogant, or that their words were too difficult for patients to understand. (Dr. A, 1−36)

Practice in interprofessional teams

PGY2s supported PGY1s with problems that arose when PGY1s performed their medical duties. Through such support, they were able to become aware of the roles of multiple professions. The following PGY2 was communicating with medical clerks, prompted by questions from PGY1s.

.They (PGY1s) said, ‘I received a notice like this’. I had never seen such a notice before, so I decided to ask the medical office staff and they told me what I should do… (Dr. E, 6−93).

Professionalism

PGY2s reflected on their knowledge and experience to share their knowledge with PGY1s. This suggests that the ability to be a reflective practitioner [ 17 ], which is important for physicians’ professionalism, was cultivated. In addition, PGY2s reflected on and improved their own attitudes through observing PGY1s’ practices and by serving as role models to PGY1s. Through observing PGY1s’ medical practice, a PGY2 was inspired by PGY1s’ sincere attitude towards patients and made efforts to change their own behaviour. The following PGY2 observed a PGY1 accompanying his assigned patient to rehabilitation, which reaffirmed the importance of such gestures in establishing a good doctor-patient relationship.

When I saw a PGY1 following a patient around while the patient was doing rehabilitation, I thought, ‘Oh, I need to do that too. That’s important, come to think of it. I forgot about that’. (Dr. E, 6−228)

Factors influencing learning through teaching

During the interviews, it became clear that multiple factors influenced PGY2s’ learning through teaching in clinical settings. The factors were divided into two categories: those related to the system and those related to the PGY2s themselves. Factors related to the system were identified as the place where residents can be involved in the practice together, a practice system based on near-peer teaching, discretion in practice, respect as an educator, and the place to teach. Further, factors related to the system were identified as shared tasks, communication, and responsibility for medical practice, while factors related to the PGY2s themselves included reflection, aspirations as supervising physicians, and adequate competence in the relevant area. Further details on each of these aspects are given below.

System factors

Shared tasks.

Education from PGY2s to PGY1s was more likely to occur when PGY2s and PGY1s were not just in the same place but had a shared task, such as working on the same case. For example, the following PGY2 worked with PGY1s in the same emergency room shift and gave advice before the PGY1s treated patients:

If I am available when the PGY1 makes the first contact, I will be involved with the PGY1, looking at the information from the triage that the nurse has already done, and giving advice such as ‘this is the main complaint, so let’s perform these examinations’. (Dr. C, 4−6)

Education from PGY2s to PGY1s was less likely to occur when they were in the same place but working on completely different cases. The following explanation from an interviewee suggests that residents taught each other about cases when PGY2s and PGY1s worked on cases together in the department in which they rotated:

When he (PGY1) told me about things I didn’t notice in the physical findings, I told him that I would look at it with him the next time. (Dr. J, 13−14)

However, education from PGY2s to PGY1s did not occur when they were on rotation in the same department but working on different cases:

I don’t go and teach them. They have a senior doctor who they can consult, so I don’t really go and teach them about it. (Dr. J, 13−17)

PGY2s functioned as educators when there was a mechanism for PGY2s and PGY1s to communicate about their practice. For example, in Japan, PGY2s sometimes teach PGY1s, and then a senior advisor teaches PGY2s; this is called the yanegawara (translates to ‘roof tile’ in Japanese) system. Under such a system, PGY1s always consult PGY2s first about their practice; thus, much communication occurs between PGY2s and PGY1s. In the emergency department rotations to which the following PGY2s belonged, PGY1s consulted PGY2s on all cases under the yanegawara system, so PGY2s were always involved in educating PGY1s by giving advice and evaluating PGY1s’ assessments.

Well, when I was on rotation last month, the first-year residents were consulting with us, the second-year residents. If I thought a first-year resident was having difficulty communicating directly with the senior doctor, I would sometimes communicate with the senior doctor myself. If I thought the first-year residents were well organised, I would ask them to tell the senior doctor about the situation after doing an assessment and so on. (Dr. H, 9−20)

At the facility where the following PGY2 belonged, the practice structure differed according to the time of day, with no communication between PGY2s and PGY1s occurring when PGY1s were supposed to consult directly with senior doctors. However, communication occurred between PGY2s and PGY1s during the times when PGY1s were supposed to consult with PGY2s, with instructions and knowledge shared from PGY2s to PGY1s.

.On weekdays, until 8:00 p.m., the supervising doctors are in close contact with the first-year students, so the second-year and first-year students are not closely involved. However, after 8:00 p.m., the second-year and first-year students are working together with the medical advisors, so I have the impression that there is a lot of involvement during that time. (Dr. I, 10−8)

In particular settings, PGY2s and PGY1s were encouraged to interact with each other in different years because of the mosaic arrangement of desks to avoid clumping PGY2s and PGY1s in the same year group:

Yes. The desks are arranged in such a way that we can interact with each other without clumping together, so if there are any problems with medical treatment, they can ask for advice, and that is often the case. (Dr. I, 10−36)

Responsibility for medical practice

In clinical settings, PGY2s were actively consulting with and advising PGY1s and creating a learning environment for PGY1s where they had some discretion and responsibility for medical care, for example, deciding what tests and treatments to perform and whether to send patients home. PGY2s, certified by a committee of supervisors at the institutions where they belonged, had greater discretion in their practice in the emergency department, and PGY1s actively consulted with such PGY2s in making decisions.

The first-year residents often see patients first, so they ask us for advice about things they don’t understand, or when we go to look in on them. I would like to consult with them so that I can guide them in the right direction and provide them with good medical care advice. (Dr. A, 2−4)

Meanwhile, when PGY2s only had the same discretionary authority as PGY1s regarding their practice, PGY2s avoided making adjustments to facilitate PGY1s’ learning in the clinic or giving advice that was directly related to the content of their practice. In the emergency department where PGY2s were working in a different hospital, PGY2s were encouraged to teach PGY1s, but senior doctors determined the course of treatment and PGY2s were rarely entrusted with clinical decisions. Under these circumstances, PGY2s were withheld from teaching PGY1s.

.in the end, the senior doctors would make the final decisions, including whether patients should be sent home or hospitalised, and what examinations should be performed. So, I was kind of wondering if PGY2s shouldn’t meddle with them (PGY1s) too much. (Dr. E, 6−10)

PGY2s’ own factors

PGY2s’ teaching of PGY1s encouraged the former to reflect, which contributed to their learning, but whether this led to successful reflection varied from person to person. As described previously, when PGY2s prepared to teach PGY1s, they reflected on their own previous experiences and learning to explore new knowledge and structure their knowledge. They also reflected on their own knowledge and skills during the teaching sessions, recognizing their own imperfections and verbalizing what they had learned tacitly. In addition, PGY2s’ reflection on what happens as a result of their teaching led to their own learning. The following PGY2 was reflected on his own behaviour, as he was aware that he was a role model, that his behaviour was mirrored by PGY1s, and that the knowledge he taught affected PGY1s’ practice.

Let’s see…, I’ve changed…, I’ve changed. Because PGY1s see what I do and PGY1s do the same thing. I think I check more often to see if what I am doing is really correct, if I am doing it for the right reasons, if the knowledge I am teaching and if the techniques I am doing are also correct. (Dr. A, 1−2)

However, some residents were unable to reflect on the impact of their teaching on themselves or their teaching and attitude on others, and could not successfully link teaching to their personal development, as seen in the following quote from a PGY2:

Hmmm… Well, first of all, the main premise is whether the junior staff are motivated, or have the qualities, or are willing to work hard, otherwise it’s already over at that point, and even if they are, I don’t know if I can do anything. What was the question, again? (Dr. B 3−34)

Supervising physicians’ future vision of themselves

PGY2s’ desire to move closer toward the image of the supervising physician they envisioned to be in the future motivated their learning. This vision of the supervising doctor influenced the way PGY2s interacted with PGY1s in terms of knowledge transfer, acting as a role model for PGY1s, and creating a learning environment for PGY1s. One PGY2, who was not in the practice of searching for articles in English at first, followed the example of his senior doctors and began to search for English-language articles and share them with PGY1s.

When I asked senior doctors questions before, in many cases, they sent me English articles and references, or gave me copies of them. I think that had an influence on me. I think that is why, when I was asked by a first-year doctor, I was more likely to look for articles on my own. (Dr. G, 8−63)

This image of the supervising doctor was shaped by the influence of past experiences of being supervised. The image of the supervising doctor was sometimes formed based on the good role models mentioned above; at other times, it was formed by recalling and refraining from the behaviours of bad role models. For example, a PGY2 aimed to be gentle with the PGY1s, trying not to be like the senior doctors who were always irritable.

Yeah, but I’ve thought about it because there was a senior doctor one grade above me who was a little bit of an irritating senior doctor. It was kind of anti-teaching, and I thought that was a bad move. (Dr. D, 5−84)

In addition, the image of the supervising doctor sometimes changed during the reflections with the senior doctors. One PGY2 thought that, as supervisors, PGY2s should avoid taking control of PGY1s’ medical care in the teaching process, but during his reflections on senior doctors, he came to believe that the supervisor should lead and show the junior doctors how to treat patients.

During the discussion, we came to the conclusion that it is important for PGY2s to learn what we are lacking, such as how to speak, and to show PGY1s what we have learned through practice, rather than just giving them a lecture in words… (Dr. I, 10−92).

This image of the supervisor they aspired to become was also made clearer by the presence of PGY1s, the target group to teach. The following PGY2 had a clear desire to become a knowledgeable supervisor due to the presence of PGY1s.

When there is a first-year resident, I don’t know what I don’t know, but I still feel a certain amount of tension as a second-year resident, I want to have more knowledge than the first-year student. That’s a bit different. (Dr. J, 13−48)

Sufficient competency in the relevant area

For PGY2s to teach PGY1s, they needed to be competent in the area they were teaching and trusted by others. The following PGY2 was fully proficient in arterial punctures for blood gas sampling during their previous year’s residency and actively taught the technique when requested by PGY1s.

At first, for example, in April or May, when I was writing medical records in the ward, they (PGY1s) would ask me for help because they couldn’t collect blood gas. (Dr. F, 7−64)

If PGY2s did not have sufficient competency in the relevant area, they would consider themselves unfit to teach and refrain from teaching PGY1s, as in the case of a PGY2 who was enthusiastic about teaching but lacked confidence in suturing procedures: ‘…I don’t teach suturing procedures very much. I don’t think I’m really good at those procedures …’ (Dr. A, 2−129).

An integrative model of learning through teaching

The processes through which learning occurs through teaching in a clinical environment and the factors influencing it have been described so far as they can be integrated using several conceptual frameworks, such as legitimate peripheral participation, communities of practice, and reflection. The structure of a community of practice including PGY2s and PGY1s constitutes common tasks, communication, and position as practitioners. In this context, the image of the senior doctor to aspire to as an expert within the community of practice directs learning and teaching, and promotes reflection; this process is summarised in Fig. 1 .

Integrated model of learning through teaching

Legend: PGY1s and PGY2s form a community of practice when they have a shared task, ensure adequate communication, and have roles as practitioners. Teaching promotes the learning of those doing the teaching through a clear awareness of the expert they wish to become and through reflecting their actions back to them

Prior studies have established a theory of legitimate peripheral participation that sees learning as a process of participation in a community of practice, rather than merely the acquisition of knowledge by an individual [ 18 , 19 ]. From the perspective of legitimate peripheral participation, PGY2s are both learners aiming to become experts and educators guiding new PGY1s. The interviews revealed that the image of the senior doctor to aspire to influences PGY2s’ learning. Here, the PGY2s envisage themselves as the experts they aspire to be within the community of practice. This can theoretically influence both the direction in which PGY2s themselves learn and the direction in which they educate PGY1s. Theoretical aspects can also explain how this influences both the PGY2s’ own direction of learning and the direction of teaching PGY1s. In addition, the presence of PGY1s, the target of teaching, makes this image of the desired expert clearer for the PGY2s, and teaching may be helpful in forming the image of the desired expert.

Reflection is said to play an important role in learning in such communities of practice [ 20 , 21 ]. The interviews revealed that the PGY2s were inspired by teaching PGY1s, were able to reflect in preparation for teaching, and connected teaching to their own growth by gaining awareness of their teaching practice and reflecting on the impact that teaching had. However, PGY2s did not connect teaching to their own learning if they were unable to reflect well throughout. Thus, teaching in communities of practice may need to support reflection in some cases while facilitating learning through reflection.

This study identified how PGY2s, who are responsible for near-peer teaching in clinical settings, learn through teaching. It also explored what factors are associated with teaching and learning through teaching in clinical settings. PGY2s had several educational roles, including transferring knowledge, adjusting the learning environment, supporting reflection, evaluating through observation, and facilitating communication among senior doctors, other professionals, and PGY1s. Through such teaching, PGY2s were learning a wide range of competencies as doctors. The results revealed that these processes of learning through teaching in such healthcare settings can be integrated by using the community of practice theory and reflection as a framework.

PGY2s were learning diverse competencies as doctors while performing various roles as educators within the clinical setting. According to Harden and Lilley [ 22 ], the role of medical educators can be divided into eight categories: informant/coach, facilitator/mentor, curriculum developer/implementer, assessor, role model, manager, researcher, and professional. Based on these eight categories, the roles that PGY2s played in the clinical practice were as follows: informants and coaches through the provision of knowledge and support in clinical practice; facilitators and mentors through the support of reflection and step-by-step teaching of procedures; curriculum developer/implementer, albeit on a small scale; evaluator, through feedback based on observation; role model, through setting the example of oneself; administrator, through the role of adjusting the learning environment; researcher, in the sense of reflecting on and trying to improve one’s own educational practice; and professional, regarding their hard work to improve as a doctor. The competencies that residents acquire by the end of their clinical training in Japan are medical knowledge, procedures and patient care, patient safety and quality improvement, lifelong learning, medical practice in society, communication, interprofessional team practice, professionalism, and research skills. This study shows that PGY2s can learn through teaching about all competencies, except for research skills, which they are not usually involved in as part of clinical practice. This ability to learn a range of competencies by teaching is suggested by reports that, in peer-tutorial courses, students learned competencies in broad areas [ 23 ]. The current study suggests that various competencies can be learnt through teaching, not only in classroom teaching as in the aforementioned studies but also in workplace-based learning settings. In addition, this study also describes how such learning occurs.

Dandavino et al. [ 6 ] argue that teaching is a process in which metacognitive awareness, deliberate practice with feedback, and self-explanation interact with each other to further the learning of the person teaching. These three processes are said to be interrelated and can be stimulated or inhibited by social interactions and contextual factors [ 6 ]. Metacognitive awareness refers to the internal and external motivations stimulated by the teaching position, leading to self-regulated learning; PGY2s are driven by the internal motivation to appear as good supervisors when transferring knowledge and serving as role models to PGY1s, to reflect on their own experiences and reconstruct their knowledge through self-regulated learning. Deliberate practice with feedback indicates that teaching is an act of consciously practising thought processes and procedures, and furthermore, feedback is applied by giving it when teaching. The PGY2s who took on a teaching role in this study became aware of the quirks in the procedures they were performing and relearned standard procedures to feed back to themselves when teaching clinical procedures. The self-explanation effect refers to the fact that when teaching, one must first explain to oneself the content that one is trying to teach and that the knowledge is reconstructed when one realizes one’s lack of understanding or gaps in knowledge as a result of this process. In this study, PGY2s were verbalising their tacitly learned experiences and explaining them to themselves as well as to the learners when they were transferring knowledge, assisting in teaching, and reflecting on the procedures. In this process, the knowledge that PGY2s had learned tacitly was reconstructed. This concrete depiction of the process of learning through teaching also embodies how this process is stimulated or inhibited by social interactions and contextual factors.

This study identified the factors (in terms of context and social interactions) that influence PGY2s’ teaching and learning through teaching in specific clinical settings, a topic less explored in previous research on teaching in clinical settings. Jones et al. [ 24 ] conducted focus group discussions with medical students, educational stakeholders, and GP speciality trainees with teaching responsibilities and found that learners valued the experience of learning from educators in different positions and at different ages and that the experience of learning from a near-peer teacher was important. The study found that GP speciality trainees who were engaged in near-peer teaching had a greater understanding, through the teaching process, of the content they were teaching. In a study of a program of teaching students by interns at the patient’s bedside and analysing the feedback forms, it was found that near-peer teaching was well accepted by both learners and educators who became near-peer teachers; interns felt that teaching helped them to develop not only as educators but also as doctors [ 25 ]. Although these previous studies have revealed that near-peer teachers learn through teaching in clinical practice, they were conducted in semi-laboratory environments prepared for teaching; therefore, the factors influencing the process of learning through teaching that occur spontaneously in clinical practice were difficult to explore. In this study, although some hospitals had established a system of care with an awareness of near-peer teaching, this was more implicit than institutionalised. Further, it was not confirmed whether near-peer teaching occurred in clinical practice and whether near-peer teachers learned through teaching; this study found that whether they learned through teaching was influenced by a variety of factors. Therefore, it was possible to analyse the structure of teaching and learning through teaching in clinical practice as requiring a system that encourages sufficient communication to address common tasks, sufficient competence, and practitioner responsibility on the part of the near-peer teacher. Additionally, it is important to note that learning is influenced by reflection and aspirations for expert visions. This exploration led to the development of a model to explain learning through teaching in clinical practice.

This study suggests that for learning through teaching to occur in healthcare settings, the construction of communities of practice is necessary; further, learning is influenced by reflection and images of experts within the community of practice. The use of the lens of community of practice in exploring learning in clinical practice has yielded meaningful findings. For example, Hindi et al. [ 18 ] research experiential learning in pharmacy education in general practice using community of practice as a lens and analyse how learners enter the community of practice. The importance of community in near-peer teaching has also been mentioned, although a scoping review on informal near-peer teaching does not use the term community of practice [ 1 ]. Regarding community of practice, this study suggests that effective interaction and learning occur when the components of the community of practice, domain/community/practice, are aligned and a community of practice is established. The study also suggests the importance of reflection in learning in communities of practice as well as showing that the act of teaching others facilitates this and the image of an expert within the community of practice influences the direction of learning. These are important findings for enhancing learning processes and practices in healthcare settings in the future.

Limitations

This study draws on interviews with residents to illustrate how they learn through teaching, and it has succeeded in depicting the process of learning through teaching. However, given the study sample and the qualitative research design, more multifaceted findings could be obtained in the future by combining this study’s findings with quantitative studies and interviews with supervisors.

All interviewees were Japanese residents undergoing training in Japan. The image of the supervisor and the relationship between the supervisor and learner varies across cultures, particularly in Asian countries such as Japan, where there is a strong authority gradient between the supervisor and learner [ 26 ]. This affects the process of learning through teaching; thus, its application in other countries including the West needs to consider such cultural factors. Additionally, this study focused on PGY2s and PGY1s in Japanese hospitals; thus, caution should be exercised in applying these findings to other environments, different levels of training, or international settings. Nonetheless, the present findings are linked to prior theories, increasing the transferability of this theory.

Additionally, the author involved in the interviews was a supervisor at the hospital, which may have influenced the interviews due to the authority gradient. In this study, to minimise this influence, the researchers assured the interviewees that the interview was confidential and that what they shared would not affect their evaluation. Furthermore, as a supervising physician, the interviewer was able to ask questions based on his understanding of residents’ situations and working environments, which allowed us to elicit deeper insights.

This study clarified the processes by which PGY2s play diverse roles as educators in the clinical setting and through which they acquire various competencies as physicians. This study revealed that the formation of a community of practice is necessary for near-peer teaching to occur in a medical setting, that teaching channels learning through reflection, and that the image of the expert that one aspires to be directs learning.

Data availability

The datasets generated and/or analysed during the current study are available from Additional File 1 .

Abbreviations

a post-graduate year 1 resident

a post-graduate year 2 resident

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to all the participants who engaged in our study. In addition, we would like to thank Editage ( www.editage.com ) for the English language editing. This paper utilised ChatGPT for certain sections during the process of translating Japanese manuscripts into English.

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

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Center for Postgraduate Clinical Training and Career Development, Nagoya University Hospital, 65, Tsurumai-cho, Showa-ku, Nagoya-city, Aichi, Japan

Takeshi Kondo

Department of General Medicine/Family & Community Medicine, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya, Japan

Department of Education for Community-Oriented Medicine, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya, Japan

Noriyuki Takahashi

Department of Medical Education, Saku Central Hospital, Saku, Japan

Muneyoshi Aomatsu

Center for Medical Education, Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya Unversity, Nagoya, Japan

Hiroshi Nishigori

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Contributions

All authors meet the ICMJE authorship criteria. TK designed the research, conducted the interviews, and wrote the manuscript. NT and MA critically examined the data analysis process and developed the model with KT. HN supervised the study and finalized the model with TK.

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Correspondence to Takeshi Kondo .

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This study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. Data collection began after the study was approved by the Ethical Committee of Nagoya University School of Medicine (approval number: 2015-04516983). All participants received prior written explanations about the study and provided written informed consent before participation.

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12909_2024_5814_MOESM1_ESM.xlsx

Supplementary Material 1: ID and transcription of the interviews. This file contains English translations of all interviews, along with the IDs of each section and the identification of the interviewees.

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Kondo, T., Takahashi, N., Aomatsu, M. et al. To teach is to learn twice, revisited: a qualitative study of how residents learn through teaching in clinical environments. BMC Med Educ 24 , 829 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-024-05814-3

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