Descartes opined that when no one is in the woods to hear a tree fall there is no proof that the tree actually fell. Applied to causing learning, if a teacher is talking/teaching in a classroom and no students are listening, is teaching actually occurring?
Let’s add another question to this point. A teacher gives oral direction to a class of twenty children. To what extent does each child hear the same direction?
These two questions are real. Talking and the expectation of being listened to is an assumption. Directing and the expectation that others will understand the direction is a second assumption. These two assumptions are made every day in classrooms and they lead us to the Cartesian conclusion: if children are not listening and paying attention to what is being said, there is no proof that teaching and direction actually occurred.
The remedy is that we must shelve our assumptions and gather evidence. To follow Madeline Hunter, we must teach the critical attributes of listening and we must check for understanding of what has been heard. And, we must practice these critical attributes and checking for understanding until they are fully embedded in our teaching/learning routines. Then, we must check them intermittently to assure that we do not fall victim to our assumptions once again.
Critical attributes of effective listening begin with the teacher. Is the teaching and direction constructed in ways that promote attentive listening? Are they personalized so that children can relate to the words spoken? If a child does not know that she is expected to listen and that her success as a student is within the teaching/direction, she will not commit her attention. Is the teaching/directing concise and without the distraction of “bird walks” of irrelevant information? We all listen in “snippets”. Effective teaching in five- to ten-minute bursts are consumable for attentive listening. Directions that include three or four “to do” points are understandable for attentive listening. Story telling and rambling and anecdotal directing cause a student to tune out and long lists of things to do are confusing. Teachers who plan to be listened to will be heard.
Checking for understanding is child accountability. Why would a person take their car in for a repair and not road test the car afterward to assure the repair was actually made? We need to road test children for what they hear and understand. Checking is requiring a child or children to demonstrate – to give evidence of what they heard and understood. Asking a child to paraphrase an instructional snippet verbally or in writing, to connect the instructional snippet to a previous snippet, or to provide the conclusions she has reached after considering the snippet are good checking strategies. When children know that they will be required to demonstrate their listening and understanding, they become more attentive listeners and learners. Over time, they become more effective and interactive in their self-accountability for learning and listening.
There are many more techniques and strategies for assuring that teaching/learning and directing/listening occur in classrooms. To prevent a Cartesian problem, it is essential that a teacher purposefully practices any of these techniques to create the evidence that children are listening and learning. If this is not done, a teacher might as well hold class in the stillness of the woods where there is no proof that a tree actually fell.