This document discusses communication in schools. It covers various topics related to communication including: - The different directions communication can flow within a school organization including downward, upward, lateral, and outward. - Key elements of the communication process such as listening skills, oral communication, nonverbal communication, and written communication. - Tools and methods used for communication in schools like meetings, newsletters, noticeboards, questionnaires, technology, and grievance procedures. - Challenges that may arise including conflicts, complaints, negotiations, and industrial action, and strategies for dealing with them effectively.

1. Communication in Schools
By Amel Lusta
management in ELT
Subject coordinator :Prof. Dr. Fatos Silman
Logo

2. What is communication?
the imparting or exchanging of information by
speaking, writing, or using some other medium.

3. The Directions of Communication
Four directions in which communication can travel are:
• Downward Communication flows from one level of a group
or organization to a lower level
• Upward flows to a higher level in the group or organization.
It starts from the people at the lowest level of an
organization and reaches the top.
• lateral or horizontal communication this kind of
communication takes place between departments or
people on the same level in an organizational structure.
• Outward flows between employees inside the
organization and a variety of stakeholders outside the
organization.

5. The communication process
The ‘Typical Communication Model’ developed by Clampitt
(2005) demonstrates a number of key elements in the
communication process.

6. Oral Communication
Oral communication describes any type of inter-action that
makes use of spoken words. The types of oral communication
commonly used within an organization include staff meetings,
personal discussions, presentations, telephone discourse, and
informal conversation.

7. The direction of the message.

8. Communication Skills

9. listening skills
- Effective communication is heavily dependent on effective listening.
- Developing effective listening skills involves two specific steps:
dealing with barriers that prevent you listening (e.g; jumping to
conclusions; hearing what we want to hear, tuning out a point of view
that differs from our own, Cultural issues, e.g. listening to the
differences in pronunciation of a different accent, rather than the
content of the message ) and developing and using listening
behaviours( e.g; ask appropriate questions e.g. ask the other for their
views or suggestions to broaden your understanding of their position,
take notes )
- Active listening skills include using attending skills (e.g. maintaining
an open posture, comfortable eye contact); delaying evaluation (of
what you have heard until you fully understand it); maintaining
attention (respond through your own facial expressions or body
gestures such as a nod or a smile without interrupting the other
person’s flow); giving feedback; asking appropriate questions .

10. Some Forms of Non-verbal
Communication
- Facial Expressions and Eye Gaze: Facial expressions
provide a rich source of non-verbal information,
particularly in conveying emotion. Sometimes emotions
can be communicated clearly, for example, a student’s
confused expression can indicate the need to continue
with an explanation, smiling and nodding may
demonstrate that listeners have understood.
Eye contact of the listener needs to be at a comfortable
level – a constant or fixed eye gaze can be unnerving. In
addition, the rules for what amounts to appropriate or
comfortable eye contact varies from culture to culture.

11. - Posture and Gestures: The way you sit or stand can
convey your attitude or feelings about what you are
doing or thinking. Therefore, a slumped posture can
indicate despondency or boredom; a relaxed posture
may suggest a person is calm and unnerved; a shifting
posture might be associated with uneasiness or discomfort.
- Voice: The term paralinguistic refers to features such
as speech rate, articulation, pauses emphasis and
volume as well as non-verbal vocalisations such as
‘ahhh’ or sighing. A great deal of information can be
communicated this way. Record your own voice so you
can hear the tone and quality. Speak slowly and calmly.

12. Body Language

13. Personal Space & Distance: We all have an area of
space around us that we consider as ours and tend to
feel uncomfortable when this space is breached. The
extent to which people will keep out of or encroach
upon our personal space, depends on a multitude of
factors including culture, personality, age, gender ,
status and dominance (Hargie et al, 2004).

14. Quiz
‘I've been asking my daughter Rhiannan what she did at
school today. There are times when Rhiannan can be as
uncommunicative as any child: this was one of them!
"What did you do in school today, Rhiannan?"
"Nothing much."
"I'm sure you did. Did you do any painting then?"
"Yes."
"Great, you love painting. What did you paint?"
"Lots of trees. We went out on an expedition in the morning
and we found out about different types of tree. There are
some that drop their leaves in the autumn and others that
don't. All my trees kept their leaves."
"That sounds like fun: where did you go on your outing?"
"Expedition, Dad! We went to “Coombe Abbey”. We ate our
packed lunches there and played in the adventure
playground afterwards."

15. Questioning Techniques
- Open questions tend to encourage people to talk,
open up and expand. A closed question asks for
specific information or a yes/no response.

16. (Adapted from Venn, 2004).

17. The grapevine
To hear something through the grapevine is to
learn of something informally and unofficially by
means of gossip and rumor. It is fast but reflects
that something must be wrong with the other
forms of communication that are being used.

18. Meeting
A meeting needs to be thought through
beforehand.
What kind of questions should be asked as
initial stimulus to this process?

19. Why have a meeting?
Who should attend?
What needs to be prepared ?
What needs to be done as a follow- up?
Valid reasons for holding meeting might be:
Decision – making
Communication
Negotiation
Ideas generation
Team building
Consultation

20. Meeting Purposes
Purpose:
- To gather and communicate information.
- To share ideas, views and opinions.
- To meet governance and legal requirements.
- Encourage participation of individuals.
- To solve problems and make decisions

21. Objectives of meeting
- Well planned
- Meet objectives
- Run on time
- People have the opportunity to raise issues of
concern
- Good attendance
- Culture of respect and cooperation

22. Plan the meeting
- Ensure Appropriate Participation at the Meeting
Determine who needs to be present for the meeting to be
successful
Appoint a secretary
- Distribute and Review Pre-work Prior to the
Meeting
Don’t make the meeting a group read-in.
Ask for review of minutes or necessary
documents prior to the meeting day.

23. - Start and end your meetings on time
Make sure there is a time-limit for each agenda
item
Let the group know when time is almost up
Keep the group on task, avoid tangents
Don’t forget coffee and tea at the appropriate
points

24. - Check meeting environment
Ensure:
a bright room with adequate lighting
a comfortable heating level;
a good seating arrangement; and
the early opening of the room.
OR

25. - Develop an Agenda
Send notice of date/time/location of the meeting
and intended duration
Ask staff to submit agenda item ideas prior to
meeting date
Try to keep the outline of the agenda consistent
for each meeting
Consider the easy items at the beginning of the
meeting

27. Chairperson

28. If things are too controversial or discussion is
obviously not getting anywhere. What do you do?

29. Minutes
The chosen secretary will have kept accurate notes
of the meeting which will be typed up and
distributed as soon as possible to all staffrooms .
Purpose

30. Minutes must contain

31. Written Communication
• Written communication involves any type of
message that makes use of the written word.
• It takes on a variety of forms

32. Memos and Letters
The memo is a short form of letter usually
used to communicate with the employees of the
same organization for internal communication
(an upward communication process ). Notes
from Principal must be filed thereafter so need a
coded reference.

33. Newsletters
a newsletters is written once a term by the
Principal to all member of staff or by the
director of studies to all academic staff as a
useful way of making everybody feel they are in
touch.

35. Noticeboard
- a surface intended for the posting of public messages, for
example, to advertise items wanted or for sale, announce
events, or provide information.
- Benefits
Keeps everybody informed.
Staff, Students and parents receive up-to-date information.
Improves school cooperation between management and
Others ( staff- students)
- Allowing students to post announcements on a public
forum increases trust (e.g; notices of parties, articles for
sale etc)

36. Good practices for organisation of notice boards
- Keep the notice board as neat and tidy as
possible
- Remove outdated pieces of information as
frequently as possible.
- Label the notice board by topic and in multiple
languages.
- Everybody can find the information s/he needs
quickly and easily .

37. - Place the notice board in a position where
people can easily see it.
- Consider making individuals (or teams)
responsible for keeping the notice board clean,
tidy and up-to-date.
- Designate a section to be open for students
and union announcements.

38. Booklets and manuals
- The booklets are important for new students
and staff.
- Consider also the way practices are codified so
that everybody knows the procedures
involved.
- By administrative handbook can be kept all
the up-to-date, relevant instructions on how
to deal with such matters as repairs,
registration, leave, sickness, salary scale.

39. Suggestion books and questionnaires
both these can be effective ways of ensuring
that managers learn what is working successfully
and what changes need to be made.

40. How to design a questionnaires

41. Main Types of the Questionnaires
Questionnaires
unstructured
Questionnaires
Structured
Questionnaires

42. Structured Questionnaires
Asks precise questions, often with multiple-
choice or yes/No responses required, e.g;

43. Unstructured Questionnaires

45. New Technology
- Computerize the education : online courses, apps,
Learning management systems, student information
systems, and other software are used to distribute
assignments, manage schedules and communications,
and track student progress.

46. Welfare
- This area where there is a need to communicate
most efficiently with staff and students and where
considerable distress and indeed danger can be
caused if communication breaks down.
- Each Principal will need to be aware of Health and
Safety regulations of the country and ensure that
school complies with these at all times.

47. Fire
- Most schools display notices in classrooms giving
instructions to do in the event of fire but few ensure
that these are uniformly introduced to students at
the beginning of each term.

48. - A possible checklist for a Principal might be:

49. Security Incidents
- It be helpful to consider the following points:

50. Medical and First Aid
- It essential that at least one person in a school at any
time is trained in first aid , that a first aid box is ready
available and that in the event of a serious accident
someone is available to take the injured person to
hospital.
- A full report of accident must be made to the
Principal who needs to set up an investigation to
discover how and why the accident happened.

51. - A list of prompt questions about an accident

52. - An example of report form

53. Safety Checks
- A regular monthly check of the school premises
should be operated.

55. Counseling
a process which enables problems to be
identified and clarified and to facilitate the
exploration of potential solutions or ways in
which the problem can be managed more
effectively by drawing on the individual's inner
resources ( Megranahan,1989)

56. Students talk to their teachers about their study
problems
Teachers communicate with each other not only
about academic matters but about personal
problems and senior academic staff need to
suggest and receive suggestion on methods and
books

57. The main points in the counseling
conversation ( interview)

59. Conflict management

60. Complaints

61. - Complaints might emerge from many quarters:
students, staff, parents, and even members of
the public. They could be about students, staff, you, the
board, your school policies, or school events. Some you
might be ready for, others will come out of the blue and
surprise you.

62. Is a complaint a
OR ?

63. - Complaints are gift packages waiting to be opened
because they:
Are given freely
Are not solicited by the recipient organization
Are unexpected, they come as a surprise (usually)
Hold the key to happiness for the recipient organization If
they are well handled
A complaint gives you: Free direct communication from
the customers ( students, parents, staff) about service
failures, system , materials etc. without the added cost of
conducting a survey

64. - To deal with conflicts a series of
steps should be taken
- Step 1: interview as soon as possible
Be aware of problem
Take them seriously and listen carefully to discover what the
real grievance is
Probe problem areas
Discuss the grievance or conflict
Make notes
Do not rush into a hasty decision
-Step 2:consider
Talk to all others concerned
Identify constraints

65. Check records
Check facts
Is it a case for disciplinary action?
Step 3: return to interview
Discuss points considered
Agree possible solutions together
Write these down with agreed deadline
Communicate result of interview to all directly
concerned in the conflict .

66. Formal Grievance Procedures
Large school have documented and published
procedures that will enable individual members
of staff to have discussions first with line
managers and then, if that fails, with the
Principal possibly with a union representative in
attendance. the Principle that is normally
applied in grievance procedures is that there
should be the possibility of an appeal up the line
of management.

67. Staff Associations
a group of employees that provides support and
advice for people working within the same
organization, especially in any official discussions
with management relating to their
responsibilities, salary , etc.

68. A associations can grow naturally out of small working
parties or committees set up to consider conditions
In the school. Such committees, usually composed of
equal numbers of managers and staff, can provide a
valuable testing ground for the future development not
only of formal associations but also for procedures that
might be adopted subsequently in the more formal
context of management meeting with union
representatives.

69. Composition of associations
• An Association can write its own rules, if it so
wishes, but the rules have to comply with the
civil laws of country.
• Communicate with the individuals who have
not join the association.
• Most schools have two separate associations,
one for academic another for non-academic
staff but a joint association is better to avoid
rivalry over salaries.

70. Meeting with Association
• Before the meeting consider the following :
- the group that meets should be representative with some power
- equally composed of managers and staff ( Principal as chairperson )
- six to ten people is the ideal number for this kind of committee
- have regular meetings ( date and time )
- Agenda agreed and distributed
- Agenda circulated to managers
- Each side has a pre-meeting if necessary
- Minutes agreed at the end of the meeting where possible
- Information passed by phone or in person
- Minutes distributed

71. Negotiating
Negotiation is a dialogue between two or more people or parties intended to
reach a beneficial outcome. This beneficial outcome can be for all of the
parties involved, or just for one or some of them.

72. Analysing and planning

73. Pre- negotiation
• Attention to detailed

74. Opening phase- information getting
and gathering

78. Effective Negotiation techniques
- Collect and send Information in negotiations
One of the most popular causes for losing ground in a negotiation is
lack of information.
- Back your words by documents to win a negotiation: When you use
documents during negotiations to support your arguments its as if
you are saying"I'm not telling you My opinion, I'm giving you
straight facts".
- The Machine gun technique in negotiations : This technique was
called the machine gun technique because its based on using many
different unrelated arguments together in a fast manner so that the
other person loses hope in replying to them all. When you use the
Machine gun technique in negotiations your chance of shaking the
confidence of the person you are negotiating with becomes much
higher

79. - Flexibility and negotiations: if for some reason you
found a strong resistance during a negotiation then
don’t waste your effort by insisting on the same point
but instead move to another one. If the other person
you are negotiating with was well informed about one
point or if his belief system contradicts with this point
then convincing him might be a hard task.
- replying back with another question: in case you were
asked a question that you don’t want to answer you
can reply back with another question to distract him

80. - focusing on the other person’s need: One big
mistake many people do in negotiations is thinking
that all people think the same way while forgetting
that each person has different needs. For example if
your major need was the need for safety while a
friend of yours cared more about luxury then trying
to convince him to buy a Volvo because its safe will
not be as effective as trying to show him that Volvo
could be a luxurious care too. Focus on the person's
needs, belief system and values and not yours in
order to win a negotiation

82. Dealing with industrial action
• Occasionally conflicts are not resolved through
negotiation and industrial action of some kind may
result. There is no magic rules for handling these
situations but the following considerations may repay
attention.
- Staff and managers must be kept informed of what is
happening
- have a single spokesperson to deal with all outside
media
- the manager should make the rules clear but treat
each situation on its own merits
- -Mass meeting

83. Communication in the classrooms
- According to Weinstein, Tomlinson-Clarke and Curran,
(2004) students are more likely to succeed if they feel
connected to school and a positive, respectful relationship
with teachers helps create such an environment.
- Weinstein, et. al., (2003) suggest teachers set the tone by
greeting students at the door with a smile and a welcoming
comment; expressing admiration for a student’s bilingual
ability and commenting enthusiastically about the number
of different languages represented in class and beginning
each day with a morning meeting where students greet one
another by name and discuss upcoming lessons.

84. Marzano el at (2003) wrote that “substantially
anything you do to show interest in students as
individuals has a positive impact on their learning”
and makes several suggestions, including: greeting
students outside of school, such as at extracurricular
events or at stores; singling out a few students each
day in the lunchroom and talking to them; being
aware of and commenting on important events in
students’ lives, such as participation in sports,
drama, or other extracurricular activities.

85. - Rodriguez (2005) describes his experience as a
math teacher in an alternate, urban high school
where many of the students brought with them
a history of bad experiences with teachers. One
way he promoted good relationships was to
respect the perspectives of his students. At the
end of each class he asked students to critique
his teaching in their math journals by providing
a guiding question, such as “How did I do as a
teacher today?”

86. Mortimer & Scott (2002) propose communicative
approach. it provides the perspective of ‘how’ teachers
show their teaching purpose when dealing with the
chosen content . They identify four classes of
communicative approach. These four classes of
communicative approach describe teachers’ skills in
conducting discourse in the classroom and show how
they interact with their students in the various
stages of the class:

87. The interactive/dialogic class indicates the interval of the class
when teacher and students explore ideas, formulate questions,
and work different points of view. This class of communicative
approach shows the teacher’s important skill in exploring
students’ ideas, encouraging all to express themselves openly.
Apart from communication skills, this requires planning skills to
address the creation of problems or challenging situations
related to the content to be developed in order to engage
students both intellectually and emotionally.
The non-interactive/dialogic class shows when teachers, in the
course of their explanation, consider several viewpoints that
their students have already repeatedly made explicit,
highlighting similarities and differences. This class of
communicative approach reflects the teacher’s skill in giving
form to the meanings introduced based on discussion that has
already taken place.

88. The interactive/authoritative class reflects the teacher’s action
in guiding students toward a specific objective by means of a
sequence of questions and answers. This type of communication
reflects a quite common skill in traditional teaching when
development of the content plays an outstanding role in the
classroom.
The non-interactive/authoritative class shows the teacher’s
action, presenting a specific point of view. This communicative
approach demands that teachers have the ability to express their
ideas very clearly.

89. Quiz
1. The importance of good c----------------------
n--------------- within organizations ( such as
school).
- C------------- n---------- play key role in creating
organizational c---------------
- Organization c--------------------- has effects on
c---------------------

90. 2. How leaders influence the culture of schools?
- They c----------------- core values in what they say and
do.
- School leaders from every level are key to creating
school culture . Principals c----------- core values in their
school buildings. Teachers reinforce values in their
words and behavior
3. Stories and myths of heroes are transmitted by means
of the c------------------- n---------------
- Gossips are very important in building and maintaining
heroes. Gossips carry the trivial day-to-day activities of
the organization through the c----------- n---------

91. References
Primary source:
White, R.V. Martin, M. Stimson, M. Hodge, R. (1989). Management in English Language Teaching.
Cambridge press.
- Clampitt, P. G. (2005) Communicating for Managerial Effectiveness. Sage. CA.
- Dixon, T. O’HaraMM. ( 2006). Communication Skills. North Umbria university press
- Frederick C. Lunenburg, Allan C. Ornstein. ( 2008). Educational Administration: Concepts and
Practices: Concepts and Practices. Thomson books.
- Hargie, O., Dickson, D., Tourish, D. (2004) Communication Skills for Effective Management. Palgrave
Macmillan. Hampshire.
- Marzano, R, Marzano, J, and Pickering, D. (2003).Classroom management that works.
Researchbased strategies for every teacher, Association for Supervision and Curriculum
Development , Alexandria, VA.
- Mortimer, E. F. e Scott, P. H. (2002) Discursive activity on the social plane of high school science
classrooms: a tool for analysing and planning teaching interactions. Artigo apresentado no Annual
Meeting da AERA, New Orleans, USA
- - Rodriguez, L. (2005). Yo, Mister! An alternative high school offers lessons on respect. Educational
Leadership, 62 (7) 78-80.
- Weinstein C., Tomlinson-Clarke S., & Curran M. (2004). Toward a Conception of Culturally
Responsive Classroom Management. Journal of Teacher Education, 55(1), 25-38.
- Weinstein, C., Curran, M., and Tomlinson-Clarke, S. (2003). Culturally Responsive Classroom
Management: Awareness into Action. Theory into Practice, 42(4), 269-276.
- Van Kleef, G. A.; De Dreu, C. K. W.; Manstead, A. S. R. (2004). "The interpersonal effects of anger
and happiness in negotiations" (PDF). Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 86: 57–76.

92. Thank you