PedagogyDo Students Hear what Professors are Saying?Do Professors Hear what Students are Saying?

Speaking vs. Listening

Margaret A. Goralski, Ph.D.Quinnipiac University, Business

Krystyna Gorniak-Kocikowska, Ph.D.Southern Connecticut State University, Philosophy

God gave us two ears and only one mouth. In view of the way we use these, it is probably a very good thing

that this is not reversed.- Cicero

Today's students listen to iPods,

converse via texting and

smart phone, and oftentimes forego an actual

(physical) conversation to text someone

who is not present.

Speaking vs. Listening This presentation explores whether students

actually listen to what professors are saying –– and also the reverse – whether professors are

listening to students.

Saint Benedict’s Rule for Monasteries begins:

“Listen carefully, my son, to the master’s

instructions, and attend to them with

the ear of your heart.”

Listening is as important a part of

successful communication as

speaking or perhaps even more so,

however, this rarely has a direct impact on

the process of communication.

The amount of attention devoted to speaking far exceeds the

attention devoted to listening.

For Karl Jaspers, German psychiatrist and philosopher, listening was not a primary focus and only became a subject of attention after

World War II when the issue of listening became an

obstacle in his own attempts at communication, for if one will not listen then there is,

in reality, no communication.

According to Gemma Corradi Fiumara, this neglect of listening is due to the dominance of logos in the western intellectual tradition. “Among the widespread meanings of the Greek term ‘logos’ there do not appear to be recognizable references to the notion and capacity of listening; in the tradition of Western thought we are thus faced with a system of knowledge that tends to ignore listening processes” (1990, p. 1).

The will to listen, without which any meaningful communication is all but

impossible, means also a will to think; not just a will to obey or follow

in one’s footsteps.

The will for listening is very important,

especially in the philosophy of communication.

Close your eyes and picture the blinking light on your phone…

Do you feel anxious?

Impatient?

Tense?

Are students hearing what professors are saying?

Are professors hearing what students are saying?

This topic is presented as an opportunity for discussion.

Speaking & Listening…