October 17, 2014
The Power of Conversation: Using Meaningful Face-to-Face Conversations to Establish Human Connections
As an aspiring teacher, I constantly wonder about the effect of communication on education policies and practices. I understand communication will make it possible to establish connections with my future students. It is through communication that I will create a healthy classroom atmosphere for my students and for myself. In educators’ attempts to find the best ways to enhance communication skills, elaborate ideas have been introduced. However, I find that they have overlooked a small, but meaningful, concept. For many reasons (texting, rise in social media, and other informal ways of communication) society has forgotten the power of face- to-face meaningful conversations. It takes several steps to master the art of conversation. If approached correctly, meaningful conversations have the power to break through anything. In my internship in southern Spain, conversations helped me overcome language barriers. During the panel, I will speak of my experiences with meaningful conversation, and how I was able to build connections with Spanish students of various ages and stages of English proficiency. Most importantly, I will emphasize the ways I found instrumental in establishing relationships through nonverbal and verbal communication. I believe that the topics I will touch upon are applicable to anyone interested in building meaningful human connections, no matter where on the map they may find themselves.
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