Good listening forges life skills

Press, 28 September 1988, Page 21

Good listening forges life skills

Stories:

NICOLE PARISH

From the outside, Room 10 at Cobham Intermediate School looks like any other classroom, but step inside and you know something special is happening. The walls are smothered in children’s work and phrases like “It’s nice to be important but it’s more important to be nice.” There are “success-charts” where pupils have recorded the highlights of their lives: something as simple as riding a bike qualifies. A list of class rules includes one which catches my eye: “Always show interest — no put downs.” It is all part of an American educational programme for 10 to 14-year-olds which has been started in New Zealand schools. The Skills for Adolescence (S.F.A.) programme was founded by Rick Little, of Quest Organisation, and is funded by Lions Clubs international. S.F.A. was first taught here in 1986 by Lynne Andrews at Cobham Intermediate. The response from teachers, pupils and parents was so positive that a pilot programme with eight Christchurch schools began the following year. Now 212 teachers are using the programme in more than a hundred schools. Lions clubs are unable to fund all the teachers wanting to be trained in S.F.A. The programme has been so successful in New Zealand that the headquarters in the United States uses New Zealand as a model when introducing S.F.A. to a new country. Pupils from Lynne Andrews’ trial class are the only children in New Zealand to have completed the two-year programme. Pupils in. her class are lively and chatty, but not boisterous and noisy. The atmosphere is informal. In two hours, the teacher does not raise her voice once. She speaks slowly and clearly, and

the ’ children seem calm. The S.F.A. lesson takes the form of sitting on the mat in a circle discussing the day’s skill, which is learning to listen. The appropriate quote is from Mark Twain: "If we were supposed to talk more than we listen, we would have two mouths and one ear.” Lynne Andrews revises the last lesson, not by telling the children but by asking them to remember and tell, the rest of the class. I am amazed by the selfassuredness of these 11-year-olds. Almost everyone speaks out clearly and concisely. There is no shrugging and mumbling. The children are learning how to listen rather than just hear

and ignore each other. Lynne does some role-playing with the class, getting them to hold a conversation with her while she demonstrates how not to behave when listening to someone.

Interviews of each other

The pupils laugh as she interrupts and changes the subject. They are taught three specific skills to help them become good listeners — focusing on a person

(eye contact), accepting (listening to what a person actually is saying), and drawing out (asking relevant questions to find out more, and to convey interest). Next, the children move outside into the sun and practise interviewing and listening to each other. They behave maturely,. changing partners every 10 minutes or so at the teacher’s signal. S.F.A. is designed to promote a positive, drug and alcohol-free lifestyle. Thinking, feeling, deci-sion-making, communication and action are the focuses. Lessons are used to build self-confidence and esteem. The programme teaches them

to cope with their own feelings in the emotional period of adolescence and to be sensitive to others. Building up self-esteem in the programme’s initial stages is crucial for later phases, where the kids are taught how to cope with peer pressure — especially in refusing to take drugs and alcohol. Lynne Andrews noticed many changes in kids who completed the first programme. There was better communication between pupils, their parents and their peers. Playground behaviour . improved markedly. Pupils were more co-operative and courteous. She had to discipline the class less as the year went on. They did more work, and it was of a higher standard. One of the most noticeable changes was the drop in absenteeism — the children were almost always all there. Maria Darling teaches S.F.A. at Ellesmere College. She says the bigest change in her pupils is that they no longer put each other down. If anyone does, they must “pay back” by giving two compliments. “The kids love to catch each other out, even more so if it’s me,” she says. She has come to know the children in her class as people. She knows their likes and dislikes, their friends and their families. In the past, she didn’t have the opportunity to get to know them so well. Her classes have comforting and caring sessions. Kids can share their problems, try to find solutions. They have a mood chart numbered one to 10, one being a very negative mood. Pupils take turns standing on the number which best reflects their

mood. If anyone is particularly happy or sad they can tell the class why. The teacher joins in, too, and isn’t afraid to let the kids know how she is feeling. The kids are beginning to open up, and often come to her with serious problems. She is then able to refer them to the school counsellor if it is inappropriate for her to deal with the issue. Perhaps the most important aspect of S.F.A. is parent involvement. Before the programme begins in a school, parents are told what is going on. They have their own textbook and are required to participate in homework. Every term, a parent seminar is held on a specific topic, such as family relationships. These are proving popular, and there is quite often a 90 per cent attendance rate.

Welcome for parents to visit

Lynne Andrews says that parents enjoy themselves so much it is often hard to get them to leave. Parents are welcome and encouraged to visit the classroom at any time. To be able to teach S.F.A., teachers must do an intensive three-day training course. It costs $2OOO to train a teacher. New Zealand teachers are regularly checked by someone from the Quest Organisation. Workshops are held as refresher courses, where teachers can trade problems and successes.

Lynne Andrews returned recently from a trip to the United States. She went with her husband, a district governor for Lions, to an international club convention and visited the Quest Organisation in Ohio.. Granville, a three-storey mansion, is the S.F.A. nerve centre. She was impressed with the large library of adolescent learning — full of information in files and on computer about young adolescents which provides a basis for developing programmes. A 106-member staff monitor, research and design programmes. Three teachers work full-time on telephones, providing a support link for teachers of S.F.A. Teachers can ring up

anytime toll-free and talk through problems. Lynne Andrews says the level of professionalism is amazing. The atmosphere is relaxed and happy. “Happy-grams” from parents, pupils and teachers coated the walls. She was there for only two days, but new ideas were advanced nearly every hour while she and her husband discussed the programme. Lynne was able to see copies of a new programme for six to 10-year-olds piloted in the United States in their autumn. Studies there have shown that it is necessary to begin teaching life skills earlier than 10 years of age.