| Leadership in Early Childhood Education: Cross-cultural perspectives | ||
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Some of our personal qualities are determined by our genetic make-up, ethnic origin and some other relatively unchangeable factors, but there are many other qualities that can be modified by educational and other life experiences. If you follow the ten guidelines for listening, you will be able to learn and develop your effective listening skills Sayre (1989). But like any other skill, they require practice to be perfected.
Stop talking. Listen quietly until the speaker’s message is complete.
Avoid, reduce or eliminate distractions.
Expend the energy needed to give the speaker the benefit of your attention.
Use pauses to reflect on what the speaker is saying.
Identify the speaker’s main ideas and central themes.
Judge the content of the message, not the speaker’s delivery style.
Use paraphrasing, note taking and questions when appropriate to ensure understanding.
Interpret loaded emotional words appropriately; don’t overreact.
Give useful feedback.
Listen between the lines and beyond the words: Listen for the speaker’s feelings as well as facts.
According to the official statistics, the directors of privately owned ECECs in TRNC are the graduates of the only Teacher’s College of this isolated small country. Observational findings of this study reveal that almost all of the directors of these centers have poor listening skills. Stevens (2001) suggests that interpersonal communication skills can be taught or improved directly using classroom teaching methods. These methods are not expensive and can be used with individuals or a group of students. So the Teacher’s College should begin to design a new curriculum that will assure that every graduate has a minimal level of certain skill areas deemed critical for academic, professional and life success. Then the graduate of this school will be able to demonstrate good interpersonal skills like an ability to listen to others effectively. But the alterations on the curriculum can only be temporary solution to the matter. This should be supported with regular in-service training courses throughout their careers.
This study is limited to the privately owned ECECs in the TRNC. These centers cater for 986 (42%) of 3 to 5 year-old-students. The rest of the 3 to 5 age group students (1358) attend state-owned schools. In order to draw a better picture of the directors of ECECs, a similar study is required to be carried out in the state-owned early childhood education centers.