Page 159 - Effective Communication Soft Skills Strategies For Success by Nitin Bhatnagar, Mamta Bhatnagar

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Psychology and Communication | 147

students indeed, the emotional tie or relationship between the teacher and
the taught serves as the channel for all the messages that each arouses in
the other.
Teachers are human and can experience a range of emotions but the
question is, should a teacher let his or her emotions reflect in her commu-
nication with the students? The answer is ‘yes’. In case of positive emotion
(as we shall see in the next chapter on pedagogy and communication) the
show of love, kindness, empathy, concern are all very important for effective
communication in teaching and learning. Teachers who have made a differ-
ence in our lives were for us real people. Those who were not flesh and blood
did not help us internalize whatever they taught. A teacher without clearly
expressed emotions is more like a teaching machine than a teacher.

IMplICATIONS

The question upper most in one’s mind at this point is: just because we find
that certain sorts of people behave differently than others in interpersonal
setting and in communication, why is that important? To the degree that
traits are basic to a person, and to the degree that they are very difficult to
change, what is the value of studying them? One answer is that, given enough
knowledge, we can aid people varying in dispositions to be more successful.
In educational settings, personality differences are often chosen as a way of
segmenting student population. Alternative kind of instructional methods
are used. There are successful therapies for social anxieties such as commu-
nication apprehension. Communication competence can be improved with
training.
Finally, individual differences deepen our understanding of the phenom-
enon of interpersonal communication. Science is about making distinctions
in that matter. Clearly, the study of personality has long played an important
role in scholarship in interpersonal communication. It has survived so long
because it offers an intellectually and practically viable ground for under-
standing and developing effective communication.

SUMMAR Y

• The role that personality plays in communication is clear: individual
difference affect how people communicate in various interpersonal
settings. Over and above, contexts and the psychological dimensions
to communication add to our understanding of the intent, motive,
context and the process of communication. Teachers who deal with
‘people’ and whose job needs communication cannot but know and

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