Page 421 - Effective Communication Soft Skills Strategies For Success by Nitin Bhatnagar, Mamta Bhatnagar

Model Question Papers | 409

without categorizing, passing quick judgment, or blocking their message by putting up
separations, distinctions or walls.
Empathy is important for information exchange in any and all relationships, whether
between a stranger, a family member, or between two nations.
3. a. No feature of communication has more meaning and significance than the one identified
by the word emotion or affect—love, hate, anger, sadness, courage, anxiety, frustration
are emotional states—feelings. Positive or negative emotion constitutes a very general
predisposition. Individuals with positive affect are marked by enthusiasm, favourable
expectations and general optimism, than individuals with negative affect. The commu-
nication-related communicators, because positive emotions are highly correlated with
self concept, sensitivity, empathy, and interpersonal skills. The impact of negative emo-
tion in communication can lead to communication apprehension, miscommunication,
aggression, etc.
The impact of negative emotion in teaching is far more critical, for it involves a teacher’s
overall attitudes about students and teaching. Emotion is the source for the words and
expressions we use, and since we know the relation of emotion with communication,
negative emotions also disrupt relationships between the teachers and the 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 communication with the students? The
answer is yes, in case of positive emotion (as we shall see in the next chapter on peda-
gogy and communication) where, the show of love, kindness, empathy, concern—are
all so very important for effective communication in teaching and learning. Teachers
who have made a difference 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.

b. The contemporary models of teaching believe that a textbook, often prepared by a
board that may not have the requisite academic leaning/qualifications/interests, may
not be sufficient as a teaching/learning aid. Often, hence, are prepared teacher’s hand-
books and students’ workbooks as additional teaching/learning aids. The proliferation
of ‘special purpose’ courses further necessitates such a move.

A Teacher’s Handbook gives tips to the teacher for effective teaching. When you are
scripting such a teacher’s handbook, see to it that it is self-sufficient. A teacher, without
any further training (which is welcome, if possible), should manage to use this extra
resource.
It is necessary, hence, to provide clear indications in a teacher’s handbook about how to
use it, about how it should supplement and extend the textbook, for example.
It is essential to provide very many graded activities, listed out in detail. These should
make both enjoyable teaching and reading, for the experimenting teacher.

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