SPECIAL REPORT
SPECIAL REPORT
The
Art of Listening
In 1985 ,
The role of a teacher can be summarized by words such as teaching , guiding , instructing , mentoring , advising , and so on . One word that one might not often associate with a teacher is listening . But that is exactly what Nita Pettigrew says is central to being a good teacher : “ The teacher ’ s task , then , is to listen to that dynamic , to be an informed and open-minded witness to her student ’ s explorations — and to be genuinely interested .” Nita Pettigrew joined the Phillips Exeter Academy ’ s English department in 1986 , and served as the department ’ s chair from 2001 to 2005 . She retired in 2006 , and has since been a much sought after teacher trainer and consultant . In the spring of 2016 , Ms . Pettigrew conducted a workshop for Keystone ’ s middle and high school faculty on how to inculcate this pedagogy of listening . This article by Ms . Pettigrew originally appeared in The Exeter Bulletin of 2007 . The Keystone Magazine is grateful to Phillips Exeter and Ms . Pettigrew for the permission to republish .
One of the hardest things about learning to teach is learning to listen . It ’ s also one of the most essential .
In Within the accepted practice of the time , I
1985 , when I first came to New England , I had been teaching English for 20 years .
had reason to believe I was a successful teacher : I built my classes around discussion , and I saw to it that those discussions were lively , that every student participated , and that most of them saw the “ relevance ” of all our reading and writing . In those days , I never entered a classroom without knowing my goals , without knowing what I wanted the students to understand by the end of the period . I thought carefully about the steps by which I would bring my charges from pointA to point B or C or D . I thought of myself as a coach , but in fact I was a pretty good example of Teacher-as-Choreographer . The students did the dance , but I controlled the music and the steps they took . My job , from my perspective ( and from the perspective of the schools in which I taught ) was to bring the students into my relationship with the literature we studied . In that scenario , I was active and my students , though lively , were passive —“ little pitchers ” 1 into which I poured all my bright ideas .
A teacher-framed , teacher-centered classroom , I have come to realize , may be well intended , but it misses the point : to deliver information is not necessarily to build knowledge or understanding . Over the years , what I ’ ve learned from experience has been supplemented and supported by research going all the way back to Piaget and Dewey . My present practice is based on several fundamental insights :
1
Charles Dickens , Hard Times
Learning is a personal journey , guided by each individual ’ s unique way of thinking , and colored by each individual ’ s unique perspective .
When we understand something , we own it , and the pleasure of ownership is visceral — not merely intellectual .
The ideas that are dearest to us , that become internalized and useful , are the ones we have struggled personally to build .
But I am getting ahead of myself .
A STUDENT ONCE MORE In 1985 , mid-career , I came east to go to Harvard . The year was an awakening for me ; it initiated a profound shift in my understanding of what it means to be a teacher . Working with Eleanor Duckworth , in a course titled “ Teaching and Learning ,” I began to redefine my role in the classroom . My practice moved from a teacher-centered pedagogy to a student-centered pedagogy .
By the time I left Harvard to resume the responsibilities of my own classroom , I still had a lot to learn , but I knew this : I had to sit down with my students and begin to listen . And when I did that , when I began to practice a listening pedagogy , the level of student engagement in my classes changed dramatically ; my students became self-directed , active learners . And they began to feel a pride of ownership .
22 THE KEYSTONE MAGAZINE