Blog Post #1
Keilea Swearingen
“If we strive for dialogic engagement in our listening, our opportunities for learning increase, and, by listening to learn, we can begin to enact change in the world and our relationships with others” (p. 76).
This quote represents a very broad perspective regarding listening. The quote offers a purpose to the content of the chapter, as reading about listening, then going out and applying the information from the chapter to our every day lives can seem unrealistic at times.
Of course, everybody knows, or thinks they know, that listening is important. Personally, I have never had the concept broken down to me in such a way to make me contemplate such a greater picture, as was broken down for me in the quote on page 76. If I am being honest, the course material in many communication courses I have taken seems extremely obvious at times. Take the concept of “listening” for example, my first thoughts going into the chapter were, “am I really about to read about how to listen?”. As I mentioned previously, an applicable connection is needed to really make the message of the chapter credible in my eyes, and this quote does an excellent job in bridging the gap between textbook and real life.
The chapter goes on to explain how listening with the honest intent to learn or gain knowledge, enables you in many ways. Dialogic listening creates awareness within the listener, which is key when striving to be an effective listener. For example, when speaking with someone who shares opposing political views than you, it is in one’s best interest to listen with the hopes of gaining an understanding, in which case hearing will come more naturally (76). This is an extremely applicable concept that every communicating human could benefit from understanding. I have participated in many conversations where I, being the listener, did not listen with the intent to be appreciative, empathetic, comprehensive, nor critical. Taking a step back and examining faults that are so easy to succumb to as an uneducated listener, I realize the importance in being knowledgable about listening, which will in turn better us as speakers.
According to the quote, if we are able to listen and learn, we will then be able to make an impact on the world around us, specifically, regarding our relationships with others. Reading this prompted me to think about how better listening skills amongst the population might affect our community. Thinking about our community specifically in Boise, I often witness communication struggles caused by language barriers. Many people tend to shut down and become frustrated when they’re trying to communicate with someone who does not speak the same first language as them. understanding them properly due to an accent or whatever it may be. The old phrase “knowledge is in the eye of the beholder” stands relevant in this case. Referring back to the quote, if we strive to be better engaged listeners, listening with the intent to learn, comprehend, and appreciate, this in turn will benefit us because with knowledge, power and choice multiply.
With that being said, in an article written by Michael Webb, he states, “an especially skillful listener will know how to overcome many of the deficiencies of a vague or disorganized speaker. On the other hand, it won't matter how eloquent or cogent a speaker is if the listener isn't paying attention” (http://www.sklatch.net/thoughtlets/listen.html). This statement is an excellent reminder that communication is dynamic, and takes two to work.
http://www.sklatch.net/thoughtlets/listen.html
Warren, John T., and Deanna L. Fassett. Communication: a critical/Cultural introduction. Thousand Oaks, CA, SAGE, 2015.
Blog Post #1
ReplyDeleteCody Shoemaker
The sentence I chose to discuss today is found on page 6 Chapter 1,"To be clear, critical perspective simply means that we question and challenge what we experience, never taking anything for granted."
I believe this sentence is extremely important and very relatable in today's world. I personally feel that critical perspective is lacking within most of us. That is not to say that it is unattainable but there is a lack there of at the moment. This especially is in regards to our generation. I myself fall into this category a lot of the time. While there are many great qualities to us we fall short in a few as well. This is especially true in our era of advanced technology and flow of information that we have thrown at us. Information is everywhere at the click of a button now. Within 5 minutes you can look at 20 different news stories from different websites all from one device such as our phone. It is a very fast-paced way of going about our day. We strive to find constant new distractions and posts that we lay interest in for a short amount of time before moving onto the next. We absorb ourselves in our phones and our social media looking for the best and newest and most popular distraction or trend that we can get our hands on. Instead of focusing on a main current event in a day we scroll by it to look for the next best thing with a very short attention span. How often do we not question what goes on in this world? Instead of taking a moment and think about the current event that happened today. It is all about how fast we can absorb information. Most of us get our information in posts that are no more than 140 characters or less and think it equal to a 3 page article. I personally believe that there needs to be a slow down setting that we can turn on in our everyday lives and on our technology which can lead to us stepping back and gaining a little perspective. Now given, we are the first generation that has to had to deal with this advanced technology so there will be a learning curve and I am hopeful that we can figure this out. I just hope others take a step back and gain critical perspective to question and challenge the things that happen in our world and not to just absorb it and then scroll past looking for the next thing in line. We have a problem with questioning things. For many reasons, such as fear of judgement or lack of thought about its importance but sometimes we just let things be the way they are as the norm. Questioning things is not a negative action but can prove to be a thoughtful one that can open doors and new ways of thought that we may have never seen before. To question is to lead the possibility of change and awareness.
https://www.ukessays.com/essays/social-policy/the-influence-of-modern-technology.php