Types of pedagogical communication styles
Types of human temperament and their brief characteristics
The teacher’s ability to find a common language with students demonstrates his professional competence. The choice of communication style is influenced by the age of the students, their behavior and the nature of the information presented. When choosing a behavioral strategy, an important role is played by the teacher’s attitude towards the students: positive, negative or passive.
When working with students, there are different styles of pedagogical communication: democratic, authoritarian and liberal. Additionally, there is a mixed type, which is built on the basis of 3 basic styles.
Democratic
Democratic style is communication with students, which is based on mutual understanding and mutual cooperation. The teacher strives for dialogue with students and helps them correctly formulate their thoughts. The main task is to relieve the emotional tension of the audience and win over the wards.
Teacher with children
The democratic teacher always encourages and supports, his criticism comes in the form of recommendations. This is the style of pedagogical communication that is considered the most productive in psychology. The child feels comfortable in the lesson, it is easier for him to realize his potential.
The disadvantage of such communication is that student behavior is not stable and can change. Over time, children stop keeping their distance and provoke conflict situations. Their actions are justified by the fact that they perceive the teacher as equal to themselves and are not afraid of his reaction.
Note! Often young teachers choose a democratic style; this is a typical mistake that spoils the discipline. If you do not immediately declare your rights, in the future children will not be able to readjust and will regularly ignore the rules of behavior.
Authoritarian
Communication in an authoritarian style is characterized by a clearly constructed hierarchy, where the teacher occupies a leadership position. The teacher independently decides all educational issues, sets rules of behavior and clear goals. In this case, the teacher is a leader who sometimes develops into a dictator. An authoritarian teacher evaluates children superficially, focusing only on academic performance, without taking into account their creative potential.
Under authoritarian control, students are able to complete a large number of tasks, but not of their own free will, but out of fear of facing criticism from the teacher. In such conditions, children cannot take the initiative and reveal their capabilities. From this, the main disadvantage of authoritarian behavior is formed - a feeling of pressure and restrictions that cause protest from students.
Strict teacher at the blackboard
Liberal
By choosing a liberal style, the teacher tries to limit the degree of his responsibility. Often, a liberal teacher superficially fulfills his duties, avoiding the need to lead and educate children. In such a situation, the teacher only conveys information without taking part in the life of the team.
Neutrality is the most accurate definition of the liberal style. By abusing this behavior, the teacher loses respect and lets the learning process take its course. Students develop a disrespectful attitude, and their academic performance and discipline decrease.
Mixed type
The basic styles of communication between a teacher and children are practically not used in their pure form; they are often combined with each other. A mixed type is a unity of two styles, most often combining democracy with liberalism or authoritarian behavior. For example, a “democrat” interacts with children in lessons, and during exams he shows himself as a leader.
Note! Authoritarian and liberal behavior are opposite concepts that cannot be combined in one system of behavior.
You cannot lead and remove yourself from responsibility at the same time.
Democratic communication style of the teacher
It is generally accepted that the most effective and acceptable is the democratic communication style of the teacher. The main feature of this style is wide contact with children, a general manifestation of respect and trust, while the teacher himself establishes maximum emotional contact with his students and in no way suppresses their individuality. Communication with children in this situation is also expressed by frequent positive assessments, the absence of real punishments, and severity.
This style is complicated in that it requires appropriate dedication on the part of the students themselves, without which the implementation of the desired atmosphere of mutual respect is not possible. In many ways, everything depends on whether children are able to correctly perceive their mistakes and how they are aimed at various forms of joint activity. Most often, the work of a “democratic” teacher is aimed at stimulating children’s motivation to learn, evokes exclusively positive emotions, and thereby only encourages a thirst for knowledge. Studying with such a teacher develops an understanding of the values of relationships, mutual respect and teamwork, and creates a sense of self-confidence in children.
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The importance of choosing the type of communication between the teacher and students
The choice of communication strategy depends on the following factors:
- Characteristics of the audience: age of the students, predominance of boys or girls in the class;
- Tasks that are set for the teacher;
- Characteristics of the teacher: phlegmatic or hot-tempered;
- Rules of communication that were previously established in the team. Some school and preschool educational institutions have their own behavioral systems, from which it is prohibited to deviate.
Types of communication in psychology - what they include, its functions
The atmosphere in the team and the students’ disposition towards the teacher and his subject depend on the chosen style. As practice shows, authoritarian behavior, which was previously the most common, is today unacceptable to be used in its pure form.
The pedagogy of past generations was based on the principle of student management, the transfer of knowledge was the main task. What is more important now is how much the child knows how to use this knowledge in real life. We can say that democratic and mixed communication styles are becoming increasingly popular.
Important information! When moving from junior to senior grades, teachers change, so it is important to pay attention to the choice of a new class teacher. After a liberal teacher, you cannot appoint an authoritarian one and vice versa. At the same time, a “democrat” is allowed to be installed in the place of the class leader, regardless of his predecessors.
Characteristics of pedagogical communication styles
Pedagogical communication styles were defined as emotional techniques and actions of the teacher in relation to the student. The teacher's behavior is determined by his understanding of the goal that he pursues in teaching the child. Most often, this is nothing more than teaching a child the basics of his subject, transferring skills that the student will need to complete a task, or that will be useful to him in later life. At the same time, the teacher also takes into account the child’s communication styles. Communication with children is completely different from that with adults. The teacher needs a little more time, effort and attention to explain the material to the child. Communication itself occurs through instructions, explanations, questions, comments and even prohibitions.
How to behave in a new team
Psychology of communication - how to learn to talk to people correctly
The strategy of behavior in a new team depends on the position held. If a school director may exhibit more authoritarian qualities, on the part of an ordinary employee such behavior may look like an abuse of authority.
Another example is a teacher and his assistant in a preschool educational institution. A teacher cannot only be a “democrat”; without authoritarian qualities, he risks shaking discipline in the group. A helper who is not involved in the children's teaching may adopt a liberal or neutral demeanor.
Beginning teachers have difficulty choosing a communication style; the most common mistake is lack of maneuverability. Often a young teacher chooses for himself the role of a “democrat” or a leader and does not deviate one step from it.
New teacher
When choosing pedagogical communication styles for yourself in a new team, you need to take a closer look at the students. To be sure, you can attend a class session with another teacher to assess children's behavior and develop your own strategy. If this is not possible, you need to conduct a short introductory lesson where you can communicate with your students and draw conclusions.
Learning is a complex technological process that largely depends on the teacher’s ability to convey information to students. The most productive type of communication is considered to be a mixed one, in which you can combine the best qualities and smooth out the shortcomings. Over time, each teacher develops an individual teaching style that he constantly uses.
Communication styles: liberal style
Let's consider the liberal genre of dialogue using the example of a teacher. It differs from other styles in its lack of initiative, irresponsibility, inconsistency in making decisions and actions, and indecision in difficult situational moments. Such an interlocutor tends to allegedly forget his previous statements, and after some time he can load his interlocutors with completely opposite statements regarding the previously given statements. Can let the dialogue take its course, overestimating the capabilities of the interlocutors.
A liberal gives an assessment to his listeners depending on his mood: if he is in a good mood, then a positive assessment will follow, if he is in a bad mood, a negative assessment will follow. This approach to dialogue undermines the reputation of a liberal in the eyes of his interlocutors. But there is also a positive side to the nature of such a dialogue: he does not want to completely spoil relations with opponents, showing goodwill towards everyone during the conversation; the interlocutors are perceived as sociable, proactive, truthful and independent.
Types and examples
An authoritarian communication style is often observed in parent-child relationships. At the same time, the parent is not interested in the child’s preferences and hobbies - his vision of the situation is in the foreground.
For example, a father orders a child: “You will play football” and sends him to a football club, despite the fact that the child is not interested in playing this sport and would prefer to learn to play the piano.
However, the influence of the father remains decisive, who in case of disobedience can punish the child.
Authoritarianism among managers is manifested in the issuance of strict instructions and constant control over their implementation.
The employee is given a clear instruction that he must follow without showing initiative .
For example, a manager orders an employee: “The quarterly report should be on my desk by 2 p.m. today. If you fail to comply, you will lose your monthly bonus.”
The leading incentive with such an order is the deprivation of material benefits to the employee , and the possibility of incentives is not even considered.
The authoritarianism of the teacher when communicating with students can be expressed in a constant focus on the negative assessment of the results of their activities.
For example, a teacher says to an excellent student: “Petrov, you get a 3 on the test, so your quarter grade is reduced to 4,” while the teacher knows very well that the failure of a generally capable student is justified by the fact that he was ill for a long time and missed important thematic lessons.
However, the authoritarianism of the teacher does not allow him to single out the student as an individual, approach him individually and promote extracurricular activities on a missed topic - the teacher is guided by the general principles of assessing the activities of students, without going into specific details.
In married couples, authoritarianism in the communication style of one of the spouses is expressed in the fact that only he makes decisions that generally affect the life of the entire family , without taking into account either the opinions of the rest of its members or the consequences of his own decisions, which may be in some way negative towards other members.
A simple example of this style of communication in a family is when a husband tells his wife: “We are starting to save for a car, so your studies are put off until later.”
This decision sounds like it has already been made and does not tolerate any objections. Moreover, it must be carried out unquestioningly, despite the fact that it may exclude the goals of one of the partners.
