Topics in Early Childhood

Special Education
Volume 27 Number 4
Learning to Listen Winter 2007 223-231
© 2008 Hammill Institute on
Disabilities
10.1177/0271121407311241
Teaching an Active Listening Strategy to http://tecse.sagepub.com
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Preservice Education Professionals

David McNaughton
Dawn Hamlin
Pennsylvania State University, University Park
John McCarthy
Ohio University, Athens
Darlene Head-Reeves
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Mary Schreiner
Alvernia College, Reading, Pennsylvania

The importance of parent–teacher communication has been widely recognized; however, there is only limited research on
teaching effective listening skills to education professionals. In this study, a pretest–posttest control group design was used
to examine the effect of instruction on the active listening skills of preservice education professionals. Instruction resulted
in statistically significant improvement for targeted active listening skills. As a measure of social validity, parents of
preschool and school-age children viewed pre- and postinstruction videotapes of preservice education professionals in role-
play conversations. The parents judged the postinstruction performances of the preservice education professionals to be
better examples of effective communication than the preinstruction performances of the preservice education professionals.

Keywords: parent–teacher communication; active listening; preservice education professionals

T he importance of effective parent–teacher communi-

cation has been recognized by parents (Harry, 1992;
Walker & MacLure, 2001), early intervention specialists
exchanges can help early childhood professionals better
understand the parent’s perception of his or her child and
the parent’s impressions and expectations for the pro-
(Bernhard, Lefebvre, Kilbride, Chud, & Lange, 1998; gram, and can help to build a working relationship that
Lea, 2006; Sumsion, 1999), and special education pro- can support strong home–program collaboration (Gelfer
fessionals (O’Shea, Algozzine, Hammittee, & O’Shea, & Perkins, 1987; Sheridan, Clarke, Knoche, & Edwards,
2000; Turnbull & Turnbull, 1990). Communication is key 2007; Shivers, Howes, Wishard, & Ritchie, 2004). Too
to effective collaboration and to building cooperative rela- often, however, family–professional communication in
tionships between families and education professionals early intervention is viewed by parents as “nonempa-
(Harry, 1992; Lasky, 2000). thetic, distrustful, and void of mutual respect” (Lea,
There are numerous opportunities for parent–teacher 2006, p. 276), and parents report that their views on sub-
interaction in early childhood programs, including both stantive issues, such as goal setting and decision making,
formal parent–teacher interactions, such as the individu- are ignored (Bernhard et al., 1998).
alized family service plan meeting (Gelfer & Perkins, The use of active listening skills has been found to play
1987), and informal exchanges that take place as an important role in effective communication (O’Shea
children arrive and depart from programs (Smith &
Hubbard, 1988b). Early childhood programs that pro- Authors’ Note: Please address correspondence to David McNaughton,
mote communication between parents and teachers are Department of Educational and School Psychology and Special
typically rated higher in quality (Ghazvini & Readdick, Education, The Pennsylvania State University, 227 CEDAR Building,
1994; Smith & Hubbard, 1988a). These communication University Park, PA 16802; e-mail: [email protected].

223
Open Rubric
224 Topics in Early Childhood Special Education

et al., 2000). Active listening has been described as a mul- listening strategy instructional package. The study
tistep process, including making empathetic comments, included three phases: pretest, intervention, and posttest.
asking appropriate questions, and paraphrasing and sum- Data were collected on the use of the active listening
marizing for the purposes of verification (Cramer, 1998; strategy by participants in both the control group (no
Gordon, 2003; Turnbull & Turnbull, 1990). The goal in instruction) and the experimental group (instruction).
active listening is to develop a clear understanding of the
speaker’s concern and also to clearly communicate the lis- Participants
tener’s interest in the speaker’s message.
Recognition of the importance of active listening has Teacher candidates. Ten students participated in the
resulted in systematic investigation of the use of active lis- study (see Note 1). All participants were undergraduate
tening skills in other helping professions. In a study exam- students in a teacher preparation program at a large north-
ining the communication skills of nurses as they worked eastern university. The control group participants were
with families experiencing a medical emergency, Duhamel enrolled in a required course in educational psychology
and Tabot (2004) reported that the use of active listening for teacher candidates and were provided with extra
skills helped nurses to establish a trusting relationship with credit for participation. Four were female, one was male,
family participants. Mansfield (1991) used supervised role- and their average age was 21 (range = 20–22 ). The exper-
plays to teach active listening skills to medical students; imental group participants were enrolled in a class on col-
based on a videotape analysis of their pre- and postinstruc- laboration skills for education professionals. Participation
tion performances, the medical students who had received in the instruction and assessment activities examined in
training were judged to be more skilled in their use of this study was a regular class expectation for all students in
active listening skills and in developing appropriate man- the experimental group. Four experimental group members
agement plans for their patients. Paukert, Stagner, and were female, one was male, and their average age was 21
Hope (2004) reported that 45 hours of training in active lis- (range = 20–21). All participants gave informed consent to
tening and counseling skills produced positive changes in participate; however, the experimental group participants
the active listening skills of helpline volunteers as deter- gave informed consent and permission for their data to be
mined by supervisor ratings. used as part of this study after they had received their
Lasky (2000) suggested that by using active listening final grades for the class.
skills, education professionals can gain important informa-
Parents. Thirty parents of preschool and school-age
tion with which to work and at the same time communicate
children provided information on the social validity of
to a parent a sincere interest in understanding the parent’s
the active listening strategy. The mean age of the parents
point of view. Although there is recognition of the need for
was 38, and they included 15 men and 15 women. All
improved communication between teachers and parents
parents lived in a small college town in the northeastern
(Bernhard et al., 1998; Lea, 2006), at present there are few
United States. Three parents described themselves as
empirically validated interventions to address the commu-
African American, 5 described themselves as Asian
nication skills of education professionals (Lasky, 2000).
American, 4 as American Indian, 2 as Hispanic American,
and 16 as White/European American.
Research Objectives
Experimental Condition
This study provides an initial investigation of an
instructional package designed to teach active listening The independent variable was instruction in the four-
skills to preservice education professionals. The impact of step active listening strategy, summarized with the
instruction was measured using a scored analysis of par- acronym LAFF. The steps in the strategy were identified
ticipant performance in pre- and postinstruction role- through a search of the professional literature on effec-
plays, and data on the perceived importance of the targeted tive communication skills for teachers and active listen-
listening skills were gathered from study participants and ing (Cramer, 1998; Gordon, 2003; O’Shea et al., 2000;
from parents of preschool and school-age children. Turnbull & Turnbull, 1990).
The four steps of the strategy are (a) listen, empathize,
and communicate respect; (b) ask questions and ask per-
Method
mission to take notes; (c) focus on the issues; and (d) find
a first step. Table 1 contains the steps for the strategy.
Experimental Design
The first step—listen, empathize, and communicate
A pretest–posttest control group design (Borg & Gall, respect—directs the teacher to listen carefully and con-
1989) was used to evaluate the effectiveness of the active vey empathy by making a statement that recognizes the
 McNaughton et al. / Learning to Listen 225

Table 1 teacher should then carefully review the notes with the
LAFF Active Listening Strategy parent, checking to see that the content is accurate. After
L Listen, empathize, and communicate respect they review the notes, the teacher should ask if there is
A Ask questions and ask permission to take notes anything the parent would like to change or add.
F Focus on the issues Reviewing the summarized information clearly com-
F Find a first step municates to the parent that the teacher is listening care-
fully and wants to understand the parent’s concern
(Cramer, 1998). Often this encourages the family
parent’s concern about the problem. For example, “I am member to go on speaking and may lead to the addition
sorry to hear that this has been a problem. Can you tell of important information. Paraphrasing also provides the
me more about (the problem)?” Instruction on appropri- professional with a means of checking accuracy
ate facial expression while listening (eye contact, head (Turnbull & Turnbull, 1990). The goal is to make sure
nods) was provided. that there is a clear understanding of the issues before
Empathetic listening is frequently identified as a key moving ahead.
communication skill for developing effective collabora- The fourth step—find a first step—requires the
tion (Cramer, 1998; O’Shea et al., 2000; Turnbull & teacher to make a decision as to what part (if any) of the
Turnbull, 1990). The goal is to communicate that the lis- problem is within his or her zone of control (adapted
tener is doing his or her best to understand the partner’s from Covey, 1989). The term zone of control refers to
thoughts and feelings (empathy) and that how the problems for which an individual can reasonably expect
speaker is feeling is important to the listener (respect). some direct influence on the implementation of a solu-
The listener works to communicate genuine interest, tion. If the problem is in an individual’s zone of control,
understanding, and acceptance of the speaker’s point of it is usually best to take some time to gather additional
view; the goal is not to agree or disagree but simply to information before brainstorming solutions. In situations
better understand the speaker’s perspective (Turnbull & in which there is reason to believe that an individual is at
Turnbull, 1990). To paraphrase Covey (1989), a teacher risk for being harmed or for harming others, the teacher
cannot really provide assistance until she or he fully candidate is directed to immediately inform his or her
understands the problem as perceived by the parent. supervisor and take other appropriate preventative
Having a chance to talk and be listened to may also help actions. In most situations, however, a teacher would ask
the speaker in better understanding his or her own feel- for time to find out more about the problem (e.g., directly
ings and beliefs about a concern (Kroth & Edge, 1997). observe the student, speak with other teachers) and plan
The second step of the strategy—ask questions and a follow-up meeting with the parents. If the problem is
ask permission to take notes—directs teachers to find out outside the individual’s zone of control (e.g., a problem
more about the perceived problem. The teacher is with transportation, a conflict with another professional),
encouraged to ask open-ended questions to gain a better the teacher can best help the parent by linking the parent
understanding of the parent’s concerns. By asking ques- with someone who can help (e.g., help to arrange a meet-
tions, a teacher is more likely to get a better understand- ing with the transportation supervisor, provide contact
ing of the parent’s view and to communicate his or her information for the other professional). The teacher can-
interest in the parent’s perspective. The teacher candi- didate should (as appropriate) share his or her reasoning
dates were directed to ask permission to take notes at this with the parent and confirm with the parent that the pro-
time. Taking notes helps the education professional to posed course of action is an appropriate next step
provide a summary during the next step (focus on the (O’Shea et al., 2000). The teacher candidate may volun-
issues) and also helps to communicate the professional’s teer to help as a facilitator at a meeting for a problem
interest in the parent’s opinion. The process of para- outside of his or her zone of control if the parent is ner-
phrasing and summarizing the parent’s point of view vous about moving forward independently, but the
while taking notes also forces the teacher to actively con- teacher should be clear about the limits of his or her role
sider what is being said. in developing and carrying out solutions for problems
The third step of the strategy—focus on the problem— that are outside the zone of control.
directs teachers to attempt to summarize the identified
problems as described by the parent. The notes taken Procedure
above play a key role here. Teachers are told to signal the Pretest–Posttest Measures
introduction of this phase of the conversation with a phrase
such as “I want to make sure I have everything . . .” or A pretest–posttest control group design was used. To
“I want to make sure my notes are accurate . . .” The assess participants’ use of the active listening strategy, all
226 Topics in Early Childhood Special Education

instructional group participants played the role of experimental group during one regularly scheduled 75-
teacher in a total of eight role-play scenarios: one prior minute class and during portions of three additional
to instruction (pretest), six for practice during the classes, for a total of 120 minutes of direct instructional
instruction phase, and one following instruction time. The individuals in the experimental group also par-
(posttest). Control group participants participated in only ticipated in independent practice activities outside of the
the pretest and posttest role-plays. classroom for approximately 30 minutes.
In each role-play, the control and experimental group A six-step instructional sequence was developed for
participants played the part of a teacher and held a conver- teaching the active listening strategy, modified from the
sation with a parent. A total of three scenarios were used in guidelines for strategy instruction suggested by the
the pre- and postinstruction role-plays and were randomly University of Kansas Institute for Research in Learning
assigned across participants with the provision that each Disabilities (Ellis & Lenz, 1987; Deshler & Schumaker,
scenario appeared an equal number of times in pre- and 1993). The six instructional steps are described below.
postinstruction role-plays and was used an equal number of
times for control and experimental group participants; also,
no participant ever received the same role-play situation Pretest. The investigator reviewed the preintervention
twice. Six different scenarios were used by all experimental videotapes of the experimental group participants and
group participants for practice during the instruction phase. noted examples of the use of the active listening strategy.
For the pre- and postinstruction role-plays, two doc- Although some participants made use of some of the
toral candidates in education played the role of the steps (e.g., asking a question), none of the experimental
parent. Both of the doctoral candidates received approx- group participants demonstrated mastery of the active
imately 30 minutes of training, including a short script learning strategy prior to instruction.
for each of the role-plays and guided practice in acting
out the role of the communication partner. Parents were
Describe strategy. During the first class, the investiga-
told to state their initial concern clearly and to answer
tor introduced the topic of active listening. As an attention-
all teacher questions in one to two sentences. They were
getter, the investigator played a short audiotape
also told to use two follow-up probes (i.e., “Would you
recording of a psychologist with a national radio call-in
want this to happen with your child?” and “What are you
show answering a question from a woman caller about a
going to do?”), if the teacher did not speak for more than
live-in boyfriend. The tape actually served as a non-
10 seconds. The parents were randomly assigned to
example of active listening skills: The radio host asked
interact with teachers with the provision that the teachers
only a small number of questions, frequently interrupted
interacted with a different parent in the pre- and postin-
the caller, and provided advice without learning the
tervention role-plays, the two parents appeared in the
details of the problem. The instructor led experimental
pre- and postinstruction role-plays an equal number of
group participants in a discussion of the conversation
times, and the two parents appeared an equal number of
and elicited comments addressing three important
times for control and experimental group participants.
themes: The female caller probably did not feel like she
The pre- and postinstruction role-plays were acted out
had been listened to, she probably would not phone back
in a small office and videotaped. In each role-play sce-
or talk to the psychologist again, and she probably would
nario, the participant was provided with a paragraph
not follow the advice. The investigator then discussed,
explaining his or her role as a teacher (e.g., with infor-
using examples drawn from first-person narratives of
mation on the grade level and educational status of their
parents with disabilities, how parents often experience sim-
students). The parent then arrived and presented a prob-
ilar communication challenges when speaking with educa-
lem to the teacher, for example, “My son is swearing at
tion professionals and participating in parent–teacher
home, and he says he is learning this language at school.”
planning meetings.
The parent responded to the teacher’s questions and
The investigator then introduced the LAFF strategy
asked follow-up probes (described earlier). Procedures
using a small chart (see Table 1) and described each step
called for ending a conversation after 7 minutes; how-
of the strategy. Positive examples of strategy use were
ever, this was not needed for any of the conversations.
drawn from the student’s preintervention videotapes, and
Intervention Phase the benefit of its use in communicating with parents and
other teachers was discussed. The implications of not
Instruction in the active listening strategy was pro- following the strategy in conversations with parents and
vided by the first author to the 12 individuals in the other teachers (i.e., nonexamples) were also discussed.
 McNaughton et al. / Learning to Listen 227

Model the strategy. During the modeling step, a chart You are a teacher in an early intervention class-
outlining the four steps of the strategy was presented on room. During your planning time, a parent walks
an overhead in front of the experimental group partici- into your class and tells you that she has heard her
pants, and the investigator modeled the use of the strat- child being discussed in a negative manner by a
egy while acting out a role-play of a parent–teacher team-member in a public place, and she is upset.
interaction (a graduate student familiar with the strategy
played the part of a parent). During this modeling proce- The class then discussed appropriate statements of
dure, the investigator demonstrated thinking out loud so empathy, questions, and first steps. The instructor pro-
that the experimental group participants could witness vided positive and corrective feedback.
the cognitive processes (as reported by the investigator) Outside of the class, as a homework assignment,
and the overt behaviors necessary for successful strategy experimental group participants each made an audiotape
use. The investigator modeled the entire strategy two in which, working with a partner, they took turns playing
times with two different scenarios. During the second the part of a teacher or a parent. Each experimental group
model, the investigator asked questions designed to participant played a teacher in three role-plays. Students
actively involve the experimental group participants also wrote short papers in which they compared their
(e.g., “What would be an appropriate empathy statement performances on the preintervention videotapes with one
in this situation?”). of their three postinstruction role-plays. Students were
directed to conduct self-assessments and to describe the
Verbal practice. Experimental group participants difference in their use of active listening skills between
memorized the strategy steps through the instructor’s use the two role-plays as well as the expected impact of the
of rapid-fire verbal rehearsal activities. During the initial presence or absence of active listening skills on the con-
stages of training, experimental group participants had versation with the parent. The instructor reviewed the
access to the chart listing the steps in the strategy. After audiotapes and the written self-assessments and pro-
two rehearsals with the strategy list in view, the list was vided written notes on positive examples and gave cor-
removed and experimental group participants were rective feedback.
called on to list the steps in order both from the begin-
ning and from investigator-selected points, for example, Postinstruction Phase
“What step comes after listen, empathize, and communi-
cate respect?” Two weeks after the initial training for experimental
group participants, all participants again participated in a
Practice with materials. During the next class, experi- videotaped role-play situation, the posttest measure
mental group participants practiced the use of the strategy (described earlier).
with role-plays in groups of three in the classroom.
Experimental group participants were provided with short Measures
role-play scripts. One experimental group participant
In the videotape role-plays, the main dependent vari-
played the role of a parent, another of a teacher, and a third
able was strategy use. Strategy use was assessed using
checked for the presence or absence of the identified steps
a scoring rubric of four 5-point scales, one scale for
and wrote down the questions asked by the teacher. The
each step of the strategy. To evaluate the social validity
instructor observed groups, noting the presence and
of the active listening strategy, data were collected on
absence of targeted behaviors and giving informal feed-
the perceived usefulness of the instruction as reported
back to the teachers. After each role-play, the entire class
by the participating teacher candidates. In addition,
discussed the types of questions asked by the teachers and
parents of preschool and school-age children observed
their probable impact both in communicating empathy
the videotapes and provided feedback on the communi-
and respect and in gathering information. At this time, the
cation skills of the experimental group participants.
investigator provided positive and corrective feedback
Each of the measures is discussed in further detail in
regarding the use of the active listening skills.
the following.
Provide generalization training. On two additional Scoring Strategy Use
occasions (at the beginning of two classes on different
topics), the instructor introduced a potential problem sit- The participants’ use of each of the four steps was
uation. These sample problems were brief outlines of scored on a 5-point scale ranging from 0 (use of strategy
actual events known to the instructor. For example, step was absent or inappropriate) to 4 (complete effective
228 Topics in Early Childhood Special Education

use of the targeted strategy step). All tapes were inde- role-plays. The Mann-Whitney U compares the rank
pendently scored by two trained raters, one of whom was sums between two groups (Hollander & Wolfe, 1973)
blind to the training status of the participants. Interjudge and has been described as appropriate for use with small
agreement was 95%; disagreements were resolved samples (Curtis & Marascuilo, 2004). As the first step in
through discussion. the analysis, the observations from both groups are com-
bined and ranked smallest to largest. The sum of the ranks
Social Validity for each group is calculated and then compared with that
of the other group. A significant p value (p < .05) indicates
Information on the social validity of the instruction
a significant difference between the two groups.
was obtained from the teacher candidates who received
There was no statistically significant difference between
instruction in the active listening strategy and from
the pretest scores of the experimental and control groups nor
parents of school-age children.
between the pretest and posttest scores of the control group
Teacher candidates. On two occasions, the five experi- participants (see Table 2). There was a statistically significant
mental group participants provided written responses to six difference between the pretest and posttest scores of the exper-
statements describing their comfort and skills in communi- imental group (two-tailed test of asymptotic significance, p =
cating with parents. Participants used a 5-point Likert-type .04) and between the posttest scores of the experimental and
scale (strongly disagree to strongly agree) to respond to control groups (two-tailed test of asymptotic significance, p =
such statements as “I expect I will find talking with parents .008). Cohen (1988) suggested that any effect size greater than
to be stressful” and “ I am prepared to help parents with .8 should be considered large; the Mann-Whitney U test indi-
problems.” The first administration took place at the begin- cated that the mean rank of the posttest scores of the experi-
ning of the semester; the second administration was after mental group were more than 2.67 standard deviations
the experimental group participants had been taught the different than the mean rank score of the control group.
LAFF active listening strategy and had participated in the
posttest role-play. After instruction in the active listening Social Validity: Preservice Education
strategy, experimental group participants also rated two Professionals
additional statements: “Learning the LAFF strategy was a
good use of my time” and “I would recommend that other All experimental group participants completed a
preservice teachers learn the LAFF strategy.” Likert-type scale containing six statements dealing with
their comfort levels and skills in communicating with
Parents of school-age children. To gain insight into parents. Prior to the LAFF training, only one participant
the perceived usefulness of the active listening strategy agreed with the statement “I am prepared to work with
from a parent’s perspective, 30 parents of preschool and parents.” Following the LAFF training, all respondents
school-age children observed three pairs of videotaped indicated that they either agreed or strongly agreed with
role-plays of the experimental group teacher candidates. the statement. Sample comments from the participants
For each pair, parents observed the same teacher candi- included “I just need to remember I don’t need to give an
date in both pre- and postintervention role-plays. The answer right away, (I can take) time to think.”
presentation of pre- and postintervention tapes was coun- Participants also provided Likert-type ratings for the
terbalanced, and the parents were blind to the status of five remaining statements: “I am worried about talking
the tape (i.e., they did not know if the tape was made pre- with parents,” “Talking with parents is stressful,” “I
or postintervention). After each pair of pre- and postin- expect I will enjoy talking with parents,” “Talking with
tervention tapes, parents were asked to (a) identify the parents helps in development of appropriate solutions,”
tape in which the teacher did a better job of communi- and “If I talk with parents they may think I am not com-
cating with the parent and (b) describe what the teacher petent.” For these statements, participant responses
candidate did differently in the preferred tape. either remained unchanged or reflected a slightly more
positive attitude (i.e., participants reported that they were
less worried about talking to parents). Sample comments
Results
included “I do not fear working with parents. I actually
look forward to it and I know I am prepared.”
Scored Role-Plays At the second administration of the survey, the partic-
The Mann-Whitney U test, a nonparametric alterna- ipants were asked to respond to two additional state-
tive to the t test, was used to examine the scored perfor- ments regarding the usefulness of training in the LAFF
mance of the experimental and control groups on the strategy. In response to the first statement, “Learning the
 McNaughton et al. / Learning to Listen 229

Table 2
Scored Use of Active Listening Strategy
Pretest Posttest

Condition Minimum Maximum Median Minimum Maximum Median

Control 3 7 4 3 6 3
Experimental 3 6 4 14 16 16

LAFF strategy was a good use of my time,” three of the effective instruction for a wide variety of learners (Ellis &
five respondents indicated that they agreed with this Lenz, 1987). A relatively short period of instructional time
statement, and two respondents indicated that they (approximately 120 minutes of in-class instruction and 30
strongly agreed with the statement. In response to the minutes of independent practice) resulted in the acquisition
second statement, “I would recommend that other pre- of the targeted active listening skills. This compares favor-
service teachers learn the LAFF strategy,” all respon- ably with the 6 hours of training reported by Lisper and
dents indicated either agreement or strong agreement. Rautalinko (1996) and the 45 hours of training reported by
Sample comments included, “This strategy has helped Paukert et al. (2004), although it should be acknowledged
me to communicate more effectively in situations deal- that the Paukert et al. training activities appeared to have
ing with problems” and “It helps to organize thoughts targeted skills in addition to active listening.
and provides a ‘method’ to go through conversations and Learning to make use of the targeted active listening
cover topics in good time.” skills was valued by the preservice education profession-
als. Following the training, the preservice education pro-
Social Validity: Parents fessionals described themselves as more confident in their
abilities to work with parents and recommended that this
When asked to identify the role-play in which the teacher strategy be taught to other preservice education profes-
demonstrated stronger communication skills, both culturally sionals. The active listening skills were taught to the pre-
and linguistically diverse parents, including African service education professionals as part of a larger class
American, American Indian, Asian American, and Hispanic called Skills for Working With Parents and Education
American (n = 14), and White English-speaking parents (n = Professionals. This class can be taken at the beginning or
16), overwhelmingly selected the postinstruction videotape near the end of the four-semester preservice training pro-
(98% and 96%, respectively). When asked (in response to an gram. Perhaps more important than the time of scheduling
open-ended question) to identify the important teacher skills are the associated activities that precede the instruction on
used in the preferred videotape, the top three behaviors noted active listening—the preservice education professionals
by parents were taking notes (82%), discussing next steps read and discuss first-person accounts on parenting a child
(76%), and appearing attentive and concerned (61%). with a disability. The instructional goal for this activity is
that the preservice education professionals become more
Discussion aware of both the joys and the challenges of parenting a
child with a disability and are motivated to acquire the
This research provides evidence that active listening skills, including active listening, that would support strong
skills can be taught in an efficient and effective manner to collaboration between parents and professionals.
preservice education professionals and that the use of these The active listening skills demonstrated by the trained
targeted communication skills is viewed positively by participants also were recognized and valued by parents
parents of preschool and school-age children. Although of preschool and school-age children. Lisper and
past research has clearly described some of the communi- Rautalinko (1996) report that past interventions involv-
cation challenges present in interactions between education ing training in active listening skills have not always
professionals and parents (Bernhard et al., 1998; Lasky, resulted in a change that is perceptible to the communica-
2000), there have been few systematic attempts to teach tion partner. It is of interest to note that the parents in this
new communication behaviors to education professionals. study not only identified the postinstruction performance as
Although the strategy instruction model used here is preferable over the preinstruction performance but also, in
most commonly applied in work with students with learn- response to an open-ended question, identified the partici-
ing disabilities (Ellis & Lenz, 1987), the instructional pants’ use of targeted skills (e.g., appearing concerned,
approaches are in fact drawn from the research literature on taking notes of parent comments) as contributing to
230 Topics in Early Childhood Special Education

their selection of the postinstruction tape as the References

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only five control group participants were available for both pre- and process of consultation. Medical Education, 25, 485–490.
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Paukert, A., Stagner, B., & Hope, K. (2004). The assessment of active Walker, B., & MacLure, M. (2001, June). Home–school partnerships
listening skills in helpline volunteers. Stress, Trauma, and Crisis, in practice. Paper presented at the third seminar in Parents and
7, 61–76. Schools: Diversity, Participation and Democracy series at the
Sheridan, S. M., Clarke, B. L., Knoche, L. L., & Edwards, C. P. (2007). University of East Anglia.
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Shivers, E. M., Howes, C., Wishard, A. G., & Ritchie, S. (2004). Educational and School Psychology and Special Education at The
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Examining effective teaching in diverse high quality child care
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Smith, A. A., & Hubbard, P. M. (1988a). The relationship between Dawn Hamlin is a PhD candidate in special education at The
parent/staff communication and children’s behaviour in early child- Pennsylvania State University.
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Smith, A. A., & Hubbard, P. M. (1988b). Staff–parent communication John McCarthy is an assistant professor in the School of Hearing,
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Sumsion, J. (1999). A neophyte early childhood teacher’s developing
Darlene Head-Reeves is a PhD candidate in early childhood,
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families, and literacy at the University of North Carolina.
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