Communication styles
By:
Kevin Reynolds, Bo Walker, Cynthia Morphis, Alise Salcido, Rachael Grimes, Olivia Nunez
EDA 575
Kristi Hammer
12-9-2014

Communication has been used since the dawn of man from etchings on cave walls to today’s information age, where we send, receive, and process huge numbers of messages every day (Reitz, 1987). School administration no matter what position you hold has to be effective in multifaceted ways of communication. Effective communication is important when conveying many things from giving a vision or mission statement to an all staff e-mail or memo. When we understand the importance of effective communication we can avoid miscommunications and issues arising when trying to get our messages heard. In this paper we will break down into subsections the different types of communication and human relation theories used in different schools from teachers around the country.
Formal and Non- Formal Communication:

Hinman elementary realizes the value that communication has on how successful a school can be. One communication approach we use at my school is face-to-face. When my administration needs to discuss a new program or procedure this is the most effective form of communication at my school. The administration also uses this method when meeting with teachers, parents, and any stakeholder for the school. We recently had a new community partner come into the school and meet with teachers. This company wants to meet face-to-face to a have a better understanding of what the students and teachers need in order to be successful. The administration has realized the importance of providing a relaxed environment to meet face-to face. We have realized the importance of making connections and Students will learn more when they feel connected (Lewis, 2012). Another form of communication that is used at Hinman is email. Normally emails will be sent in regards to any staffing or layoffs that may occur that school year. Also, emails will be used for any upcoming events or changes in the weekly schedule. The administrators will also send out friendly reminders for that week. Teachers have found over the years that email is a good way to keep in contact with parents as well. Many parents work odd hours in Henderson, as it is a 24 hour town. For this reason, leaving messages and playing “phone tag” is more time consuming and frustrating. This does not, however, mean it is a better form of communication over face-to-face. Most teachers still prefer face-to-face meetings with parents because the parents can ignore emails or feel as though the message is not as important as a in person meeting.
In addition to these forms of communication, social media is another form that may be used. The administration at Hinman also has a Facebook page that parents, teachers, and stakeholders can be a part of. On this group page, the principal posts important dates and events regarding the school. Hinman is a part of a very low income neighborhood. Many of the parents cannot afford technology or internet access. In addition, a lot of parents at Hinman do not have a Facebook, do not have time to browse group pages, or are not part of the Hinman group. For this reason, social media cannot be the only form of communication or dates and important events. In addition, when messages are delivered face-to-face vs. social media, they carry a more crucial importance. “Learning requires actual connection, and instead of distilling valuable information, social media sites that promote message quantity over quality and distraction” (Lewis, pg. 11, 2012). The office staff at Hinman often mails letters out with important dates and events. This way the parents have a hard copy in their hands and can review the dates and events at a later time.
Pygmalion leadership theory: We are a new school that is very small. We just opened this fall with 22 students Kindergarten and First graders. We are small staff in a private school. We operate under the assumption that our staff wants to be here and we are all working towards our common goal. We are treated as creative committed competent people as in the McGregor’s theory Y (Razik & Swanson p.107). The administration is seen walking the halls and interacting with staff, parents and students on a daily basis. Personal connections are made and positive feedback is given often. This is a way of putting positive deposits in one’s emotional bank. With interacting each day you are able to mentor staff informally. Using this style builds relationships with staff. Communicate is able to be on the mission and vision each day. Truth and trust has been built with all parties. Consistent encouragement, support and reinforcement of high expectations of are given to all staff in the Pygmalion leadership theory (Razik & Swanson p.107). When withdrawals from the emotional bank are needed for corrections the bank is not empty because positive deposits have been made.
Once a year each staff has a formal review with their supervisor. The experience is usually stress- free because of the informal conversations throughout the year. If you go into an evaluation and you are surprised the supervisor is not doing his job throughout the year. There should be enough conversation during the year that everyone knows what their strengths and weakness are. A leader that provides continuous feedback to followers will guild them in the right direction. This will build mutual respect between the leader and the follower.
I personally respect this leadership. I feel like I have direction, I know what I am doing well and I know exactly what I need to work on throughout the year. When I get stronger in an area I feel good and motivated to move on to the next area I need to strengthen. I worked under leadership in the past that the communication was not as clear. The feedback was keep doing what you are doing you are doing fine. This was very confusing because I never knew what was good or what needed improvement. This left me unmotivated because I was not improving. There were no goals and nothing to work towards.
Open Dialogue and Open Communication
Each school’s administrator must communicate effectively through a variety of methods. There are different communication theories that are used with the intention of balancing the obligation to share information and meeting the teachers’ needs. “In a school, as in the case of any organization, the efforts of individuals and groups must be coordinated, and communication is a powerful tool in that process (Green, 2013). My school is a private, Christian school with about 700 students and 50 teachers. At my school, each faculty member is valued and this idea is supported by the relationships developed through effective communication. The administrators are aware of the staff’s receptiveness and communication preferences.
As a result, the communication is more effective and more efficient between the administration and the staff. When the faculty member’s thoughts, feelings, and opinions are heard and taken into consideration when making decisions, they feel valued at school. When the faculty feels valued, there is greater productivity because they have a sense of purpose and satisfaction within the organization. Through open dialogue, Isaacs suggests four conversational practices that contribute to both dialogue and discussion: deep listening, respecting others, suspending assumptions, and voicing personal truths (1999). “By infusing these practices into conversations, a leader can bring out the best in others and coax out leadership potential” (Isaacs, 1999).

The administration at my school values communication both formal and informal. Daily there are informal interactions through face-to-face conversations. There are also formal interactions that happen through email and during staff meetings. There are weekly staff meetings that allow the goals to be addressed through open dialogue and discussion. Organizational communication is mindful of interpersonal and group theories, but their primary concern in the role of communication in the achievement of organizational skills (Shockley-Zalabak, 1988).
Interpersonal communication allows each administrator and faculty member to contribute to the goals established by the organization and give each faculty member a sense of ownership and accountability. It is essential for administrators to utilize a variety of communication methods to communicate with and encourage their staff. According to Yukl’s theory, an administrator has the ability to know when to communicate as a “leader” or a “manager” at school (1989). Administrators are aware of the two different approaches and how to appropriately use each approach to communicate with the staff. Reitz’s theory states that the primary functions of communication are to provide information that makes an organization adaptable to change, to command and direct employees, and influence the members.
Message Directionality
Communication is present in all organizational activities—envisioning, planning, problem solving, decision making, coordinating, controlling, accomplishing, evaluating, and reporting organizational results. For each of these activities, different communication skills may be required (GCU, 2014).
Communication can go in different directions, such as, downward, upward, and horizontally. An example in education would be an elementary school, where communication could take place faculty to faculty, faculty/staff to and from parents, administration to and from faculty/staff, certificated to and from classified staff, administration to and from district, and administrator to and from administrator (Badal, 2003). Most traditional schools utilize the vertical, top down communication style. This communication will go through channels until it reaches students and other personnel. A problem that is seen with this type is that it is set forth on a “need to know” basis. I see this type used very often in our school with our leadership. Our central office administrators communicate to our campus administrators; our campus leaders relay this to the lead teachers, the lead teachers then give the message to the teachers. When it has reached us and other nonsupervisory staff the message is lost in translation. By the time a message from top management in business reaches individual workers, 80% of the original message has been filtered out (Reitz, 1987). It is extremely rare that the central office send us communication in any form. When we do receive something from them, it is more a general email that does not contain much importance. Our district likes to communication in more of a hierarchical way.
Lateral or horizontal communication is between those of the same level of authority. For example, administrators communicate with other administrator and teachers communicating with other teachers. There is often little pressure and the level of productively may be questioned, but since there is less pressure and there is no chain of command, it is less likely that any message will be misconstrued. I personally feel more comfortable when we as teachers use this communication style. A disadvantage of this may be that we end of getting buried in emails and at times peers holdback information.
No matter what direction our messages tend to go or what styles we use, we must ensure that communication is being used effectively and meaningfully throughout all channels.
Active Listening and Cognitive Dissonance:
When people think of the term communication, reacting is not necessarily the first factor that comes to mind. Research states a participant’s both interpersonal and intrapersonal reactions affect the rate of effective communication (Green, 2013). Faculty members or subordinates, who disagree with their administrator or the topic being conveyed, tend to shut down. People tend to listen to their own opinion of the topic first and not take in the pertinent information being communicated. Dissonance or disagreement with authority is detriment to any form of communication. “Individuals’ attitudes are affected by the extent to which they feel personally responsible for the acts or tasks they perform” (Pi-Yueh, C., & Ping-Kun, H., 2012). When administrators are delivering relevant information to their staff, they need to take into account discourse could be occurring. To prevent negative feedback from their instructions, the administrators need to develop consequences with their staff. If the staff takes ownership in the process, the results will be clearly more effective. For example, our district implemented a data team process making teachers think deeper about their instruction. At first my school was just completing the paperwork and not completing the entire process with fidelity. When our leadership team noticed, we designated lead teachers to create handouts and concept maps to use as tools for the other teachers at our schools. Dissonance disappeared because the staff had made this mandated process its own. Pi-Yueh (2012) saw the same results with business students: “when students taking certification examinations feel personally responsible for tasks related to the examination, their attitudes toward the examination will become more positive, irrespective of their previous attitudes” (Pi-Yueh, 2012). The Cognitive Dissonance Theory reminds administrators they will have more compliance, if they include the staff in on the process. Have participants create examples or consequences. Another words, the people you lead need to become a part of the solution instead of part of the problem.
Active Listening is a tool to prevent dissonance or conflict. It works because the communicator expresses empathy and provides a solution. “The goal is to communicate that the listener is doing his or her best to understand the partner’s thoughts and feelings (empathy) and that how the speaker is feeling is important to the listener (respect)” (McNaughton, 2007). Empathy and respect are two important factors displayed by administrator and subordinate, when communication is effective.
The listener needs to nod and show expressions to the speaker. Both parties should ask questions to clarify the problem. Also, they both need to ask permission to take notes so they can list attributes about the problem. It’s important for the communicators to summarize the problems from their notes to determine if they are on the same page. Lastly, before the conversation is over, an immediate plan needs to be made. If the people in the room cannot solve it, the next step would be listing who would be the correct person to contact (McNaughton, 2007).
When my administration uses Active Listening, I feel heard and respected. In turn my attitude is positive and I am engaged. A leader’s vision is met with ease, when everyone is on board.

Reference:

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