Reece & Walker (2009)state communication is about one person sending a message to another which could be in the form of sound, movement or smell. In my subject specialism of Sports Studies I work with two other tutors, one of whom is based in Leeds and one in Bradford. As a team we also work with our external partners and awarding body, Sport Coach UK and UK Sport who commission us to deliver courses. Barnard (1938) defined communication as “the means by which people are linked together in an organisation to achieve a common purpose.” I use a variety of communication strategies with internal staff which include horizontal and informal communication, this allows me to discuss the progress of students, and whether the content of the courses was relevant and how effective our use of resources were throughout the courses. Internal meetings tend to take place once every three months and are more formal. When liaising with external partners communication tends to be by way email both vertical and hierarchical.
Communicating with external partners does hold certain barriers, these include not being aware of changes to the course content, this is normally down to our external partners only dealing with one point of contact at regional level and communication is not always trickled down to tutors who deliver to students. At times this has resulted in students work not been accepted therefore they are having to do extra work which they were not initially advised of. This tends to leave students angry and demotivates them at times as they feel they have not been kept up to date with work required to pass the unit. On reflection a way of dealing with this could be to hold regional meetings where all tutors are required to attend or communication via email could be through all tutors and not only regional officers. Personally, and looking back on reflection, I feel, I along with other tutors can take more of a responsibility and make a conscious effort in making sure we have all the requirements for the course before we begin, as overtime content can change. This can be done by tutors themselves emailing or calling the awarding body.
I have only been delivering the Sports Leaders UK level 2 Community Sports Leaders Award for 1 year now, however within my organisation the course has been running for several years. As part of the course students are required to submit 10 hours of work experience. One thing I noticed straight away from the course is the lack of information and guidance given to students on where they can complete their 10 hours of work experience. It’s imperative that the knowledge and skills our students learn on the course are then put into practice in the real world. Many students would come to me during and towards the end of the course feeling overwhelmed with the task of finding where to gain their 10 hours to pass the course. The organisation I work for despite advocating the strength of gaining outside work experience lacked in communicating this to the students and where they can obtain this form of experience from. As my job requires me to foster relations and network with organisations within the Sports and Leisure industry, including Sports organisation and Clubs, Colleges and Schools, County Sports Partnerships and National Governing Bodies of sport, who develop sports from grassroots to elite level. I used this knowledge to my benefit and signposted learners to information and advice on where they can gain outside experience. This was in the form of hand-outs to students with list of orgnanisations and contact details to inviting sports partners to student seminars. Having an extensive working history within Sports Development and working with organisations at a local, regional and national level has allowed me to encourage other tutors I work with to establish links and build this into the course content. An example of this has been where I invited a professional organisation to come and speak to the group and engage with the students on the options they have once they complete the course. This face to face communications allows for the students to feel more confident and independent in approaching such organisaitons and builds positive relationships. At the interim internal team meeting with tutors, it was reflected that the use of outside agencies was an excellent source of information for students and also established new relationships for tutors and outside organisations. In turn this provided further support for students who lacked the confidence to initiate contact, this can be seen as instructional scaffolding. “Scaffolding is the support given during the learning process which is tailored to the needs of the student with the intention of helping the student achieve his/her learning goals” (Sawyer, 2006).
When delivering to my learners I use a variety of communication styles including written, spoken, gestural, group, electronic, and visual symbols. I do this to vary learning and keep learning as active and inclusive as possible without relying too much on one method. When I communicate in the classroom this is mainly verbal however, when delivering the practical elements I will communicate by way of non- verbal communication methods such as body language and demonstration. I do this to show my learners various ways they can communicate and allow them to recognise the best way to communicate to a variety of audiences as this is also part of their course. Looking back on this teaching, I can see if it has been effective, as when I assess my learners I will check to see they are using more than one form of communication with their groups.
When delivering my course I have a mix age range of learners. In my last course I had an inexperienced learner who was 16 and an experienced learner with over 15 years over of working in sports, age 40. I found it difficult at times to keep the course content relevant to both learners without making it too hard for the novice yet not as meaningful for the experienced leaner. I found my communication and use of language needed to be clear yet challenging and I also used communication as a way for organising classroom debates where learners would use their own work experiences to support those with little experience and knowledge. This created a relaxed and good atmosphere for communication between me and the students and, students to students. Ehiametalor (1985 pg.164) stated that “an effective classroom teacher is that teacher who deliberately plans classroom instruction to facilitate interaction”.
References
Barnard C. I The Function of the executive 1st education, Harvard University Press
Ehiametalor, E.T.1985. An Introduction to the Administration of Schools in Nigeria. Lagos: Evan Brothers (Nig) Publisher Limited.
Reece, I and Walker, S. (2007) Teaching, training and learning: A practical guide. Sunderland. Business Education
Sawyer, R. Keith. (2006). The Cambridge Handbook of the Learning Sciences. New York: Cambridge University Press.
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