We Are Not Good Listeners Just Because We Need To Be: What Kindergarten Kids Can Teach Adults with Ingrid C. Nordli

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Ingrid Nordli, Associate Professor in Linguistics at the UiT, the Arctic University of Norway in Tromsø. Ingrid has been putting a lot of time into understanding how we develop listening skills. She talks about how young children in kindergarten can be trained to become great listeners using the listening circle.

Besides dedicating time to focus on children's listening development, she teaches university students language development, and academic writing. She was on the board of the International Listening Association and continues to be an active member.

In this episode, we dive deep into the often-overlooked power of listening with Ingrid, a phonetics expert from Norway. Through her experiences in education and research, Ingrid reveals how listening is a fundamental yet underappreciated aspect of communication.

Ingrid shares insights from her work with children and the importance of teaching listening skills from a young age, emphasizing that effective listening can transform interactions and relationships.

Join us as we explore the nuances of listening, the impact of listening circles, and the journey of writing a book aimed at enhancing listening skills in early childhood education.

On the kindergarten transformation: "When you teach the children about this listening circle procedure, they get more relaxed, more attentive to each other. They straighten their back and they feel heard, they feel seen, and get much more friendly with each other."– Ingrid Nordli

SUPERPOWER Notes:

02:00 – Nuanced listening knowledge: The phonetics revelation—how studying speech transcription exposed that listening has "so little room and no room of itself" in phonetics education, despite transcription accuracy depending entirely on listening abilities

04:42 – Definition of listening process: International Listening Association's framework—"Listening is the process of receiving, constructing meaning from and responding to spoken and or nonverbal messages"—discovered through deep research after realizing listening was the "necessary glue" in kindergarten language and music projects

07:57 – Listening circles for children: Simple but powerful tool that helps kids ages 3-6 become more relaxed, attentive, and respectful—they "straighten their back and feel heard, seen, and get much more friendly with each other" because everyone gets the chance to talk and are respected while speaking

14:33 – Listening in the Kindergarten: The book written with Christian Skog—a practical and theoretical guide combining listening with typical developmental activities, featuring eight different kindergarten activities

18:58 – Engaging in children's listening development: The importance of being humble and engaging with children's listening development because "we can learn so much about our own listening"—children naturally develop language rules but don't develop conscious listening awareness without guidance

19:50 – Importance of listening skills: The fundamental gap—"we are not good listeners just because we need to be.

25:11 – Children's book on listening: Collaboration with Ebele Chukwujama in Nigeria creating books for ages 4-6 about a child learning listening through conversations with mom, plus "Listening in Circles" for ages 6-9, all translated into Yoruba, Hausa, and Igbo

27:14 – The importance of listening skills: Final thoughts on self-reflection

Key Takeaways:

On children as teachers: "We can learn so much about our own listening"– Ingrid Nordli

On the fundamental gap in child development: "When children are listening, but not taught how to listen, they miss out."– Ingrid Nordli

On the difference between natural and conscious learning: "Children naturally develop language rules but don't develop conscious listening awareness without guidance."– Ingrid Nordli

Notes/Mentions:

"Listening in the Kindergarten" by Ingrid and Christian Skog: A resource for educators focusing on listening skills.
https://uit.no/ansatte/ingrid.c.nordli (Norwegian)
https://en.uit.no/ansatte/person?p_document_id=153137&p_dimension_id=88155 (English)
Listening in the Kindergarten (Norwegian title: Lytting i Barnehagen) - a book by Ingrid CNordli and Christian Skog
A professional book written as a children's book for children between four and six, authored by Ingrid C. Nordli and Ebele Chukwujama
Listening in Circles - a planned book for children between six and nine, authored by Ingrid C. Nordli and Ebele Chukwujama

Past Episode Referenced:

Ebele Chukwujama interview - https://listeningalchemy.com/allgemein/the-listening-school-impacting-relationships-and-society-one-listening-ear-at-a-time-with-ebele-chukwujama/

Resources Mentioned:

Listening Circles Documentation: https://munin.uit.no/bitstream/handle/10037/33278/article.pdf?sequence=4
"Lytting i barnehagen" (Listening in the kindergarten) from the publishers website; Fagbokforlaget: https://fagbokforlaget.no/produkt/9788245050981-lytting-i-barnehagen

Connect with Ingrid Nordli:

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