Thursday, October 23, 2014

Communication and Persuasion in Elementary Education

Take a moment and remember the times when you would get a break from school to play on the playground, when you could sit on the carpet in a circle with your classmates, and when you could bring your animals in for show and tell.  This was the beginning of your educational process.  This is where you learned to read, write, and analyze – skills that you are using currently while reading this blogpost.  This is elementary education. 

An elementary teacher has the privilege to communicate on many levels.  One is given instructions and guidelines from political leaders and administrators, must communicate the needs of individual students, discuss the best ways to teach the necessary curriculum, help children to understand basic concepts and assist parents in the teaching of their children.  Believe it or not persuasion has everything to do with teaching.  Most communication is done face to face but emails can be passed on and phone calls to parents are common.

A teacher must be able to analyze his/her audience and adapt to effectively communicate.  When speaking in the community or with administrators the needs of the children should be the focus and how to improve on what is already being done in the classroom.  Colloquially language should be avoided.  When communicating with a child the teacher must take great care in teaching in a way that is comprehensible to every child in the classroom.  The children’s interests and backgrounds should be taken into consideration to provide better understanding.  When communicating with parents the teacher must show love for their child and his/her specific needs.  One must show sincere concern for each child and his/her home life. 

Most communication in the field of education is deliberative.  Usually there is a goal of changing something in education and promoting action.  This is seen in community forums with the politics of education, in teams of teachers for the best way to teach and even in parent-teacher conferences to encourage the progress of the student.  Teachers want to encourage children to progress, want to change how the community views education and want to inspire parents to help their children better learn. 


I found out most of this information by talking with those who are currently in the education field and teaching.  I first became interested in teaching when I was in Elementary School and saw the difference that an effective teacher had in my own life.  I want to have the same effect on my future students and help them to see their potential.

3 comments:

  1. Very interesting and applicable connection of rhetoric and your field! I must say that if ever there was a profession most closely tied to rhetoric, then teaching would definitely be vying for the top spot. A teacher must be, as you said, able to adapt to various settings and all manner of students. In order to be successful, the teacher must learn how to best approach teaching to students on a larger scale while simultaneously discovering how to best better the individual. It is a fine balance of speaking to both the individual and the crowd. Great job!

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  2. Sometimes, convincing young children to do anything is almost impossible. Elementary education teachers must not only know how to persuade kids but also the faculty. There is a lot of politics that comes from being a teacher and trying to do what is best for the kids. Teaching is more than just communicating knowledge; it is also about rhetoric and persuasion.

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  3. Thanks for your comment, Hailee!
    And I definitely agree with Thomas and Katie. I never thought about it that much before until I did my own post, but teaching is all about rhetoric. When teachers know the kairos of the situation and their audience--and what appeals are easily understood and accepted by that audience--they become effective persuaders and awesome instructors. All things considered, I think you'll be a great elementary school teacher!

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