Supporting Learners Through Effective Communication: Student Teachers’ Communication Strategies to Address Learner Behaviour

Abstract

Teachers’ communication skills are integral to classroom management skills. If teachers implement effective communication skills and appropriate communication strategies, they are more likely to support learner autonomy, engagement, self-concept, well-being, or responsibility and succeed in behaviour management. This study examines student teachers’ awareness and use of communication strategies to address common disruptive learner behaviours. Although the participants showed limited ability to support learners through communication, they were more likely to identify effective communication responses than to produce them themselves. The study unveils that student teachers in the last year of a graduate program cannot respond to disruptive behaviour without communication roadblocks. They need to develop communication strategies to address disruptions in the classroom, while supporting learner engagement, motivation, self-concept, and autonomy. These findings correspond with other research studies that show a lack of opportunities to develop communication skills during preservice teacher education.