Listening with Sensitivity and Skill

Overview

Listening well is a core requirement in all roles that involve relating with others. The ways in which we listen can make the difference between people feeling safe, valued and respected, staying engaged and motivated and growing in confidence and skill; or people feeling dismissed, unseen, unvalued, giving up, missing out and losing confidence and ability.
In other words, listening really matters. Yet the majority of us have had no real training in how to listen other than the ways that listening was modelled to us.
Listening is a life skill that has been widely researched and studied. It can be broken down into learnable elements that once digested can transform a person’s capacity to meet and validate
another's experience skilfully and respectfully.
This course will be relevant for those in work as well as those studying. It will relate to all levels of profession from front of house staff to high level management.

Programme

In this five week introductory course on listening we will cover:

● Active listening skills
● Why we need to be sensitive in our roles as listeners.
● Bringing trauma awareness to our listening
● Looking after ourselves as listeners.

Throughout the course we will practise our listening skills. These will be built on week by week through a gradual honing of technique and application of theory. Students will be encouraged to continue exploration and reflections upon their experience between sessions.

• Each week will include:
  ● An hour of interactive live learning.
  ● Half an hour of guided Mindfulness practice
  ● Half an hour of questions and reflections of learning and practice.
  
  Week 1
  ● Group building practices
  ● Introduction to Listening.
  ○ Reflecting on our own experience to date of listening.
  ○ What makes good listening?
  ○ Focusing on the core skill of reflection
  ● Week one skill ~ Reflection of content.
  
  Week 2
  ● What gets in the way of listening?
  ● Week 2 skill ~ reflection of feelings.
  
  Week 3
  ● How to convey sensitivity as a listener.
  ● Week 3 skill ~ Paraphrasing and Summarising
  
  Week 4
  ● Looking after ourselves as listeners.
  ● Week 4 skill ~ working with questions
  
  Week 5
  ● Week 5 skill ~ working with silence
  ● Putting all our skills together

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this module, students should be able to:  

1. Understand what Listening with Skill and Sensitivity is and how to practically apply the elements of it in day to day situations.
2. Experience 5 weeks of committed Listening practice and be able to evaluate personal learnings.
3. Demonstrate an understanding of the relevance and benefits of Mindfulness with regard to stress and health.
4. Understand how Listening well can be applied to everyday situations through formal practice and through micro applications of the teachings in moment to moment scenarios.

Assessments

1. Online Test - 30%
2. Written or Verbal Assessment - 70%

Reading Suggestions

Reading suggestions will be offered throughout the course. 

Entry Requirements

This course is for everyone. No previous experience is needed and there are no formal entry requirements.

What Do I Need?

As this is an online course, you would need the following:

• Internet access
• Access to a laptop or computer with a web camera and microphone; the use of headphones might also be of benefit
• Use of the Chrome web-browser where possible.