Communication Barriers – The Thorn in Every Classroom’s Side

Communication barriers in the classroom make it difficult for learners to get the most out of their education – especially in South African classrooms. Whether it falls on teachers who bore the living daylights out of learners with their uninteresting and monotonous lessons, or learners that are burdened with speech and language difficulties, peer pressure or personality differences –  these barriers can cause major problems and hinders education.

Gender barrier

It has been demonstrated in studies that female learners communicate more on a regular basis than the opposite sex. Though both sexes have both kinds of communicators, females are more likely to be right-brain communicators — abstract and intuitive. Men are more likely to be left-brain communicators – linear and logical. Depending on your own makeup, this could be a barrier. Both men and women have to learn how to communicate in a way that allows both sexes to receive and understand the message, especially when it comes to lesson plans in the classroom!

Lesson plan straight out of Snooze-ville

Classroom communication breaks down when learners are bored, unmotivated or disinterested in their curriculum – we have all been there. Learners don’t have to be kept entertained all day, but it is of the utmost importance for teachers to ensure that they produce engaging and stimulating lessons. Outdated, routine assignments and create communication barriers and learners couldn’t care less about interacting with teachers.

Personality differences

Some communication problems stem from personality differences between learners and teachers. Learners who don’t want to connect on a personal level with their teachers often avoid communicating with them, as they feel that they are not understood and underestimated. Personality differences lead to frustration, unhappiness and zero communication. The best remedy here is to acknowledge the differences and work around it to accompany all personality types in an enthusiastic and constructive manner.

Peer Pressure

Peer pressure – the age-old monster that rears its head on numerous occasions. Learners feel pressured to act a certain way and they often disengage from all communication with teachers in fear of ‘tarnishing’ their image. This type of pressure influences classrooms as young as the first grade! The best way to combat communication difficulties resulting from peer pressure is to reward positive behaviour.

As we can clearly see, communication is the unique process of our social, cultural, political and economical development – and it all starts in the classroom. All developmental activities largely depend upon proper communication. Classroom learning also becomes effective with proper communication between students and teachers. Audio-visual instruction may solve a lot of communication barriers, it is just all up to us as teachers to bridge the gap between what our learners need and what we know!