Effective Communication is Critical to Successful Service Learning!

 

Communication is a great academic field for “doing” service learning projects because: Communication scholars focus on sharing messages and meanings, something every community agency must do! Communication faculty and students have much to offer.

 

Importantly though, communication processes are integral to success with any service learning project regardless of the academic field of interest.Some of the ways communication occurs regularly in service learning courses are detailed below.

 

Flows of Communication During Service Learning Projects

Some of the kinds of communication that come up regularly during SL include:

• Conversations centered on getting acquainted (impression management, etc.)
• Talk about roles and rules (for faculty, students, community partners)
• Interactions during student group work
• Communication concerning the best ways to share information and keep in touch as the project or experience develops (email, phone, face-to-face or ???)
• Talk about possible responses to agency needs
• Communication about media and interpersonal communication centered on the best ways to share agency messages
• Interactions which concern realistic/doable goals for students and community partners
• Conversations about issues or concerns which need to be resolved or managed
• Decision-making conversations about projects or experiences
• Presentation of a project proposal  (and securing approval by community partners and faculty) 
• Discussion regarding the overall SL partnership and projects (part of assessment)
• Reflections about the final project in class (various media possible)
• Presentation of a final project to community partner (and faculty)

 

Some communication processes are covered in full courses offered by the SOC (like Media Writing, Small Group Communication, Interpersonal Communication and Conflict and Communication.) Still, all faculty can reinforce important communication processes/skills needed by students in the community and later when they transition into the world of work.

 

One good place start talking with students about the kinds of communication to use in service learning is to cover (or review) the idea of communication competence, which they will need to know about immediately and throughout their lives.

 

Communication competence means consistently communicating in ways that fuse three criteria:

1. Appropriateness - Communication that follows accepted norms, such as the norms of the workplace which may not be familiar to students;
2.  Effectiveness - Communication that allows you to achieve your goals;
3. Ethics - Communication that treats people fairly.

(For more detail, see scholarly work by Spitzberg & Cupach’s book Interpersonal Communication Competence, 1984 or  Wiemann’s article Explication and text of a model of communicative competence, Human Communication Research,1977 )

This knowledge focuses communicators on doing more than what might come intuitively or habitually, but rather to develop a repertoire of communication skills (repeatable goal-directed behaviors, patterns or sequences that are routinely practiced in relational encounters).

Constant improvement to refine and develop these skills is key and something that today’s employers repeatedly recommend for the graduates they want to hire. )(For more discussion of communication skills see: McCornack, Reflect and Relate, 2007 or Spitzberg & Cupach’s article in the Handbook of Interpersonal Communication, 2002)

 

Find below a series of handouts you can use with your students.
(If you develop another related handout appropriate for service learning, we’d love to include it here in the future!) Contact Information 

 

Collaboration Checklist for Service Learning

 

Throughout your service learning experiences, you’ll want to work together as a team with your classmates, your professor and with the community partner.  This involves both a collaborative mindset and the use of specific team-oriented communication skills.

 

Directions: Put a + where you have well developed skills now, an X where you have some abilities but could still improve, and a – in areas where you definitely want to improve. (download printable checklist)

 

Category 1: Join “with” others. 
Take a relationship mindset with all your interactions.

____	Use “we” not “I” language.
____	Totally avoid “us” versus “them” language!
____	Seek common interests, talk about what you share or have in common.
____	Acknowledge strengths and areas of expertise of everyone involved.
____	Consult others with your ideas, strategies, etc. BEFORE acting.
____	When you talk, move closer to one another and/or lean in (to show interest and involvement.)
____	Keep in touch with others regularly to give progress updates.
____	Work to build positive professional relationships with everybody.

    

Category 2: Control the process, not the person(s).
Often difficulties can be alleviated or minimized with effective communication that is clear, inclusive, and team-oriented.

____	Work to keep everyone working together rather than splintering off into competitive sub-groups.
____	Choose meeting settings and timing to accommodate everyone as much as possible.
____	Work to keep everyone informed, even if some are unable to attend meetings.
____	Determine the “best” channel for communication for every interaction- email, phone, text messaging, face-to-face, etc.  (Think especially about whether nonverbal communication – body language, vocal tone,etc. will be needed for clear understanding of messages.)
____	Either limit or increase the number of people involved to get the job done.
____	Encourage others to talk fully and share details in depth.
____	Listen actively to what others are saying even if you disagree.
____	Check out your assumptions as you go along.  Don’t assume you             know what others are thinking or perceiving.

 

Category 3: Use constructive, productive communication.
Constructive communication helps build a supportive climate for your work.

____	Be unconditionally constructive with all you say!
____	Use supportive language rather than defensive language.
____	Refuse to sabotage the process of problem solving; stick with it!
____	Separate the person/people from the problem
____	Choose persuasion to make your point rather than coercion or forcing.

           

Category 4: Be firm with goals but flexible in how they are achieved. Things happen so that your plans may need to change. Perservering with a flexible “can do” attitude will see you through to the completion of the project or experience (and is a most valuable career/life skill!)

____	Talk about your goals for the project or experience and get specific in what             you are trying to accomplish.
____	Set a list of criteria for your “ideal” end project or experience.
____	Check in with everybody to get buy in as you make decisions before you finalize project goals or ideal project/experience criteria.
____	Work toward your goals, but be ready to be flexible in getting there when             new information or resources come into play.
____	Separate content related to the project from any relationship issues
____	Focus on interests in the situation, not on positions people hold

 

Category 5: Assume there is a solution for every challenge.
Possibility thinking can carry you toward new options and creative solutions.

____	Invent options that point toward win:win solutions.
____	Reframe or change the way you are looking at the situation if necessary to come up with a creative but doable solution.
____	Approach issues or concerns one at a time.
____	First tackle any issues or concerns that you can easily agree upon, then address those that are more contentious.
____	Refuse to be pessimistic.
____	Seek help if you or your group get stuck in any way.
____	Know that you’re in it together with the rest of the team.
____	Celebrate your accomplishments and problem solving!

 

[Developed from ideas in Interpersonal Conflict: Sixth Edition by Hocker and Wilmot, McGraw Hill. Dumlao 6/2008]

Handouts

 

Role Plays--- Common “Trouble” Spots in Service Learning

• Student-student
• Student-faculty
• Student-community partner

 

Relationship Building

Relationship text.

 

Group Processes

Small Group Roles Handout: Roles that can help the group function effectively and be comfortable for group members.

 

Negotiating with Partners

Negotiating text.