PERTS Elevate Resource Library

Constructivist Listening Activity

Give students the opportunity to be heard and become better listeners through Constructivist Listening.

Grades 6-8, 9-12 All subjects

Overview

Constructivist Listening is a way to enable teachers and students to become better at listening and talking in depth. Constructivist Listening is powerful because it is wholly for the benefit of the speaker. It enables the speaker to be heard uninterrupted and the listener to be aware of their role in supporting the speaker. It may be especially beneficial following a challenging lesson or experience in the classroom, such as a test in which students were not happy with how they did.

Before a constructivist listening activity begins, each participant must agree to listen to and think about what the speaker is saying for a fixed period of time. Participants make this agreement with the knowledge that they will get the same opportunity to speak and be heard as their peers. When listening, however, participants keep in mind that their listening is for the speaker's benefit, so they do not ask questions for more information while the speaker is talking.

Through this activity you will be able to:

  • Provide opportunities for students to share ideas and be taken seriously by their teacher and peers.
  • Generate student input on ways to improve classroom conditions.
  • Show respect for student ideas and multiple perspectives.
  • Create a welcoming environment for students and increase their comfort with sharing their thoughts and opinions.

Conducting the Practice

  1. Think of a prompt that will be used for the activity.

    • Example prompts:
      • What music do you like and why?
      • What did you like and dislike about the last unit we covered? Why?
      • How could we improve on [Elevate learning condition]?
      • (Advanced) After a challenging lesson or experience in the classroom—what happened? How did that make you feel? How can we, as a community, do better?
    • Note: Adolescents, especially middle schoolers, may initially be self-conscious talking with peers, even about topics that seem mundane to adults.
    • We recommend starting with a "light" topic the first few times this practice is used, and graduating to more weighty or emotional topics as students gradually build their sense of trust and confidence.

  2. Create pairs.

  3. Explain the purpose of the activity to students and name a few norms.

    • This may vary depending on the discussion prompt. For "lighter" prompts, the purpose may be to build confidence with speaking and listening (this is especially relevant in language arts and writing classes). Or it might be to build relationships between students. For a more advanced prompt, the purpose may be to digest a recent event or figure out how to support learning better.
    • Students should be instructed not to share what their partner says with anyone, even if it doesn't seem significant. You may need to explain what confidentiality means and hold a brief discussion of why it's important (for building a sense of trust and honesty), the first time you use this practice.

  4. Start the process by giving each student two minutes to respond to the prompt. It can be useful to scaffold the prompts.

  5. Each person is given equal time to talk.

    • During this time, the listener does not interrupt, interpret, paraphrase, analyze, give advice, or break in with a personal story. Confidentiality is maintained.

  6. After students complete the listening activity, ask them to reflect on the activity. This reflection could be done silently (e.g., writing on a piece of paper or journal), with their partner, or as a whole group. Here are examples of possible reflection questions:

    • What came up for you during this conversation? How did it feel? For example, was it fun? Awkward? Stressful? Comfortable?
    • Was anything difficult for you?

  7. Invite students to write on a piece of paper what they said in their pair, that they might want you to know. Let them know that they don't have to list anything, but that if something came up that you can learn from, you want to know what it is. Let them know that they can choose to write their name on the paper or not, then collect all papers face-down so that students cannot see each other's responses.

Learn More

This practice was adapted from the Student Voice Guide developed by the Learning and Development Group at the University of Chicago Consortium on School Research in partnership with PERTS.