Life Survival Skills: Teaching Communication

TeachersTopic is a periodical feature about a subject of interest to the teaching community written by a prominent expert in the field published on TeachersCount.com. This month, Professor Elynne Chaplik-Aleskow answers questions about teaching communication to students. As a professor of speech communication, she has written numerous articles about her field in publications including The Chicago Sun-Times and the Blog Herald. Ms. Chaplik-Aleskow has also been named Chicago’s Outstanding Woman in Communication by Chicago’s YWCA.

You have taught at the high school and college level. How have these experiences differed and how have they been similar?

Teaching is one of my great passions. I began my career as a high school English teacher at Mather High School in Chicago. I am now a Professor of Speech Communication at Wright College in Chicago

At the public urban community college where I teach, many of my students are college freshmen who were high school seniors just months before. Students are expected to be independent and mature in course assignments and classroom decorum.

High school students have always been my favorite age group. Their search for self and their need for expression have been exciting challenges for me as a teacher. In teaching college students, I balance this mission of self-discovery with the standards of the workplace and the expectations of the professional world.

Why is it important for students to study public speaking?

The study of public speaking is an experience that results in the creation of a public/professional self, more confidence and poise, and personal pride. Students should begin the process of oral presentation as early as possible in their education. No student is too young. “Show and Tell” is the beginning of the experience before an audience. The educational curriculum of each grade level should involve public speaking. Every subject should require students to present or explain a project or assignment to the class.

The earlier students begin this experience, the less traumatic it will be for them. A poll was taken of the American public asking people to identify their major fears. In the results, death was #2 and public speaking was #1. People feared public speaking over death!