Identify Examples of Communication Difficulties that May Exist

It is likely that communication difficulties will be encountered occasionally within the school environment. These may be due to an area of special need or because of individual have different attitude or belief from others in the group. There may be numbers of different reasons that communication difficulties have arisen, they may occur between individual or group of people.

Poor communication: If relevant information is not passed on or there has been a misunderstanding between people, this could cause conflict. If this occurs, it is important to not to ignore the problem and talk to the individual or group concerned to establish a better way forward in the future.

Opposing expectations: When people are called together for a meeting, it is possible that some may have different ideas or expectations. A team leader should always clarify the exact aims of what we are there to do and why. For example in parents meeting, parents not accepting their child problem such as speech problem.

Cultural difference: It is important to understand the different cultures of adults and pupils so that communication can be effective. For example, in some cultures, it is not polite to look in eyes of another person when talking to them, which may mean that people do not pick up on many non-verbal cues.

Different values and ideas: Parents may have a different method of dealing with different situations. School need to work alongside with parents and carers to clarify why things need to happen in a different way in school.

External factor: In school, people hardly know about personal lives of colleagues or children, and they may be behaving uncharacteristically. If someone notices such behaviour, one should ask what’s wrong and offer help. When working with an external professional, one has to be aware that they might be under pressure related to timeline.

Individuals with special needs: Young people or adult who have a specific need, may not be able to communicate clearly, it is important that one has to be sensitive and aware of their communication difficulties and adapt the way of communication. Staff should be given special training if required.

Lack of confidence: When one’s confidence is low, ability to communicate effectively with the people around is usually hampered. Young people may behave aggressively if they are not sure about what they are doing. Sometimes shyness can be treated as rudeness, staff needs to be sensitive to this and offer young people encouragement and support.