General Focus

The ability to listen with empathy may be the most important attribute of a (writing) tutor: empathy is the ability to put one's self in another's place to effectively understand and accurately interpret the interlocutor' thoughts. Thereby providing to students who has (writing) problems the opportunity to talk through their problem thus clarifying their,thinking as well as providing them with a necessary emotional release.

Active listening (also called empathic listening or reflective listening) focuses attention on the speaker, suspending one’s own frame of reference and suspending judgment: through active listening the listener lets the speaker know, You are important, I am not judging you, I am interested in what you are saying, I want to understand your problem and how you feel about it.

Active listeners should be able to sustain attention, retain information, clarify procedures and understand problems. They are mirror image of what they think their interlocutor is saying and feeling.

The goal of this workshop is:
• to promote awareness of the importance of active listening
• to improve focus on the interlocutor
• to promote listening in a way that signals "I'm all ears" to the interlocutor
• to learn to hear what is being said - loudly and clearly
• to train how to listen impartially, keeping aside own judgment

Duration: 20 hours