For many language learners, listening represents a major source of anguish, with apparent success in the confines of the classroom failing to be mirrored in the ordinary interactions of daily life. One contributing factor may be the continued reliance on listening texts and activities that position the learner as a bystander rather than a…

Getting students talking about a work of literature -- sharing and interrogating their own and each other's textual interpretations and responses -- is vital for the teaching and learning of literature. If a classroom community of readers is constituted by such talking, then responsive teaching involves a lot of "listening." What,…

This multi-authored article offers accounts of how programmes for teaching music theory within the Western-notated tradition were created in two UK higher education institutions. These accounts are followed by two more discursive reflections on the nature and purpose of music education today, advocating the importance of listening skills and…

The composer, author, and teacher, John Cage, was exercised by our 'inability' to truly listen when approaching sound. In exploring the influences on Cage's avant-garde style, specifically the spiritual discipline found in both Zen Buddhism and Chance operations, this paper attempts to distinguish his philosophy (and use) of "silence"…

Communities have their own set of cultural values that make their way into their classrooms and serve as criteria for the labeling of "insider" or "outsider." This article describes how critical empathy can allow the barriers between these constructs to be broken down as students are given the chance not only to listen but to…

This article explores the relevance of Polyvagal Theory (PVT) to somatically-informed dance teaching methodologies. It aims to provide a neurophysiological basis for understanding the effectiveness of these teaching approaches and offer practical suggestions for how dance educators can incorporate concepts of PVT into their classroom experiences.

Many scholars and teachers in EFL education should agree that compared with reading and writing, listening has received much less attention. This brief article discusses important gaps existing in EFL listening and overall proficiency development. It presents the case for a greater focus on sounds and actual listening in the classroom and spoken…

Fun facts--facts that are interesting, unusual, and often little-known--are a popular form of entertainment throughout the world. There are countless books, TV quiz shows (Jeopardy!), board games (Trivial Pursuit), and museums (Ripley's Believe It or Not!) dedicated to trivia and the unusual that fascinate people of all ages. Short oral…

This article offers "Self/Society Care," a pedagogical unit originally developed for a Professional Writing Skills course. The unit aims to have students reconceptualize "self-care" as "self/society care," a reframing that requires recognizing our interconnectedness with others. It centers on care- and listening-based…

Storytelling plays a central role in human communication and in conflict. This activity can be used to teach students the importance of telling stories to better understand conflict or simply to practice storytelling. By engaging in mediations, students simulate the process of resolving conflict, practice storytelling, and improve their active…

As music educators embrace the possibilities for a more inclusive education that is culturally connected to the wider world, there are productive avenues for reshaping curricular content and method. In this article, we propose world music pedagogy (WMP) as a means of growing intercultural understanding alongside musical skills and knowledge, and…

This article discusses classroom conditions that support the co-creation of dialogic space--where our different ideas and perspectives are in conversation with others such that we might take in what other people are saying and be open to it affecting our thinking. Drawing on ethnographic case study data, we provide context to illustrate ways this…

This article focuses on listening not as cognition and comprehension but as a way of being attuned to self and others. The author follows Patrick Sullivan's (2014) pedagogy of listening, which establishes "listening, empathy, and reflection as the primary values in the classroom" (p. 7). These values promote "embracing respect for…

Immersive virtual reality (iVR) is a novel form of computer technology that promises to transform not only the delivery of language and cultural instruction but also how students produce language. The existing, yet limited, scholarship on the applications of iVR in the language classroom suggests affective and cultural benefits (e.g., increased…

The purpose of this study was to identify and categorize in-the-moment teaching moves which support productive general social norms and sociomathematical norms during dialogic instruction by drawing on transcripts of classroom episodes. To understand how teachers construct in-the-moment teaching moves, this paper is grounded in a revised version…