Embracing the Art of Communication - What Is it and How Is It Taught?

For their future success, today's students need to know how to communicate, yet many are graduating without this critical skill. At GIIS, we aim to help our students graduate with all of the skills they need for success, including communication skills. We've already discussed why communication skills are critical, so here is a closer look at what communication skills are and how they are taught.

What Is Communication?

Employers state they are looking for "communication skills" in new graduates, but what exactly does this mean? Does it refer only to the ability to communicate verbally, or is it something more? According to a survey performed by Michigan State University, employers desired the following communication skills in the new graduates they considered hiring:

• Good listening skills

• Ability to communicate concisely with accuracy

• Oral communication

• Written communication

Parents and educators alike would agree that these are important life skills, but the challenge is in how to teach them. Unlike addition and subtraction, these aren't skills that can be tested and graded. For that reason, GIIS has taken a unique approach to teaching the art of communication.

How to Teach the Art of Communication?

Communication skills aren't taught in a vacuum, secluded from other important life skills. They also aren't picked up instinctively. People are not born with the skills and knowledge that allow for effective communication. Yet, as Jennifer Banks of the University of Technology Sydney points out, "Communication is an important engine of the 21st century as daily life, including our work lives, is shaped by the fact that we live in a smaller, more connected, more globalised world."

At GIIS, we are committed to teaching students all of the skills they need for success, including the art of communication. We have woven communication into our curriculum. While students are learning to read, write and work with numbers, they are also learning to communicate respectfully and professionally with each other and their instructors. Practicing communication is simply part of daily academic and social life at our campuses.

We organise school events, assemblies and even sporting events in such a way that students are taught to communicate. Our emphasis on drama and role playing activities also helps teach valuable communication skills. The International Knowledge Exchange Programme connects our students to other students around the globe, fostering tolerance and diversity while encouraging more communication. 

Our workshops on Journalism and Photography are an outlet for students to explore the practical and the abstract, and communicate with the whole wide world through art forms like writing and photography. Story-telling is another communication skill which is taught from a very young age. 

Waiting until adulthood is too late to teach communication skills. It takes years of practice to become a skilled communicator, and at GIIS, students practice communication every single day. Our students participate in team activities and presentations that get them practicing those communication skills with each other, preparing them to be able to speak to the public as well. As they mature, they are given opportunities to present ideas and presentations to the general public, solidifying their abilities as skilled communicators. With this emphasis on communication, our students graduate with these critical communication skills, setting them up for greater success in their adult lives.