Core Competency Area 7

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Area Introduction

As a paraprofessional, you will be working not only with students, but also teachers, parents, family members, school personnel, and possibly individuals from the community. You will have the opportunity to form partnerships and relationships with the various individuals that you come into contact with. You will be a member of a team. As with any relationship or team, communication plays a key role in the effectiveness of the team. Communicating effectively with teachers, students and other individuals is important. Another aspect of these relationships/teams is that they are collaborative in nature; meaning they are shared, two-way relationships that involve working together. To have this type of relationship, each member must understand his or her role on the team. In education, a lack of effective communication can have serious repercussions. Students may not understand lecture material, paraprofessionals may not understand directions given to them, and teachers may not understand that a gap in communication is forming. This notion is important so that ideas, directions, and thoughts will not be lost or misunderstood. In order to be understood in the manner in which we intend we must learn to communicate effectively.

Competency units in area 7 address the knowledge and skills regarding:

• Suggestions for effective communication and case scenarios to self evaluate your communication styles.
• Different forms of communication, listening strategies, and techniques for resolving conflict with students, staff members and teachers.
• Following the instructions of the licensed staff who directs your work.
• Establishing a common language and understanding of common educational terminology.

As a whole, core area 6 covers communicating and collaborating effectively with teachers, students and other individuals. Successfully completing the training will help you contribute to an effective classroom by practicing positive communication and collaboration skills and strategies. Throughout this unit you are encouraged to try the techniques suggested and self evaluate to find the communication style that works best for you.

(Clicking the hyperlinked competency code, e.g., 1K3B, will take you to the associated training unit.)

Review

pdf

rtf

Your facilitator may ask you to turn in a written copy of the area review, in which case you can use either the pdf or rtf file. If your facilitator wants you to submit an electronic file, download the rtf file and open it in a Word Processor.

Area Evaluation

The Para eLink is sponsored by the Minnesota Paraprofessional Consortium, in collaboration with the Minnesota Department of Education, located at the Institute on Community Integration in the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Minnesota.

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