Communication for whom?

Communication for whom? Communication must match the characteristics of the intended audience, need and interest of audience

Consider your audience Hostility and unwillingness: feminist, radical, western • Professional, precise, good and efficient communication • Values of tolerance, respect, dignity of other human beings • Peculiarities of languages: Hindi and Sanskrit, German Changing contexts of communication: importance of soft skills, training

Communication, team work and efficiency of outcomes

Learning to communicate and Learning about each other Game: I Want You To Know

You are given five minutes to write down your answers for the following question: What we never want to see, hear or experience again as a member of this group.

Which group did you learn the most about? • Did any of the statements surprise you? • Did you notice any similarities between the groups?

Talk more Interact more Share Have more of formal and informal meetings Appreciate and Understand Know more about the other Know that there are positive and negative aspects in all people / cultures Encourage – use incentives if necessary

Exercise: Critical incidents Narrate your experiences and what you learn from them

Which of these do you feel is more repugnant? Which image gives you positive feelings compared to the other?

Which of these is more repugnant / yucky? Which image gives you positive feelings? Earth worm (Farm helper) Parrot (Pest)

In Communication guard against stereotypes. Appearances don’t always match the content. Communication in the workplace: outcomes more important than appearances

Sharing, Learning and communication • Teaching and joint learning: need for innovative strategies • Panchatantra

Girls and women may have different learning styles, research styles, and interests in S&T than do boys and men • Role of Socialization

Examples of diversity in communication and behaviour patterns • Rapport talk versus report talk • Public speaking versus private speaking. • Women talk more than men in private conversations. • In the public arena, men vie for ascendancy and speak much more than women. • Men assume a lecture style to establish a “one-up” position, command attention, convey information, and insist on agreement. • Men's monologue style is appropriate for report, but not for rapport.

2. Telling a story. • Men tell more stories and jokes than do women. • Telling jokes is a masculine way to negotiate status. • Men are the heroes in their own stories. • When women tell stories, they downplay themselves.

3. Listening. • Women show attentiveness through verbal and nonverbal cues. • Men may avoid these cues to keep from appearing “one-down.” • A woman interrupts to show agreement, to give support, or to supply what she thinks the speaker will say (a cooperative overlap). • Men regard any interruption as a power move.

4. Asking questions • Men don't ask for help because it exposes their ignorance. • Women ask questions to establish a connection with others. • When women state their opinions, they often use tag questions to soften the sting of potential disagreement and to invite participation in open, friendly dialogue. 5. Conflict • Men usually initiate and are more comfortable with conflict. • To women, conflict is a threat to connection to be avoided at all costs. • Men are extremely wary about being told what to do.

Communication styles differ according to personality type and family background / socialization Role of numbers Who you are and how you speak Make the effort to learn and understand: outcomes are important

Hostility, discrimination, and learning • Teaching and sharing in a diverse situation • classroom • laboratory • workshops • field trips

To teach and promote learning for equality we must first recognize that • teaching habits differentially affect various populations in our classrooms. Use appropriate methods for teaching and co-learning, research communication (oral and written / printed) Use of teaching / presentation aids

METHODS • Use a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods in data gathering • Use methods from a variety of fields or interdisciplinary approaches to problem-solving • Include diverse people as experimental subjects in experiment designs • Use more interactive methods, thereby shortening the distance between observer and the object being studied

METHODS (Contd.) • Expand the kinds of observations beyond those traditionally carried out in scientific research. • Incorporate and validate personal experiences everyone is likely to have had as part of the class discussion or laboratory exercise. • Undertake fewer experiments likely to have applications of direct benefit for eg. to the military and propose more experiments to explore problems of social concern. • Consider problems that have not been considered worthy of scientific investigation because of the field with which the problem was traditionally associated.

1. Classroom Dynamics • Differences in communication styles in the classroom • Encourage class participation • Whom do you call upon? (teacher) • How do you respond when someone speaks up? (students) • Establish class norms • Allowing wait time

2. Personalize Large Classes • Levels of formality and informality • Encourage and familiarize with use of study groups: • Create a better sense of community: • Use more writing exercises: • Rearrange the classroom setting: • Start an e-mail list: • Provide opportunities for the students to meet outside of the classroom:

3. Competitive and Cooperative Educational Models • Address the weedout theory: • Change the grading system: • Encourage use of pass/fail option: • Address grade anxieties: • Utilize cooperative and collaborative work:

4. Consider a Variety of Examination Options • Explain and if necessary modify grading system: • Words of encouragement: • Follow up on poor exam/lab performance: • Consider untimed or take-home exams: • Vary the exam structure and modality:

5. Encourage Active Participation in Labs • Divide lab roles: avoid heirarchies in tasks and roles • Emphasize lab/classroom connection: • Show connection to current research topics: • Have students design labs:

6. Language and communication • Monitor language and materials • Gender inclusive terms or non-gender specific terms • Use of examples - all can empathise with • Avoid generalizations and stereotypes • Consensus versus debate: discussion, debate, collaborative learning, consensus building

Multicultural science curricula, resource materials and teaching methods • Emphasizes dynamic inquiry and exploration, • not static memorized right and wrong answers • How best to enhance learning? • By presenting science as an ongoing, creative activity or story • students should see their own experiences reflected in what they learn.

Technology, Development and Communication How does sensitivity in communication help in R & D?

CIFOR’s approach on gender and diversity Use different methods and study different issues for diverse groups / stakeholders

IDRC’s Diversity in NRM (Natural Resource Management) Approach • “Diversity analysis in NRM contributes to ‘a more accurate and complete picture of a complex social landscape’ “ • “Research that better reflects experiences of diverse groups is more likely to lead to NRM policies or programmes that take into account those different experiences and have more sustainable and equitable impacts. • More accurate and complete assessments lead to more effective and efficient impacts of research, policy and development programmes

Groundnut improvement in Maharashtra • Low Adoption of new technology • Failure to integrate gender issues

Be aware • Be professional • Be human

Communication for whom?