Learning to Listen and Listening to Learn

Listening—the most underrated skill in education

Listening—the process of actively receiving, constructing meaning from, and responding to spoken or non-verbal messages—is essential for teaching and learning. How can we check for understanding and ensure that students’ contributions are heard and understood by peers and teachers?

In Learning to Listen and Listening to Learn, bestselling authors and internationally respected educators John Hattie and Lyn Sharratt demonstrate how listening can foster positive relationships, trust, and understanding while enhancing student learning. With a wealth of research to guide educators through the process of infusing active, sensitive, and empathetic listening skills into the classroom and school culture, this important guide includes:

• The Visible CLARITY 5-Ear Listening Model
• Reflection prompts and mantras to help reinforce key learnings from each chapter
• Guidance on how to assess and enhance leaders′, teachers′, and students′ listening skills

When we value every student′s voice, we create an inclusive environment that encourages diverse perspectives, fosters equity, and develops accurate listening, empowering students to articulate their thoughts and enhancing skills they will use for their lifetimes.

John Hattie, PhD, is an award-winning education researcher and best-selling author with nearly thirty years of experience examining what works best in student learning and achievement. His research, better known as Visible Learning, is a culmination of nearly thirty years synthesizing more than 2,100 meta-analyses comprising more than one hundred thousand studies involving over 300 million students around the world. He has presented and keynoted in over three hundred international conferences and has received numerous recognitions for his contributions to education. His notable publications include Visible Learning, Visible Learning for Teachers, Visible Learning and the Science of How We Learn; Visible Learning for Mathematics, Grades K-12; and 10 Mindframes for Visible Learning. Lyn Sharratt, EdD, is a practitioner and researcher working in remote and urban settings worldwide. Lyn is an Adjunct Professor at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, Canada; a Fellow at University of Melbourne, Australia; an author consultant for Corwin Press; an advisor for International School Leadership with the Ontario Principals’ Council; and consults internationally, working with system, school, and teacher leaders at all levels in Australia, Canada, Chile, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Norway, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Lyn focuses her time and effort on increasing each student’s growth and achievement by working alongside leaders and teachers to put FACES on their data, taking intentional action to make equity and excellence a reality for ALL students. Visit www.lynsharratt.com for articles, video clips, podcasts; on Twitter: @LynSharratt; on Instagram: lyn_sharratt; and on LinkedIn where Lyn owns the “Educational Leadership” LinkedIn group made up of 99,000+ members. Lyn’s authorship includes: Realization: The Change Imperative for Deepening District-Wide Reform (with Michael Fullan); Putting FACES on the Data: What Great Leaders Do! (With Michael Fullan); Good to Great to Innovate: Recalculating the Route, K-12+ (with Gale Harild); Leading Collaborative Learning: Excellence (with Beate Planche); CLARITY: What Matters MOST in Learning, Teaching and Leading (International Best-Selling Education Book in 2020); and Putting FACES on the Data – the 10th Anniversary Edition (with Michael Fullan). Lyn is proud of the recent co-development of the CLARITY Learning Suite (CLS) - a web-based collaborative Professional Learning opportunity that mirrors CLARITY. Lyn and her team believe that ‘everyone’s a leader’, thus CLS provides guidance to Learning Leaders on how to do this work of system and school improvement – together – to make a difference for all students. Visit www.claritylearningsuite.com.