by Jane Lloyd
New research from Stirling University School of Education shows that silence in the classroom can boost children’s exam results and cut down on bad behaviour. In fact, South Bank University and the Institute of Education in London came to much the same conclusion nearly a decade ago.
It is extraordinary that we have allowed a situation to develop in which a significant degree of background noise is accepted as the classroom norm but Helen Lees, Stirling University’s researcher, reports that enforced silence has often been seen as a punishment and led to fears that children’s natural ability would be suppressed.
The problem is that children’s auditory perception varies hugely and whereas many children can function perfectly well amid a buzz of conversation, others will struggle. The clues for this are in being able to assess their central auditory processing ability.
Central auditory processing ability basically means the ability to listen. It is not at all the same as hearing, a basic function assessed by audiologists. Listening is a neurological function which depends on the brain’s ability to process the information supplied by each individual ear.
Listening ability is measured by central auditory processing tests, but although a comprehensive battery of tests has been available for very many years these tests are barely used in the UK. Most parents will be unaware that any child with concentration difficulties or a diagnosis of dyslexia, dyspraxia, ADHD or autistic spectrum disorder will have some difficulty with central auditory processing.
A large number of children have difficulty in screening out background noise, but that may not be obvious to the observer. In the classroom a child may be fidgety, inattentive, unproductive, displaying all the hallmarks of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). In fact the poor child is being forced to pay attention to everything and is overloaded with information.
In a typical classroom there is only 15 decibels difference between the volume of the teacher’s voice and the volume of the background noise when the children are being quiet. Some children are constantly under pressure and not just when conversation is allowed, but of course a noisy classroom puts them under much more pressure.
Extreme pressure can sometimes elicit a stress response involving the middle ear reflex. This is our ‘pneumatic drill reflex’ which cuts in automatically to protect our ears if we are affected by dangerous noise levels. The brain may perceive the auditory overload in the classroom as dangerous and turn down the volume to the point where the child is effectively deaf. The tone of a teacher’s or parent’s voice when they are scolding can do that to some children too!
Listening difficulties are one of the most common undiagnosed causes of behaviour problems in the classroom. If we don’t understand why a child is not listening and tell them they are naughty we make everything much worse. Watch out particularly for the child who was well-behaved at home but developed problems when they started at nursery or school.
Central auditory processing difficulties explain why a quiet classroom will lead to an improvement in exam results and a reduction in behaviour problems. However, we can do something about the problems without condemning all of our children to a life of classroom silence.
Training courses are available for teachers, therapists and anyone else who would like to be able to assess these difficulties. If a teacher, or parent, understands why the child is behaving the way they are they will be able to support them and not make everything much worse by unfairly laying blame.
It is also not necessary for a child to suffer from these problems all their life. Solutions exist which are accessible, affordable and do not involve the child in regular practice or therapy programmes.
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Read more about the life-changing potential of True Expressions, including details on free open information meetings and how to book your place on a course, by clicking here.
