Chapter 1 Communication

Chapter 1 of Leadership Connectors provided much insight on the issue of

communication.  Before reading this chapter, I felt like I had a very good understanding of the

importance of communication in the school setting.  However, Hensley discussed numerous

points on how crucial communication really is. 

            Hensley briefly discussed the lack of communication relating to your presence or absence

in a situation, and even when you are silent.  Your body language and silence in a situation can

also be a form of communication in a negative way.  If a teacher is expecting some type of

acknowledgement from you and as an administrator, you are quiet, that may convey a message to

them that their concerns are not worth your time or conversation. 

            I have been in schools where a new principal was introduced and at the first staff

meeting, had made references to their previous school and how those teachers met certain

expectations.  Although the principal may not have intentionally wanted the current staff to feel

that a comparison was being made, it is difficult to determine how they will interpret your

discussions on a previous school’s staff.  Hensley is correct in this case when he suggests that the

school leader keep the focus on the current school’s staff and ask them about their own successes

and challenges that can ultimately end with student achievement being the result.

            Finally, Hensley’s insight on the three forms of communication provided me with a new

perspective on how important it is to be consistent.  The three channels of communication, oral,

written, and nonverbal, should be expressed by the school leader as the same across all three

types.  What a school leader conveys to a teacher orally should be the same as what they

communicate in writing, or with their body language and nonverbal cues.