When we listen, do we clearly hear?

As teachers, we know that students are not always ready to hear what we say. Therefore, we explain things over and over again, trying to use different words each time in order to give everybody a chance to hear and understand what we are explaining. During my last interview, the teacher I interviewed said: "I always give several images because everyone has his own image to the image I give. We need to allow space."

So, not everybody hears and sees the same way we hear and see. But during our research, how can we help ourselves to clearly hear and see? How do I make sure that I listen AND hear? 

I noticed that those past weeks, I hear things related to my topic all the time. I didn't hear them before, because I wasn't looking for it. But I also noticed that now, I only hear what I am looking for. 

This morning, I did some reading about 'listening skills', and I guess what I do is called 'filtered listening' or 'evaluative listening'. And I believe we all do it. 

When I introduced my topic yesterday evening during our monthly skype chat, somebody responded straight away, but changed the topic. My concern was listened to, but not really heard. My fellow student filtered my concern because she has wanted to address a similar concern. The result: we didn't really talk about the topic I introduced. I wasn't upset or disappointed because the event itself gave me a lot of information about the issue of listening and hearing and helped me understand something important: Listening is a skill. But how do we train this skill? 

E.C.L. Goh writes in her article 'Integrating Mindfulness and Reflection in the Teaching and Learning of Listening Skills for Undergraduate Social Work Students in Singapore' that if we really wanna hear, or listen actively, we must put aside our own concerns. In order to do so, it is important to first listen to ourselves. When we hear somebody talk, we have an inner dialogue that we can listen to in order to identify possible thoughts that hinder us to really hear the other. 

I believe that by doing so, we could have more profound discussions about a topic and it would help us stay connected and open.

Moving in the questions

I started with the interpretation process of my data this week and I feel lost. Lost because there are so much information. Lost because I feel very little and humble. Lost because I don't really know where I am going, what I am supposed to do. I have difficulties to see the bigger picture and to not deviate from my route.  A few days ago I heard a song that talked me out of the soul and that I want to share:

"I sense so much and what I can give back is so little. But I can ask the questions: 

How do we begin to know the unknown?
How do we come to see clearly (...)? (...)

There are still so many more questions - I am moving in them - they are my feet and my hands and they are what I give back."

Integral Silence - Jun Miyake

I think the lyrics speak fot themselves. When we collect data, we sense so much, there is so much information coming in. And I do feel like I can give back so little. What can you do in only 12 weeks of research? I guess all we can do is ask questions. Those questions will help us know the unknown and share it. Those questions will help us shed some light on our topic. We are moving with those questions, dancing with them and breathing them. And we can only give back even more questions. And for me, that still is the most difficult part. The desire to find fix answers obscured the view and misleads me.