Communicating for workplace connection: a longitudinal study of the outcomes of listening training on teachers' autonomy, psychological safety, and relational climate

Itzchakov, G. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1516-6719, Weinstein, N. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2200-6617, Vinokur, E. and Yomtovian, A. (2023) Communicating for workplace connection: a longitudinal study of the outcomes of listening training on teachers' autonomy, psychological safety, and relational climate. Psychology in the Schools, 60 (4). pp. 1279-1298. ISSN 1520-6807 doi: 10.1002/pits.22835

Abstract/Summary

Training teachers to listen may enable them to experience increasingly attentive and open peer relationships at work. In the present research, we examined the outcomes of a year‐long listening training on school teachers' listening abilities and its downstream consequences on their relational climate, autonomy, and psychological safety. Teachers in two elementary schools engaged in a similar listening training program throughout the entire school year. The measures included indicators of a supportive relational climate that are known to be important to teacher well‐being, namely, autonomy, psychological safety, and relational energy. Results of growth curve modeling showed linear increases in all three outcomes, such that more listening training corresponded to a more positive relational climate. Specifically, the teachers reported increasingly higher quality listening from their group‐member teachers, felt more autonomy‐satisfied, psychologically safe, and relationally energetic. Furthermore, latent growth curve modeling indicated that the teachers' listening perception was positively and significantly associated with all three outcomes. We concluded that listening training is associated with teachers perceiving higher quality listening from their peers and, therefore, feeling more autonomy satisfied, psychologically safe, and relationally energetic and discuss theoretical and practical implications.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/109344
Identification Number/DOI	10.1002/pits.22835
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Life Sciences > School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences > Department of Psychology
Uncontrolled Keywords	RESEARCH ARTICLE, RESEARCH ARTICLES, autonomy, interpersonal listening, psychological safety, relational energy, training
Publisher	Wiley
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