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STUDENTS ACT OUT A BETTER WAY TO COMMUNICATE
Hundreds of students were silenced at Aston Business School – only to discover their body language was a better way to communicate.
Many creative poses and facial expressions were acted out to convey a range of personal perspectives in a given situation.
The Birmingham-based Business School called in experts from Arts & Business West Midlands and The Map Consortium, who taught around 450 students and staff the value of non-verbal communication through role play scenarios, visual art and music.
It spearheaded the University’s drive to get students to communicate more effectively with others, by understanding other people’s perspectives.
The budding thespians and artists were asked to say what they noticed about each activity, what it suggested and why they saw it in a particular way.
Research has shown that diverse groups of people, who bring together very different opinions and experiences, achieve more than groups of similar people, despite having more obstacles to overcome initially.
This exercise set out to show students this in practice, given that Aston Business School has very diverse students from countries around the world.
Dr Helen Higson, Associate Dean of Undergraduate Programmes at Aston Business School said: “it is important to equip students with a range of valuable communication skills for the global market place.
“We are keen to encourage students to communicate in a wide variety of ways and to understand other people’s perspectives in any given situation,” she said.
“This event was a huge success and students felt they gained a lot from getting the chance to be more creative, we will be tracking its impact throughout the year.”
Brenda Parkerson, Business Development Manager at Arts & Business West Midlands, said: “This training is all about valuing other people, their perspectives and their contributions. The exercises work with a variety of arts processes and help students to get to know each other in a way they otherwise wouldn’t do.”
“Students really took to it and said they were delighted to get the chance to be creative together. Intercultural issues aren’t new to them, but using creativity to communicate gave them practical tools that they can use for many years to come.”
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