Why interpersonal skills should be taught in a classroom

Interpersonal skills, communication, listening, empathy, conflict resolution and emotional intelligence, deserve deliberate classroom teaching because they are “master skills”: nurture them and children improve across daily life, school included. Teamwork, public speaking and relationship-building do not develop by timetable accident; they develop by design.

Interpersonal skills touch every facet of life, from education to profession to relationships, so children need to start early. As Mark Greenberg, founding director of the Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center at Penn State, puts it: “Building emotional awareness, self-control and relationship skills are master skills. When we nurture them, children do better in all areas of their daily lives, including school.”

What are interpersonal skills?

The skills we use every day when communicating and interacting with others, individually and in groups: verbal and non-verbal communication, active listening, empathy, conflict resolution, and emotional intelligence. They are what build and maintain relationships, exactly where most of us falter.

In school specifically, interpersonal communication drives success: effective communication with teachers and peers creates a positive learning environment, boosts confidence and collaboration, and sharpens critical thinking and problem-solving. Classrooms are no longer only about scores; a complete education imparts the life and social skills that prepare children for a future better than the one we were prepared for.

What does classroom teaching of these skills build?

Teamwork

The more comfortable children are communicating with each other, the better they work in teams, a skill they will need through school and into every workplace. Interactive classroom activities, planned deliberately, teach leadership, teamwork and the shared drive to finish a task well.

Verbal and non-verbal communication

Effective communication is learnable, and age- and grade-specific activities address its many layers: words, tone, body language, timing. (The 5Cs of verbal communication give the framework.)

Public speaking

Confidence, vocabulary and articulation all grow at the front of the room, which is why schools push skits, drama, debates and speech events. Every child who survives their first stage appearance owns something permanent.

Healthy relationships

Relationships run on mutual trust, good communication, confident handling of life’s situations, self-worth and respect for others, and every one of those is an interpersonal skill that can be taught, practised and improved from a young age.

A curriculum that teaches fractions but not friendship prepares children for exams, not for Monday morning.

The good news for teachers and parents alike: this teaching looks like play. Role plays, group challenges and communication games carry the syllabus, and children with learning difficulties, who often miss the social curriculum that others absorb incidentally, benefit from the deliberate version most of all.

Dr. V.S. Gayathri is a Certified Dyslexia Therapist, an Orton-Gillingham trained literacy specialist, and the founder of Flourishing Kids. She has delivered over 4,000 hours of one-to-one reading and spelling intervention, helping children across multiple countries build stronger literacy skills. To talk about your child’s communication and confidence, get in touch for a free 15-minute conversation.