Silence within and beyond Pedagogical Settings

Eva Alerby

• Publisher: Palgrave Pivot
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN:
  9783030510596
• eBook ISBN:
  9783030510602
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

This book explores the significance of silence within and beyond pedagogical contexts. Silence is a complex and multidimensional phenomenon for everyday life: since schools mirror society, it is also significant in education. While silence can be experienced in a multitude of different ways, the author reflects on whether silence itself can bear a message: is there an aspect of dialogue in silence, or is it a language all of its own? This book examines a variety of silences essential for education, examining such topics as silence and aspects of power, silent students, and the relationship between listening and silence. Drawing on a range of empirical data, the author elucidates the significance of silence in pedagogical contexts. 

Part ISilence in the Light of Theoretical Reflections

© The Author(s) 2020

E. AlerbySilence within and beyond Pedagogical Settingshttps://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-51060-2_1

Begin Abstract

1. Speaking Silence: The Different Aspects of Silence

Eva Alerby¹

(1)

Department of Arts, Communication and Education, Luleå University of Technology, Luleå, Sweden

Eva Alerby

Email: [email protected]

End Abstract

‘When they remain silent, they cry out’ is a translation of the Latin expression cum tacent clamant. An equivalent expression that also captures this contradiction is ‘speaking silence.’ The Latin expression was used to describe the senators’ reaction to Cicero’s orations against Catiline in 62 BC—their silence speaks louder than words (EUdict dictionary, 2019). Can silence be eloquent? If so, what is silence saying to us? Is it possible for a person to say something without speaking? What are students saying when they stay quiet instead of answering a teacher’s question?

Many thinking people have reflected on the idea of speaking and being silent. True dialogue can be both spoken and mute, and the latter is actually sometimes referred to as speaking silence (Buber, 1993). A person can speak continuously without actually saying anything, but another might say a great deal without speaking a word or expressing himself verbally in any way (Heidegger, 1971). Not saying anything—to stay quiet—is sometimes what says the most (Dickinson, 2020), and it is also possible to say that even a ‘non-message’ is a message (Bateson, 1987).

Quite simply, silence seems to tell us something, as can be seen in the case of two acquaintances who meet each other on the street and one does not return the other’s greeting, or when a student meets some classmates in the school corridor and greets them, but does not receive a greeting in return. Another example is when someone sends a letter that never receives a reply. When silence is preferred or forced, the interpretation and conclusion could be that silence becomes a language when spoken words do not suffice. So how can silence be viewed?

In this chapter, I will highlight some of the various aspects of silence. I will argue that silence conveys something. But, in order to understand it, we must listen to the silence and be open and responsive to its message. One of the aspects I intend to highlight is an opposite of silence—sound. The other aspects are how silence can be explained from a linguistic and communicative perspective. The various characteristics of silence will also be discussed—is the silence perceived as good or bad, as friendly or malicious? I will then consider the relationship between silence and power, silence in the light of cultural perspectives and self-imposed silence or the desire to find it. The chapter concludes with a review of the multifaceted nature of silence in the form of literal, epistemological and ontological silences.

The Connection Between Silence and Sound

Normally, silence is considered to be the absence of sound—that is, the lack of auditory stimulation, a state of soundlessness. Is there, though, ever really a complete lack of sound? A total, absolute silence is contradicted by the fact that the human body always produces sound, such as through blood circulation, breathing and digestion, and as long as a person lives, these sounds are carried with them (Arlinger, 1995). But according to The National Encyclopedia (2010a), silence is described as ‘a state of (almost) complete absence of sound.’

In order to gain an understanding of the meaning of silence, it may be useful to briefly consider one of the opposites of silence: sound. Sound is described by The National Encyclopedia (2010b) as fluctuations of pressure that propagate in the form of waves. In the narrow, original sense, this is limited to air fluctuations at a frequency of between 20 and 20,000 hertz. It is only sound that exists within this range that can be perceived by the human ear (Arlinger, 1995). Some say that sound levels below 20 decibels can be considered silent. Others argue that sound levels in a range between 10 and 20 decibels can be considered silent, even though the faintest sound a person with good hearing can detect is actually 0 decibels (Boverket, 2011; Hellberg, 2002). What is considered silent or not is more of a subjective experience. In a study conducted by Bergmark and Kostenius (2012), students described classroom noise level, and they felt that, whilst silence is important for fostering a positive learning climate, there is no need for complete silence.

If we use the description of silence as being the absence of sound, we might add that some noises die out—they become quiet over time. In spite of this, some of these extinct sounds live on. Some examples of sounds that have now become quiet are the clatter of a typewriter, the ‘clickety-clack’ of train wheels as they roll over joints in the rails, the sound a TV makes when it is switched off and the noise of a camera’s shutter. These sounds have disappeared as technology has improved. The clattering keys of a typewriter have been replaced by the computer keyboard, joints in train rails have been minimised and almost completely removed, the technology used in televisions has advanced and the old mechanical on/off switches that used to produce the characteristic sound of a TV turning on or off have today been replaced with digital touch-sensitive controls that do not make sound in the same way.

Some of these classic sounds, though, have a tendency to stick around; like the shutter sound we hear when taking a picture with a digital camera. Today, few consumer digital cameras have shutters, but they can still sound like the old cameras. The difference is that the modern cameras we use today produce the sound digitally, it is a recorded sound stored on a chip inside the camera. This is because we expect a camera to sound a certain way—it shouldn’t be completely silent.

On the subject of hertz and decibels, we need to stop and think about their meaning in relation to silence in pedagogical settings. We regularly hear alarming reports from preschools and schools about how sound levels are much too high. In some cases, it even exceeds the limit of what is considered safe for the hearing (Arbetsmiljöverket, 2010). Apart from damaging the hearing, high sound levels can also contribute to concentration difficulties, fatigue and irritation. Studies have also shown that the production of stress hormones increases, and the heart rhythm as well as blood pressure are negatively affected by noise (Babisch, Fromme, Beyer, & Ising, 2001; Englund, 2000). From that perspective, the subject of hertz and decibels is naturally important for the health and well-being of students and teachers in our preschools and schools.

Regardless of the number of decibels that sets the limit for silence, or how many decibels might occur in our preschools and schools, there are many more aspects of silence that are worth emphasising and shedding light on. As I understand it, therefore, silence must be considered from more angles than only hertz and decibels. One such angle is the linguistic aspect.

Silence from a Linguistic Viewpoint

From a linguistic point of view, silence can be described using the following synonyms: stillness, calmness, soundlessness, fade away, end, silentium (Walter, 1995). The English term ‘silence’ comes from the latter—the Latin noun silentium, which originates from the Latin word silere [to be quiet] (Collins English Dictionary, 1992; Simpson & Weiner, 1989).

In purely linguistic terms, it is interesting to establish that different languages place different meanings in a word such as ‘silence.’ In English, for example, the phrase to be silent means not only the absence of speech, but the lack of any kind of sound. By way of comparison, the Polish verb milczec means to refrain from talking. The Polish language thus has a narrower definition of silence than English does. In order to describe forms of silence other than just the absence of the spoken word, Polish speakers use the word cisza, which denotes a general stillness (Jaworski, 1993). In Swedish, the word tystnad carries the meaning of an absence of sound, a kind of soundlessness, and that a person does not say anything but stays quiet (Natur och Kulturs Svenska Ordbok, 2001). The Swedish tystnad can therefore be compared more closely with English than Polish, which has two different words for silence; one for complete silence or soundlessness and another that is used to describe a person refraining from talking.

But to describe silence solely through linguistic investigations is not enough to provide a sufficient and satisfactory picture. Silence as a linguistic phenomenon is one aspect to ponder and reflect upon, but there are so many more aspects of silence that are worth considering. One such aspect, which has a close natural connection to the linguistic one, is the communicative. Communication is an essential part of education, and one important dimension of communication is silence.

Silence and Communication

It is important to create time and space for silence, not only in everyday conversation, but also during more formal, structured discussions, such as at school. Formal interviews are another example of structured conversation, such as those that occur within the framework of a research study. In such situations, we should consider whether it is really necessary to ask all of the questions. Instead of extra questions, stillness and quiet could be a more tactful way of encouraging a person to tell more about their story and what they would like to share (van Manen, 1990). It is during the silent moments that a person can contemplate and reflect. At this point, we can again stop and think about...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Front Matter
• Part I. Silence in the Light of Theoretical Reflections
• Part II. Considerations of Silence in Day-to-Day Life at School: Some Experiences from Students
• Part III. The Art of Appreciating Silence
• Back Matter