Teaching and Nonverbal Behavior in the Classroom

Abstract

Introduction What do teachers need to know about nonverbal (NV) behavior and how can they make use of this knowledge in their classrooms? These are the questions guiding this chapter. Central topics and issues in the psychology of nonverbal communication are presented first, followed by a discussion of NV behavior in teacher-student interaction in the classroom. The latter presentation is divided in two parts-one discussing students' NV behavior (with teachers as detectors), the other focusing on teachers' NV behavior (with students as detectors). The discussion of teachers' NV behavior further distinguishes between "positive" and "negative" phenomena in terms of their effects on students. Human communication integrates verbal and nonverbal dimensions. "NV behavior" includes all expressive aspects that have no verbal content, words, or spoken and/or written language. It includes visual and auditory aspects-facial expressions, gestures , body language, postures, movement, voice and vocal clues (without verbal content), attire, physical appearance, and also behavioral patterns in interpersonal interaction (e.g., personal space, touching, etc.) and characteristics of the setting and the environment. We live in the era of the visual and of the NV through our continuous exposure to television and movies. From a young age children learn to understand "NV language ," to decipher implicit codes and to make meaning of social situations from numerous, often very subtle NV nuances. We learn to understand social situations without having to receive verbal explanation, and NV behavior is a rich source of information, whereas verbal behavior can be misleading and deceptive. A case in point is the extremely popular internet chat, which has been exclusively based on written verbal exchanges (until the introduction of full picture chat). A special "NV language"-in the form of a library of NV icons to express emotional states-had to