Effective/efficacious nonverbal communication in the classroom: The perception of the nursing lecturer

Abstract

This exploratory, descriptive, qualitative and field study aimed to investigate the nursing lecturers’ perception of what effective and efficacious nonverbal communication in the classroom is. The study was undertaken in three campuses of a private university in São Paulo, and involved the filming of 11 lecturers, totaling 220 minutes, with a later interview, which was also recorded. As results, two categories appeared: The vision of oneself, with the subcategories Surprise about oneself, Recognizing oneself positively, and Recognizing oneself negatively; and Appropriate nonverbal communication for lecturers, with the subcategories: Giving feedback to the student, Complementing the verbal communication, and Not contradicting the verbal communication. We conclude that the majority of the nonverbal signals emitted by the lecturers was perceived as appropriate, although the need for training in order to identify the nonverbal signs in all their dimensions was perceived.