Abstract:

Nonverbal communication is an integral element of classroom teachers’ pedagogy. Nonverbal communication is conceptualized as “…human communication events that transcend spoken or written words” (Knapp & Hall, 2010, p. 24). Birdwhistle (1970) estimates that as much as 65 percent of the meaning of our messages is conveyed through our nonverbal communication. Whether accompanying, extending, or replacing the verbal, nonverbal communication carries the potential to dramatically influence the classroom environment. Educators’ nonverbal communicative behaviors have the capacity to build positive, inclusive, and supportive spaces for their students’ learning. Conversely, and unfortunately, teachers’ classroom communicative behaviors may establish a negative learning climate of discomfort, marginalization, and disconfirmation. As partner to and extension of verbal communication, nonverbal communication holds the potential to enhance perceived instructor immediacy (by self and others) in the classroom as well as engender an environment in which students understand themselves as individuals who matter within an responsible, engaged, and caring learning community.

In this paper, I explore how and why classroom instructors’ nonverbal communication behaviors may be understood as important factors for reducing students’ self-doubts about their place in the learning environment while concomitantly developing positive learning spaces for students.

References:
[1] Birdwhistle, R. (1970). Kinesics and context. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.
[2] Knapp, M.L., & Hall, J.A. (2010). Nonverbal communication in human interactions (7th ed.). Belmont, CA: Thompson Wadsworth.

Keywords:

Nonverbal communication, pedagogy, interpersonal communication, classroom environment, immediacy, mattering, proxemics, approach-avoidance.