The importance of NVC Simonds and Cooper (2011, pp.120 – 122) outline six functions of including non-verbal communication within the classroom:
Self-presentation – Refers to the appearance of the teacher and how the students perceive them based on their presence. What teachers wear has the ability to influence authority, credibility and our perceived knowledge by the student population. Our posture and body language can also contribute to these perceptions students have of educators.
Establishing rules – When a student is behaving inappropriately, facial expressions, body language, gestures and eye contact can all be used to inform the student that their actions are unacceptable and will not be tolerated. For example, the teacher can gaze at a student in a certain way if they are talking when they should be listening and the student will likely pick up on this and stop.
Feedback – It is not important to verbalise ‘great work’ to every single student each day, but rather a smile, pat on the back, thumbs up or a head nod will do the trick to send that message across.
Immediacy – Students need to feel like they can approach the teacher at any time and this is easy to achieve. Non-verbal immediacy is smiling and maintaining eye contact in order for the children to feel accepted and supported (Richmond 2002; Simonds and Cooper 2011). An educator who is able to create a warm and inviting environment in the classroom will create a safe environment for students to learn, make mistakes and develop.
Regulating – The teacher holds the power in the classroom by dictating who speaks, when and for how long using non-verbal cues. This can be seen with hand gestures, where to teacher points to the student they wish to hear a response from.
Classroom control – Non-verbal communication not only encourages preferable behaviour but can also control undesirable behaviour. For example a stern glance can encourage good behaviour and control the class. If a child is being disruptive or not on task, a gentle tap on an empty desk, along with eye contact is enough to signal to the student to move somewhere else and make good choices. Controlling the classroom can at times be a challenging task, but those educators who can master the skills of body language can achieve positive outcomes.
