Non-verbal Sensitivity in the Classroom

lectureCollegiate service-learning programs frequently send undergraduate volunteers to teach in community classrooms. While these programs train volunteers in logistical requirements and safety procedures, and sometimes even assist with lesson-planning, rarely (if ever) do they train volunteers in classroom practices — that is, how to negotiate the transactive process of teaching dynamic learners.

Formative research with the University of Southern California (USC)’s service-learning program, the Joint Educational Project (JEP), suggests that this training shortfall increases the likelihood that volunteer teachers will fail to leverage “teachable moments” (Havighurst, 1952). According to Pacifi and Garrison (2004), teachable moments occur when space opens for students to meaningfully connect with their studies. Because students better recall lessons that engage their emotions (Immordino-Yang & Damasio, 2007; Meyer & Turner, 2006) and strike them as relevant (Lave, 1996), and teachable moment-related learning does both, it is important to make the most of each teachable moment. Leveraging teachable moments requires teachers to be “completely present” and, with their students, “creatively explore imaginary possibilities together” (Pacifici & Garrison, 2004, p. 126).

Being completely present suggests a teacher’s attunement to the activity and energy in the classroom; such a teacher would notice, for example, various students’ non-verbal communication and engagement levels. To leverage teachable moments, this teacher also would correctly interpret these signals in order to detect when and where spaces open for meaningful educational connection. Finally, this teacher would have to feel sufficient self-efficacy in improvisation to abandon a pre-formulated lesson plan and extemporaneously, creatively explore imaginary possibilities with the student(s) in question.

This presentation will present results from the next phase of formative research, specifically survey data, classroom observations, and one-on-one interviews that illuminate JEP teachers’ non-verbal sensitivity, recognition of students’ signals, modes of response, and encounters with teachable moments. It also will outline the following phases in this dissertation project: 1) designing a media-rich, online module via BadgeStack to train JEP teachers in both sensitivity to non-verbal communication and proficiency in improvisation; 2) piloting the module with experimental and control groups during Fall 2013; and 3) analyzing outcomes.

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