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VERBAL AND NON‐VERBAL COMMUNICATION IN TEACHING: A STUDY OF TRAINEE P.E. TEACHERS IN THE GYMNASIUM
Author(s) -
FOX CYNTHIA,
POPPLETON PAM
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
british journal of educational psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.557
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 2044-8279
pISSN - 0007-0998
DOI - 10.1111/j.2044-8279.1983.tb02540.x
Subject(s) - psychology , context (archaeology) , observational study , nonverbal communication , personality , developmental psychology , mathematics education , social psychology , statistics , paleontology , mathematics , biology
S ummary . Argyle and Kendon's (1967) model of social skills provided the framework for examining the relationship between verbal and non‐verbal aspects of the performance of trainee teachers in the particular context of the school gymnasium. Seventy‐seven female student teachers at a specialist PE college were observed during teaching practice by observers who had been trained to use a schedule containing 23 items grouped into four major categories of the verbal and non‐verbal behaviours shown by teachers and pupils. Factor analysis of the observational data produced eight oblique factors summarising the relationship between items. Cluster analysis of the same process variables identified four stable lesson “styles” which could be ordered along a dimension of pupil involvement. Observational data were also obtained on three major sets of context variables. These, along with personality measures and teaching practice ratings were used to discriminate between the clusters. The results are interpreted to reveal within this context ( a ) particular associations of verbal and non‐verbal elements in communicative acts, ( b ) the components of lesson styles relative to pupil responsiveness and ( c ) the relative importance of the standing features of student performance as compared to the dynamic features as these relate to the modifiability of teaching.