Abstract:
The ability to identify, understand and interpret non-verbal cues makes communication
among people high quality and successful. In this study, special attention is paid to non verbal communication in the classroom, with emphasis on the non-verbal behaviour of
teachers.
The main purpose of the present study was to examine the role of nonverbal
communication in preschool classroom interactions with a view to looking at how the
adult can develop positive ways of responding to and using nonverbal communication
to avoid frustration on the part of the children and to encourage inclusion and
consequently a safe environment for learning.
To this end, a naturalistic observation was conducted with a group of pre-schoolers
between 2 and 4 years old, and the teachers involved during 6 different classroom
activities over a period of two weeks. The participants for that morning’s observation
therefore included all children in Nsakina M/A kindergarten as well as the teachers who
reported for work in the centre within the period of observation. The findings of the
study showed that teachers and children used nonverbal communication extensively in
their interactions, but there were instances where children’s nonverbal signals were
either not responded to or misinterpreted, leaving children unfulfilled.
Because this study is qualitative, it should be made quantitative and scale up the number
of kindergartens, that way a generalisation can be made on the various nonverbal
communication cues that are used in the kindergarten. From the finding of the study,
the interaction that took place was between teacher to child and child to child. A future
study can focus on parent to teacher interaction, and parent to child interaction on
nonverbal communication cues.
Description:
A DISSERTATION IN THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATION AND
MEDIA STUDIES, FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES, EDUCATION
AND COMMUNICATION, SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF GRADUATE
STUDIES, UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION WINNEBA, IN PARTIAL
FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF THE
MASTER OF ARTS DEGREE IN COMMUNICATION AND MEDIA
STUDIES (COMMUNICATION SKILLS).
DECEMBER, 2018