Teachers can use friendly eye contact to convey communion and encourage reciprocal gaze interaction during group work¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 3 claims (2 for, 1 mixed) · 2 studies (1 review, 1 associational), q2 · 1 of 2 report an effect size · 3 claims rest on one study

Description¶

Based on their case study, the authors recommend that teachers use nonverbal eye contact deliberately during small-group scaffolding. They state that "Through behaviors of communion, the teachers can capture students' attention" and that "With friendly eye contacts, the teachers can convey communion and give the agency to the engaged students". Especially simultaneous high communion and modest agency is described as teacher behavior that encourages students' reciprocal eye contact interaction. Teachers are also advised to acknowledge students' gaze initiatives and gaze aversion as nonverbal messages relevant to the teacher-student relationship.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Teachers must be able to observe and interpret students' momentary gaze direction or aversion during instruction interactions.

Constraints¶

• The recommendation derives from a small case study of three teachers; the article states its results are not necessarily generalizable to other contexts.

Target Learners¶

• Secondary school students working in small groups

Target Learning Goals¶

• Building fruitful teacher-student relationships and encouraging student participation and interaction during collaborative problem solving

Affordances¶

• Interpersonal Theory Micro Level Gaze

Claims¶

• Students gaze at their teacher's face more often and with longer durations during high teacher communion during small-group problem solving [+W]
• The relation between eye contact and teacher interpersonal behavior differed between teachers: Joanne's agency effect was opposite and Lily's communion effect was non-significant [~W]
• Teachers and students use gaze to express agency and communion during classroom problem-solving [+W]

Related Strategies¶

Examples¶

-

Key Sources¶

• Haataja, E., Salonen, V., Laine, A., Toivanen, M., & Hannula, M. S. (2021). The Relation Between Teacher-Student Eye Contact and Teachers' Interpersonal Behavior During Group Work: a Multiple-Person Gaze-Tracking Case Study in Secondary Mathematics Education. Educational Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-020-09538-w