Teachers up-regulating positive facial expressivity during teaching, now supported by evidence that teachers emotionally benefit from student reciprocation of joy expressions¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 5 claims (5 for) · 1 study (1 associational), q3 · 1 of 1 report an effect size · 5 claims rest on one study

Description¶

The article discusses existing recommendations that teachers should work on their positive expressiveness and enthusiasm during teaching, noting there is "consistent, cross-culturally universal evidence that displayed enthusiasm attracts student attention, boosts motivation, joy and engagement". The present study adds new support: if teacher joy expressions are systematically reciprocated by students and teachers emotionally benefit from such joy mimicry, then recommendations for teachers to up-regulate their positive expressivity receive new compelling support. The finding that instructors' session joy correlated with mimicry quantity (r = 0.82) suggests teachers seem to emotionally benefit from joint episodes of positive expression in class.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• The emotion expression should be authentic rather than executed only on a surface level, as the article warns against potential negative effects of such emotional labor if not authentic.

Constraints¶

• The article notes voices warning against potential negative effects of emotional labor in the classroom if the expression is not authentic and executed only on a surface level.

Target Learners¶

• university instructors
• teachers in higher education

Target Learning Goals¶

• teacher emotional well-being and enjoyment of teaching
• student joy and engagement during instruction

Affordances¶

• Facial Mimicry Bottom Up Contagion Mechanism

Claims¶

• Instructors' and students' facial expressions of joy cross-recurred substantially above chance during a critical time window of about -2 to +3 seconds relative to instructors' expressions [+W]
• Facially expressed joy during class correlated positively with post-session self-reported session joy for both students and instructors, though the instructor correlation did not reach significance [+W]
• Instructors' post-session self-reported joy correlated positively with class-average instructor–student joy mimicry, but students' self-reported joy did not [+W]
• Instructor-led facial joy mimicry predominated: 58% of dyads were instructor-led and the critical lag window's midpoint was around +500 msec after the instructor's expression [+W]
• Instructor–student joy mimicry was predominantly dyad-specific: only 16.4% of variance in the mimicry index was attributable to instructors [+W]

Related Strategies¶

• Teachers displaying enthusiasm during instruction to foster student enjoyment

Examples¶

-

Key Sources¶

• Frenzel, A. C., Dindar, M., Pekrun, R., Reck, C., & Marx, A. K. G. (2024). Joy is reciprocally transmitted between teachers and students: Evidence on facial mimicry in the classroom. Learning and Instruction, 91, 101896. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2024.101896