Emotions and teaching

November 12th, 2005
by Cleve

I always feel silly using emoticons when in chat and email, but this post by BJ Fogg explains why I still do it, regardless. BJ Fogg is the author of Persuasive Technology and an expert on how interfaces can influence behavior. His new project YackPack looks like an extremely cool tool, in addition to being a Good Thing, and it’ll be interesting to see how it fares.

And regarding the power of emotion, Fogg states

We humans are wired to be emotional, and we broadcast these emotions naturally — facial expressions, body movements, and voice inflections. When we know someone’s emotional state, we can interact with them more effectively at home or at work. We can make better decisions about what to say and do. For example, if my neighbor’s face shows tension and her voice is stressed, I know it’s a bad time to ask a favor. Emotions have practical value.

So regardless of which role we occupy with our learners, a key competency for teachers is emotional intelligence. Coupled with what Malcolm Gladwell calls thin-slicing, emotional intelligence allows teachers to make split-second decisions regarding correction, classroom management, and learner motivation that can make the difference between effective learning and tuned-out students.

In fact, let me propose this as a foundation principle for teaching:

The single most important component in your teaching is your emotional connection with your students.

I’ve thought this through for a few minutes and this seems a solid proposition, as long as we maintain the implicit “all other things being equal” clause. In other words, although there are hundreds of variables to address, the most critical single variable in teaching success would be this emotional connection: recognizing and understanding our students’ emotions, and using this communicative connection to direct our classroom decisions (like this).

Thoughts?

No Comments