Pedagogy Crash Course: Fundamentals of #ImmediacyAndLearning

 Have you, as a student, ever found yourself daydreaming during class because the instructor digressed so far from the content that it felt as if you were a member of an audience for a "vent session"? Or, better yet, have you ever survived the excruciating pain of hearing “crickets chirp” because an instructor’s joke fell flat?

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On the other hand, while teaching, have you observed the awkward nonverbal divergence of a classroom resulting from a question you posed (i.e. students’ avoidance of eye contact or participation in discussion)?

As undesirable as such instances are, they do (unfortunately) occur and it is our responsibility as educators to understand what actions we can take to prevent future occurrences. One specific aspect of the teacher-student relationship that can attribute to successful affective and cognitive learning is

Immediacy- (verbal and nonverbal) behaviors that reduce the                            psychological distance between teacher and students (Mehrabian, 1971).

In order to fully comprehend how an educator may work to create and improve the relationship of “psychological closeness” with students it is important to be able to identify immediate behaviors and understand how these behaviors effect student perception and engagement.

According to Cooper and Simonds (2007), immediate teachers are perceived as “warm and relaxed, approachable, friendly, open, and responsive to student needs” (p. 33). An immediate teacher engages in certain behaviors which may include things like: smiling, making eye contact, use of inclusive pronouns such as “we” and “our”, memorizing and addressing students’ by their names, use of appropriate self-disclosure and humor, and praising students’ hard work/accomplishments/efforts. (These all endorse the belief that teaching is “heart work”). An immediate teacher finds a way to balance affect and content-learning in order to create a supportive classroom climate. Once established, this supportive climate allows students to focus less on whether or not they are going to appease a teacher’s emotional/social acceptance and more on the actual content and learning objectives for the course.

In contrast, a “nonimmediate teacher is perceived by students as being cold, distant, and unfriendly” (Cooper & Simonds, 2007, p.33).

Click here to view an example of a nonimmediate teacher.




The practice of immediacy behaviors impact student engagement by promoting both student motivation and active learning.

Barkley defines motivation as, “a theoretical construct to explain the reason or reasons we engage in a particular behavior.” (2010, p. 9). In order to promote students to be learning-oriented, or “motivated by the attainment of knowledge”, teachers can practice immediate behaviors that instill enthusiasm about course content and allow students to believe that they are capable of succeeding in the classroom. Students need to feel that what they are learning is applicable to their self-improvement and that the effort they put forth is worthwhile. When a teacher uses examples that connect the course content to real-world situations that students can relate to, students are better able to appreciate the content’s value. Therefore, they are more likely to be engaged in learning. In addition, the use of inclusive pronouns when addressing the classroom (such as “our” and “we”), aid in the establishment of a “learning community”, in which students feel a sense of belonging and feel comfortable contributing to classroom discussion. (Barkley, 2010, p. 27).

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The second fundamental factor of student engagement, active learning, refers to an active mind that makes information or a concept one’s own by examining, questioning, and relating new ideas to old. (Barkley, 2010, p.17). In order for a student to function as an active learner it is of utmost importance that the teacher promotes students’ affective feelings toward the course content and information. Because “emotions usually have a higher priority than cognitive processing for commanding our attention” (Barkley, 2010), teachers must remain cognizant of student behavior and maintain an emotionally supportive classroom climate. Examples of immediate behaviors that help students establish and maintain positive feelings about their learning include praise for effort and accomplishments, expressed appreciation for discussion participation and verbal reminders that you support their learning and success
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In sum, the teacher who displays a positive, warm, and friendly attitude (immediacy) toward students not only increases his or her students’ cognitive learning, but also their positive feelings about learning (affective learning).

I look forward to hearing my fellow educators’ stories and responses regarding to the practice of immediacy!
If you would like further information about how immediacy impacts your students’ learning or more specific examples, please feel free to include those inquires in your response!

-Lauren Carle

#ImmediacyAndLearning

References

Barkley, E. F. (2010). Student Engagement Techniques: A Handbook for College Faculty. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Cooper, P.J., & Simonds, C.J. (2007). Communication for the classroom teacher (8th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

Mehrabian, A. (1971). Silent Messages. Belmont, CA:  Wadsworth.