3.1 Non-verbal cues
Non-verbal cues are an integral part of communication and paying attention to such cues is important for active listening to be effective. As an educator you can gain a great deal of information about your learners through observing their body language. Learners may sometimes communicate their mental health needs through body language, rather than words.
Non-verbal cues can be identified through observing and evaluating the following:
- Are facial expressions animated or static?
- What are facial expressions saying?
- Is eye contact being made and maintained?
- Is the learner’s posture upright or collapsed, tense or relaxed?
- Has there been a deterioration in clothing appearance and/or personal grooming?
- What gestures is the learner making?
Non-verbal cues may be early identifiers of changes in a learner’s behaviour and can be observed over time, to help you decide whether, and when, to initiate a conversation about a learner’s mental health. Your observations can inform the questions you ask and can help you to better understand the learner and their needs.
Activity _unit4.4.1 Activity 3 Silent viewing
Switch on a TV drama or soap opera, or watch a film, but mute the volume. Try to ascertain what the characters are communicating just by observing their non-verbal cues, such as gestures and facial expressions. Of course, you are observing actors here, which is not the same as in an educational setting, but your observation skills can still be transferred to a learning environment.
Discussion
Non-verbal cues can indicate levels of stress, distress or ease and it is useful to see if they match what is being said. For example, learners may say that they are ‘fine’ but if they are unconsciously tensing their fists, wringing their hands or distractedly tapping their feet, these signs may indicate underlying tension and suggest that all is not well.
Effective active listening skills also necessitate self-awareness of your own body language as this can communicate both positive and negative messages to learners that you are trying to support. Conscious awareness of proximity to your learners, for example, can be indicative of the level of trust between you. However, levels of comfortable proximity can vary. For some, close proximity may be expected, accepted and perceived as supportive. For others, such as learners who experience specific learning difficulties and identify as neurodiverse, close proximity, and the making and sustaining of eye contact, may be uncomfortable. In these situations, individuals may prefer more distance and personal space and less exposure to direct gaze.
It is important to acknowledge that non-verbal cues may be influenced by many factors, including disability, social norms, and cultural preferences as well as poor mental health. It can be challenging to assess causal influences on non-verbal cues, and intersectionality may hamper your ability to attribute non-verbal cues to learners’ poor mental health. To assist with this, non-verbal cues should be interspersed with verbal cues and dialogue to achieve effective, active communication. This is especially important where education is delivered online, as there may be more limited opportunities to observe non-verbal cues.