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teacher. At the same time, the teacher is adding to the relational bank account.

For reflection:
• What kind of relationships between teachers and students are the best, and how
does the teacher ensure developing these relationships?
• What factors affect the trust in a teacher based on his or her appearance (clothes,
hairstyle, hygiene, etc.)?
• In which classroom situations is “withitness” extra difficult?

Nonverbal Communication
An experienced teacher can meet a new group of students and get everyone’s
attention without, seemingly, doing anything. How can a new teacher—or a student
teacher—adopt this nonverbal communication? Our experience of working with
student teachers indicates that focusing on some aspects of nonverbal communication
is especially rewarding: body posture, movements in the classroom, eye contact,
breathing, vocal variation, elimination of unconscious nonverbal communication,
and avoidance of discrepancy between different parts of the communication. Getting
access to and using these tools is essential to becoming a successful teacher and
leader.
Nonverbal communication can be learned from a theoretical perspective through
studying the literature, from a student’s perspective by studying a teacher in action,
and from a teacher’s perspective when practicing teaching. A combination of all
three perspectives gives a profound understanding of the effects of nonverbal
communication. In a training context, one should be given the opportunity to do
the same part of a lesson several times but with different nonverbal approaches
and receive feedback on the consequences of choosing different types of nonverbal
communication. Filming oneself while teaching and analyzing one’s performance
together with a colleague or a supervisor is a tool that is especially useful.
Using professional and authentic nonverbal communication is crucial. Neither
acting nor using one’s private self is applicable for a successful teacher. One acts and
moves differently at home than he or she does at work, and one needs to adjust the
private self to the professional role as teacher. For example, yawning and stretching
are natural things one does, but being a professional teacher also means holding back
that yawn and stretch. In general, individuals are less distinct in their movements
privately than one ought to be in their profession. Teachers need to analyze and
reflect continuously upon their interaction via nonverbal communication throughout
their professional career to maintain a productive learning environment.

For reflection:
• Why is it that an experienced teacher can meet a new group of students and get
everyone’s attention without, seemingly, doing anything?
• In which situations can it be extra challenging for a teacher to separate the
private self from the professional self?

Body Posture
A teacher with an expansive and open body posture is likely to be recognized as
secure, confident, and trustworthy, while a teacher who tries to hide behind a desk
or behind his or her own arms or who touches the face or neck frequently appears
insecure. According to Laban (1960), whose framework is taught at National Sports

10 The Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin: International Journal for Professional Educators