How teachers respond to children's eye gaze

This digest found in

Assessment for Learning
Thinking skills

Authors

Doherty-Sneddon, G. and Phelps, F. G.

Publisher

Educational Psychology Vol.27, No. 1, February 2007, pp. 93-109

[Original title: Teachers' responses to Children's Eye Gaze]

Introduction

Gaze aversion (GA) is a potentially useful cue during teaching and learning interactions. It can indicate that a child is finding it difficult to find an answer. It can also mean that a child is concentrating on thinking of an answer. If teachers think GA only signals that the child is finding it difficult to think of an answer, they are more likely to interrupt the child's thinking time by offering the child more help. If however, they see GA as a sign of active engagement with difficult material, they are more likely to wait and see if the child can come up with something upon which to build further learning.

Given the potential utility of GA as an educational tool, the researchers set out to investigate whether teachers detected children's gaze behaviours and, if so, how they interpreted them. They found that teachers were aware of children averting their eyes but took it to mean different things. The study signposts a clear link to assessment for learning approaches in which the time teachers allow children before giving an answer (wait time) is critical. Being able to distinguish between the different possible reasons for children averting their gaze may also help teachers decide what sort of help to give children when they interrupt their thinking to support their learning.

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Research Home Themes \| Find digests \| About the digests resources glossary researchers contact TRIPS Introduction What do we know about eye gaze? How did teachers respond to pupil's gaze aversion (GA) in observed pupil-teacher interactions? How aware were teachers of pupils' eye gaze behaviour and how did they interpret it? How was the study carried out? What are the implications? Where can I find more? Send us your feedback Collated digests To find out more about collated digests click here Get Word Reader How teachers respond to children's eye gaze This digest found in Assessment for Learning Thinking skills Send to a friend Word doc 50KB Printer friendly Collate for later Authors Doherty-Sneddon, G. and Phelps, F. G. Publisher Educational Psychology Vol.27, No. 1, February 2007, pp. 93-109 [Original title: Teachers' responses to Children's Eye Gaze] Introduction Gaze aversion (GA) is a potentially useful cue during teaching and learning interactions. It can indicate that a child is finding it difficult to find an answer. It can also mean that a child is concentrating on thinking of an answer. If teachers think GA only signals that the child is finding it difficult to think of an answer, they are more likely to interrupt the child's thinking time by offering the child more help. If however, they see GA as a sign of active engagement with difficult material, they are more likely to wait and see if the child can come up with something upon which to build further learning. Given the potential utility of GA as an educational tool, the researchers set out to investigate whether teachers detected children's gaze behaviours and, if so, how they interpreted them. They found that teachers were aware of children averting their eyes but took it to mean different things. The study signposts a clear link to assessment for learning approaches in which the time teachers allow children before giving an answer (wait time) is critical. Being able to distinguish between the different possible reasons for children averting their gaze may also help teachers decide what sort of help to give children when they interrupt their thinking to support their learning.