The non-verbal model
A story of non-verbals
In
1990,
President
George
H.
W.
Bush
came
to
Kansas
City.
He
spent
the
morning
in
one
of
the
city’s
poorest
and
most
violent
neighborhoods,
then
gave
a
speech
to
a
group
of
local
police
officers.
He
tried
to
be
upbeat.
He
failed.
The
homicide
rate
that
year
in
Kansas
City
was
three
times
the
national
average.
It
would
go
up
again
in
1991
and
again
in
1992,
then
once
more
in
1993.
The
homicide
rate
there
was
twenty
times
the national average. The problem was guns.
The
solution
was
to
train
officers
in
the
subtle
art
of
spotting
concealed
weapons.
The
impetus
came
from
a
New
York
City
police
officer
named
Robert
T.
Gallagher,
who
in
eighteen
years
on
the
force
had
disarmed
an
astonishing
1,200
people.
Gallagher
had
elaborate
theories,
worked
out
over
many
years:
street
criminals
overwhelmingly
put
their
guns
in
their
waistbands
(on
the
left
side,
in
the
case
of
a
right-hander),
causing
a
subtle
but
discernible
hitch
in
their
stride.
The
leg
on
the
gun
side
takes
a
shorter
step
than
the
leg
on
the
nongun
side,
and
the
corresponding
arm
follows
a
similarly
constrained
trajectory.
When
stepping
off
curbs
or
getting
out
of
a
car,
Gallagher
believed,
gun
carriers
invariably
glance
toward
their
weapons
or
unconsciously
adjust
them.
(Malcolm
Gladwell,
Talking
to
Strangers
(Sept. 2019)
Robert Gallagher was an adept observer of non-verbals.
In
the
past
the
teacher
was
often
a
figure
of
authority,
like
a
cop,
who
controlled
the
class
by
playing
on
feelings
of
guilt
or
threatening
pupils
into
submission.
As
a
short-term
discipline
this
type
of
sentimental
blackmail
will
work
quite
adequately.
However,
in
the
long
run
these
methods
will
erode
the
very
self
-respect
educators
propose
to
install
in
their
pupils.
The
power
to
impose
your
will
by
threat
or
shame
is,
in
the
end,
not
useful
for
educating
responsible
citizens.
We
are
obliged
to
act
out
new
patterns
of
discipline
which
will
lead
to
self-control
and
not
simply
obedience.
Rather
than
using
the
influence
of
power
we
need
to
use
the
power
of
influence.
This
is
what
Robert
Gallagher
did
in
Kansas
City.
Teachers
can
do
it
through
non-
verbal management.
Manangement is not discipline.
It is preventative discipline
.
(V)isual
(A)uditory
(K)inaesthetic
(B)reathing
VAK/B model
The non-verbal management model
consists of 4 sensory behaviours
:
(V)isual
This
includes
what you, the teacher, can observe in the
classroom: student behaviours, dress codes and
presentation materials.
It also comprises what your pupils can see: peer
behaviour, teacher's body language and visual displays.
(A)uditory
This consists of the ambient noises in the classroom, the
tones and pitches of voice you use to direct the lesson
and extends to background music to influence group
behaviour.
From the learners' point of view it covers how your
group interprets how you use your voice, their
classmates' volume and tones and classroom noises.
(K)inaesthetic
This deals with how you control your body movements
to influence group conduct and how the class group
reacts behaviourally.
(B)reathing
This refers to the rhythm and depth of both the
teachers' and learners' breathing patterns. These are
often observable only indirectly, through watching their
behaviour and calibrating their voice tones.
Breathing is the most faithful indicator of how group
interaction is evolving.