La “anómala” persistencia

This section lists many specific activities as a means to create an awareness of the diversity of activities that may impact on practitioners in their moments of first encounter. Both physical from non-physical activities are considered, but distinguishing the two types presents challenges because of their interconnected nature. For example, the literature indicates that the internal activities of perception, thinking and decision-making are connected in various ways to externally visible actions as well as to internal physical

processes. Also, while physical movements may be externally visible or internal and invisible, such movements will be the result of either or both physical and psychological bases.

There is a body of literature concerning teachers‟ activities that are physical and visible to the naked eye, related to the matters such as the

characteristics of adult learners (Long, 1991; Cross, 1982), classroom events and glancing at classes (King & Barry, 1993). Practitioners can be seen to use their eyes and make eye contact (Argyle & Dean, 1973), and to a lesser extent their other senses, to take in new data. But the process of scanning also encompasses critical examination or judgement, perception, and discernment, all of which are not visible despite being activities that are rooted in physical processes. Piaget explains that “perception cannot be reduced to a scanning of sensory data, but consists of a process or organisation foreshadowing intelligence and increasingly influenced by its progress” (Piaget, 1970, p. 57). Ultimately, the majority of practitioners‟ activities in the moment of first encounter are not visible. Therefore, research derived from neuroscience and cognitive psychology often underpins the reportage in the education field.

Many non-visible physical processes are associated with brain activity and neuroscience (Dennett & Kinsbourne; 1992); cognitive science (Thagard, 2004); information-processing following computer or other models and the cognitive processes of receiving, storing, retrieving, transforming, and transmitting information (Gobet & Simon, 2000; McInerney & McInerney, 1998; Merriam & Caffarella, 1991); and the active processes of working memory (Gagne et al, 1993). A body of research has reported on the way in which people become coders and decoders of messages received from

others (Ambady et al, 2000). The literature of Lewicki and Czyzewska (1992), and Clifford and Bull (1978) are examples of those who have

recognised that schema can assist with their automatic, unconscious coding or organization of incoming physiological or psychological stimuli.

United with these processes are various consequences and states of mind; for example, consciousness including degrees of being unconscious and non-conscious, or engaging in direct conscious processing (Lewicki & Czyzewska, 1992; Banaji et al, 1997; Velmans, 1990; Alexandersson, 1994; Reingold & Merikle, 1988). A number of authors have remarked on the flexibility inherent in teacher‟s processes especially decision-making (Hunt, 2007), and Kansanen asserted that “in practice, a teachers‟ work is constant decision making. There s/he must take stands and evaluate all the time what s/he is doing. It may be unconscious. Decision-making is generally selecting between different alternatives. The selecting itself is conscious, but the level of consciousness may differ from clearly motivated decisions to almost unconscious selection” (1995, p. 89). The popular writer Gladwell, who was frequently referred to by participants during the research for this thesis, refers to this as “the power of the "adaptive unconscious” (2005, p. 11). That is, whether or not decisions are made consciously, a practitioner involuntarily may change their behaviour in reaction to an encountered situation.

Over past decades, a constellation of nonverbal behaviours and cues (Archer & Akert, 1984; Woolfolk & Brooks, 1983) have provided assistance with interpreting nonverbal attitude communication (Beisler et al, 1993; Mehrabian, 1981; Mehrabian, 1967; Birdwhistell, 1970) and making judgements about other aspects of a person. Knapp (1984) suggested categories of these include environmental factors, proxemics, kinesics,

touching behaviour, paralanguage, physical characteristics. Smith (1984) added artefacts, that accompany a person, as providing non-verbal cues. This list of nonverbal communication signals indicates that the initial process is complex, and that all of these may be impacting on practitioners in their moment of first encounter with a new group of adult learners. Related research considers sensing the raw material of others (Brooks & Emmert, 1980) and active surveillance (Beynon, 1985). In addition, the specific experiences of awareness and observation of other people via multi-sensory stimulation including visual stimuli (Brown, 2005; Ward, 2002; Clark, 2002; Clark, 1999; Knapp, 1978) include gaze and a focus on “the face as a multi- message system” (Knapp, 1980, p. 178). Collectively, nonverbal

communications allow for global and intuitive level of judgements (Clark & Peterson, 1986).

People engage in selective perception (Clark & Peterson, 1986; Ames, 1983; From, 1971; From, 1971; Heider, 1958). In the role of teachers, there is an immediate composing of sensations as signs are noticed, leading to perceptions that perform the function of signalling (Piaget, 1970). Using observations, people make inferences (Jones & Thibaut, 1958; Bruner et al, 1958) and attribute various characteristics (Baer, 1983; Jones & Davis, 1965). The many evaluations, judgements, and inferences regarding traits, attitudes (Jones & Harris, 1967), and personalities (Hampson, 1984) of others are often made spontaneously, nonconsciously, and from limited behavioural information (Ambady et al, 2000). In addition, stereotypes are employed (Donadio, 2002; Greenwald et al, 2000; Stewart et al, 1979) as people summarise the behaviour of others by applying labels to them

(Gahagan, 1975). Simultaneously, the generation of abstract generalizations (Serafini, 2003) and interpretations also constitute the invisible physical

processes. People think (Day, 2003; Henderson, 2003; Marton, 1994; Engestrom, 1994; Calderhead, 1987) including embracing some degree of emotional thinking (Day, 2007; Helsing, 2006; Paterson & Graham, 2000; Hargreaves, 1998). They activate thin-slice thinking (Drury & Darling, 2007; Winerman, 2005) and create mental models (Argyris & Schon, 1974). All of these activities may be pivotal to understanding practitioners‟ activities in the moment of first encounter.

Added to these factors is the impact of the visible and non-visible processes of interacting with others and interpersonal relationships (Argyle, 1983; Villard & Whipple, 1976; Cook, 1971; Argyle, 1969; Tagiuri & Petrullo, 1958). The interaction is both a cause and a consequence of cognitive activity and, as such, it has the capacity to compound the intertwining complexity of the moment of first encounter. Ambady et al suggests that “given the limited conditions under which social inference and correction occur, initial judgements may determine the lion‟s share of our ultimate perceptions, evaluations, and theories about those with whom we interact with face to face” (2000, p. 255). The practices associated with social cognition and interaction, examined in the literature (Banaji et al, 1997; Forgas, 1985; Mower White, 1982; Argyle, 1969; Sherif & Sherif, 1965), increase the volume of activities in which practitioners might engage during the moment of first encounter.

Other studies have indicated that teachers process exemplars (Abelson et al, 1998) which assist them with differentiating pupils (Beynon, 1985). It allows them to attend to difference, discrepancies and anomalies. For example, Corno (1981) argued that effective teachers are able to distinguish important information during interactive teaching. In particular, they noted that the

observation of cues relating to student behaviours and the decision as to whether these are acceptable is connected to the decisions that teachers make in relation to how to proceed with the class. Doyle suggested that teachers who are successful classroom managers quickly recognise classroom misbehaviour “by specialising in discrepancies” (1979, p. 63) so they can intervene early.

Literature reporting on perceptions of groups includes that by Oldenburger who reported “teachers structure their cognitions of pupils and/or attributes by grouping” (1986, p. 186). In addition, Fleming explained that teachers‟ “impressions are at first of the group as a whole” (1958, p. 10), and Goodlad (1984) and Rosenholtz (1989) found teachers most frequently relate to the class as a whole. Paterson and Graham explained that, “in an inclusive classroom, however, the teacher could expect to have a diverse range of students, who may not reasonably be considered as a single homogeneous group. At an individual level, despite recognizing the critical role of the teacher in this process, we do not know how these demands are prioritised, integrated with existing knowledge, and incorporated into instructional practice” (2000, p. 2). Abelson et al referred to „entitive‟ groups, which are groups that contain members that “look alike, share spatial proximity, and move through time and space together” (1998, p. 246), and they found that “participants see groups as more combative and dangerous when they are more entitive” (1998, p.247). Regardless of whether the group of adult learners facing the practitioner in the moment of first encounter is diverse or homogeneous, acquiring further information about groups should assist with understanding how and why practitioners proceed in the moment of first encounter.

This large catalogue of potential activities are listed here in recognition of the possibility that a diversity of such factors will impinge on and are operational within practitioners in encounter with a new group of adult learners.

However, the literature does not relate the specific nature of any impact of these on practitioners in the moment of first encounter. While this literature provides ways to understand the value of various factors within the general population and sometimes generally within the teaching context, clearly these factors need to be examined for relevance to this study. The findings presented in Chapter Eight will work with this material.