La variación de la tortura (como indicación)

The literature refers to the varying speeds of „readings‟ of others and responses to them and contains references to activities in short periods of time. For example, Eraut noted that “when time is extremely short, decisions have to be rapid and the scope for reflection is extremely limited” (1994, p. 145) and Joslyn and Hunt remarked that “the ability to make decisions within a few seconds to a couple of minutes is the hallmark of many applied

situations” (1998, p. 16). Scientific studies have found that “the human ear or eye are capable of receiving, respectively, 10,000 and 4 million „bits‟ of information per second, but that the person (the central nervous system) is not capable of utilising more than about 50 „bits‟ of information per second. Hence, well over 99 per cent of the information contained in the stimuli reaching the eye or ear does not enter directly into cognition” (Stewart et al, 1979, p. 4). According to Velman‟s research, “consciousness of input does not arise until at least 200 milliseconds after stimuli arrive at the cortical

surface” (1990, p. 1). Despite this delay, apparently information is being received, processed and decisions are made before consciousness occurs. He confirms this: “that consciousness of input, preceded by a period of preconscious processing, is supported by cognitive research – and a common estimate of preconscious processing time is in the order of 250 msec” (ibid, p. 2). Velman also noted that “the preconscious processing of stimuli outside the focus of attention includes the analysis of meaning” (ibid, p. 3). Ambady et al (2000, p. 254) referred to the unintentionally rapid and routine processes associated with perception, cognition and behaviour. Apparently, “effortless attention is the rule” (James, 1983, p. 427). These findings support the notion of practitioners sensing and processing information, but not always consciously, in the first moment.

The term „thin-slicing‟ (Ambady et al, 2000; Ambady et al, 2006) helps understand the automatic perceptions and judgements leading to immediate communication either verbally or through actions and events. Sunnafrank and Ramirez noted the immediacy of “decisions and influences [being] apparent after brief first encounters” (2004, p. 2). There is a populist view that that “within the first three seconds of a new encounter, you are evaluated…even if it is just a glance. People appraise your visual and behavioral appearance from head to toe. They observe your demeanor, mannerisms, and body language and even assess your grooming and accessories – watch, handbag, and briefcase. This first impression process occurs in every new situation. Within the first few seconds, people pass judgment on you – looking for common surface clues” (Sterling, 2004, p. 1). Goleman extended the period and explained that people can “sense

General views from Stake that teachers‟ decisions will be made mostly from “moment to moment” (1995, p. 93) and from Baringer and McCroskey (2000, p. 179) who claimed “teachers continuously make judgements”, fit well with findings from neuroscientific and psychological studies. In relation to the teaching context, Fleming asserted that “the teacher is engaged upon continuous assessment of the qualities of the members of the school

community. It is, however, probably true to say that he is more concerned in the first place with the estimation of brightness or intelligence than with the diagnosis of personality or the interpretation of conduct” (1959, p. 4). Shavelson and Stern (1981) reported that instructional decisions are made about students every two to three minutes, and Clark and Peterson‟s (1986, p. 274) research indicated that, “on the average, teachers make one

interactive decision every 2 minutes”. Information about the timing of decisions, other than instructional and interactive, has not been provided in the literature. Generally, the disagreement within the literature about the timing and duration of the first moment activities makes the reliability of any analysis problematic.

Nevertheless, such literature should assist with understanding the possibilities for activities during the moment of first encounter.

4.7 Summary of chapter

To provide a background for answering Research Question 2, Chapter Four introduced a seemingly endless range of topics. Pooled together, these topics indicate the potential complexity of activities occurring within a practitioner‟s performance in the moment of first encounter. Extensive

discussions of each topic over recent decades in the literature include single and multiple strand focuses. These discussions provide information

sometimes with a generic application to all people, at other times with specific application to teachers generally. Very occasionally, these have focused on people like the practitioners who are the subject of this study. In so doing, the investigations by others have illuminated the challenge to specify exactly how practitioners proceed in the moment of first encounter.

That the education literature mostly focuses on primary and secondary school teachers with an attention most often to students as individuals and less frequently in groups, and seldom reflects the situation with adult

practitioners working with new groups of adult learners, is not to say that the findings may not be transferable to the practitioners that are the focus of this study. However more research on many aspects is needed before

concluding transferability is possible.

Based on the literature, the idiosyncrasies of the group of learners in the classroom environment lead practitioners to undertake a bundle of interconnected activities. The conglomeration of research indirectly

acknowledges practitioners will sense, respond and reflect in the moment of first encounter, in some manner and possibly in definable stages.

The literature offers patterns in the work of teachers, which are generalised over the time of an entire class, which may last for hours or months.

However, coverage in the literature detailing how practitioners proceed and the facets comprising all their individual activities, in the moment of first encounter with a new group of adult learners as the class starts, is absent. The lack of evidence of rigorous examination of practitioners‟ practices,

pinpoints a need to provide authorative and credible research, despite the recognisable difficulty of obtaining reliable and panoptic data on the integrated practice of practitioners‟ actions.

The next chapter presents the literature associated with the third and final research question:

3 How can practitioners‟ activities in the moment of first encounter be conceptualised?

5.0 Literature supporting Research Question 3

5.1 Introduction

Chapter Five focuses on literature relevant to Research Question 3: How can practitioners‟ activities in the moment of first encounter be conceptualised?

Firstly, this chapter introduces literature that provides reasons for general teacher activity in classrooms, and then it presents a range of conceptual models that may help to understand the situation in relation to the research question, before concluding with a synthesis of the literature. The research variously reflects both positive and negative approaches to undertaking various activities. The intention is to provide touchstones for future discussion of the findings from this study in Chapter Nine, so that

understanding the messy terrain of the interactive practice of teaching (Ball, 1994), in practitioners‟ moments of first encounter with a new class group, is somewhat easier.