19. SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIVISM
People working together to construct
meaning
Filters we choose to place over our realities
When information comes into contact with
existing knowledge / experiences
Appreciative Advising (AA) is a social-
constructivist advising philosophy
22. DISARM
Chronemics (are you
on time for the
appointment?)
Proxemics (do you
stand at the doorway
or go up to the
student to greet
them?)
23. DISARM
Appearance & Adornment
(what you’re wearing says a lot
about you)
“Who you are speaks so loudly I
can’t hear what you’re saying.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
24. DISARM
Appearance & Adornment
Attention
Advisors:
Your boss
notices how
you dress
too!
30. DISCOVER & DREAM
Word Choice (open-ended questions)
How are you? Tell me about your day
Do you have any
questions?
What questions do you
have?
Have I answered all of
your questions?
What else can I help with
today?
31. Proactive vs. Reactive
DISCOVER & DREAM
Vocalics (tone, pitch, volume, etc.)
“There’s nothing we
can do”
“I can’t”
“I must”
“If only”
“Let’s look at our
alternatives”
“I choose”
“I prefer”
“I will”
Adapted from Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People program
32. DISCOVER & DREAM
Kinesics & Facial
Expressions (your
body language
should “match” your
message)
Proxemics (face
student, distance
between you)
33. DISCOVER & DREAM
Kinesics & Facial
Expressions (your
body language
should “match” your
message)
Proxemics (face
student, distance
between you)
37. DESIGN
Kinesics & Facial Expressions
Don’t get swept
up in what you’re
doing and forget
about your
expressions,
reactions, etc.
ANGER FEAR DISGUST
SADNESS
HAPPINES
S
SUPRISE
Arin – Welcome. You all are at the “bla bla” presentation….
ARIN – What do you see? Paradigm shifts – we see what we are conditioned to see. What we see is different from what students, co-workers, your supervisor, etc. may see. We are conditioned by our environment
ARIN – What do you see? Paradigm shifts – we see what we are conditioned to see. What we see is different from what students, co-workers, your supervisor, etc. may see. We are conditioned by our environment
ARIN – What do you see? Paradigm shifts – we see what we are conditioned to see. What we see is different from what students, co-workers, your supervisor, etc. may see. We are conditioned by our environment
JOYA - Appearance: includes facial and body type, hair, skin color,
Adornment: physical objects you use to express yourself: clothing, purses, hat, jewelry, briefcase, glasses, suit
By its very name, I think we can all gather for ourselves a basic definition of what is referred to as ‘NonVerbal Communication’ – at its core, simply means NOT INVOLVING WORDS; As basic or as obvious as that might seem, we think it’s worth spending a few minutes to first identify what those different areas of nonverbal communication are – you might find that of these categories, there is one or perhaps there are a few that you have not given much consideration to and you may able to benefit from identifying those areas and devoting some attention to how you are utilizing them
Appearance refers to YOU – your facial and body type, your hair and skin color
Adornment refers to the physical objects a person uses to express themself: items of clothing, accessories such as a purse or hat, and jewelry/piercings, or a pair of glasses.
Use of space / proxemics – Most often referring to a person’s ‘Personal Space’ or their bubble – that amount of space they consider to be private, setting a boundary between themselves and those around them; While a certain amount of closeness can make people feel comfortable and at ease, others might feel too close – or even too far away to connect; *much of this is determined by cultural norms
Use of Touch/Haptics – For the most part in a professional setting, as with our interactions in an advisor/advisee relationship, limited mostly to a handshake if that
Eye Contact & Facial Expressions – ‘the eyes are the windows of the soul’; Studies on eye contact show that contact increases when a person is listening; and gaze is averted when discussing difficult topics or when ashamed, uncertain; Gaze increases when information is needed from another person; Psychologists have found that an estimated 30 muscles in the face are capable of displaying 20,000 different expressions (Burgoon 113).
Vocalics/vocal quality – speech, volume, intensity, rate, inflection, and resonance (all other factors surrounding what it coming out of our mouth, besides the actual words); Are you talking loud enough for students to hear you? Too loud and it sounds angry or like you’re yelling? Too fast? What does that say about the message? Are your inflections appropriate?
Kinesics (body language) – The word Kinesics means “movement” in Greek, and this basically refers to everything we do with our bodies. An estimated 700,000 different physical signs can be produced by humans (Burgoon 113). i.e. gestures (pointing – usually once a child is one year old they know how to point), postures, emblems (thumbs up or mascot sign), “illustrators” overal animation… are we slouching, directed towards the student, using our hands and facial expressions to be animated and engaging, arms crossed indicating we are held-back or standoff-ish, showing appropriate expressions based on students response? *Ask Audience to show School Sign/emblem
Environment & Artifacts –in this our offices or perhaps lobby of advising center (**right now total overhaul/spring cleaning advising center lobby); Artifacts –they represent us, what we stand for, say something out us… are we cluttered? Neat? Organized? Is the space inviting for students – can we face them or do we face the computer? Do we have a desk between us?
How do we use the time in the appointment? Does it feel rushed? Are we hurrying to the next meeting, appointment? Are we mindful of the timeframe in our appointments? What time of day is it and does that effect the student? Of even what day is the appointment and how close is that to a particular registration period or calendar deadline?
Although earlier we identified the meaning of ‘NonVerbal’ communication as ‘NOT INCLUDING WORDS’ – for the sake of this presentation, we thought it was appropriate to include one final category in the spirit of ‘It’s Not Only What You Say but How You Way It’ and that is…
word choice / language devices – these could be metaphors, stories, or similes… and although they do technically fall into the category of ‘Verbal’ communication since these are words coming from your mouth, in many cases the choice of which words or language device you use to communicate with a student or coworker can mean the difference in whether they leave truly understanding or having committed to memory the message that you intended to send.
JOYA – you can’t stop nonverbally communicating – doing it all the time. Even in this presentation…
Appreciative Advising, which will take up a bulk of the presentation, wouldn’t exist without social constructivism…. Led to its creation. Important to know what social constructivism is to keep perspective. Appreciative Advising is a theory; and in my opinion is somewhat adaptable depending on the context and individual situation. Other advising theories exist may better fit your approach / philosophy but for the purpose of showing how integrated nonverbal communication is in advising, we will be comparing it to the phases on appreciative advising.
Also, lot of nonverbal comm is socially constructed (emblems – thumbs up, symbol for love, “dead” – different meaning in different cultures)
ARIN - Appreciative Advising (AA) is a social-constructivist advising philosophy that provides a framework for optimizing advisor interactions with students in both individual and group settings.
Disarm The Disarm phase involves making a positive first impression with students and allaying any fear or suspicion they might have of meeting with the advisor.
Discover The Discover phase is spent continuing to build rapport with students and learning about the students’ strengths, skills, and abilities through utilizing effective and positive open-ended questions that encourages narratives.
Dream The Dream phase involves uncovering students’ hopes and dreams for their futures.
Design The Design phase is spent co-creating a plan to make their hopes and dreams come true.
Deliver The Deliver phase is the implementation phase where students carry out their plan and the advisor’s role is to support them as they encounter roadblocks.
Don't Settle The Don’t Settle phase, involves challenging students to achieve their full potential and supporting them along their journey.
ARIN – introduce A & R scenario
JOYA - DISARM - First Impression – (1) Chronemics: taking appointment on time – how to handle if late), (2) Body Language (shrugging), (3) Kinesics (I.e. Pace, how close to student: Doctor's doorway), (4) Vocalics: enthusiastic, glad to welcome (not too busy, bad mood); (5) Appearance & Adornment: (1) how WE look (dressed, hair, etc.) AND (2) (6) Environment: how our OFFICE looks (lobby to individual office – ask student assistant for fresh eyes)
DISARM - First Impression – (1) Chronemics: taking appointment on time – how to handle if late), (2) Body Language (shrugging), (3) Kinesics (I.e. Pace, how close to student: Doctor's doorway), (4) Vocalics: enthusiastic, glad to welcome (not too busy, bad mood); (5) Appearance & Adornment: (1) how WE look (dressed, hair, etc.) AND (2) (6) Environment: how our OFFICE looks (lobby to individual office – ask student assistant for fresh eyes)
DISARM - First Impression – (1) Chronemics: taking appointment on time – how to handle if late), (2) Body Language (shrugging), (3) Kinesics (I.e. Pace, how close to student: Doctor's doorway), (4) Vocalics: enthusiastic, glad to welcome (not too busy, bad mood); (5) Appearance & Adornment: (1) how WE look (dressed, hair, etc.) AND (2) (6) Environment: how our OFFICE looks (lobby to individual office – ask student assistant for fresh eyes)
DISARM - First Impression – (1) Chronemics: taking appointment on time – how to handle if late), (2) Body Language (shrugging), (3) Kinesics (I.e. Pace, how close to student: Doctor's doorway), (4) Vocalics: enthusiastic, glad to welcome (not too busy, bad mood); (5) Appearance & Adornment: (1) how WE look (dressed, hair, etc.) AND (2) (6) Environment: how our OFFICE looks (lobby to individual office – ask student assistant for fresh eyes)
DISARM - First Impression – (1) Chronemics: taking appointment on time – how to handle if late), (2) Body Language (shrugging), (3) Kinesics (I.e. Pace, how close to student: Doctor's doorway), (4) Vocalics: enthusiastic, glad to welcome (not too busy, bad mood); (5) Appearance & Adornment: (1) how WE look (dressed, hair, etc.) AND (2) (6) Environment: how our OFFICE looks (lobby to individual office – ask student assistant for fresh eyes)
DISARM - First Impression – (1) Chronemics: taking appointment on time – how to handle if late), (2) Body Language (shrugging), (3) Kinesics (I.e. Pace, how close to student: Doctor's doorway), (4) Vocalics: enthusiastic, glad to welcome (not too busy, bad mood); (5) Appearance & Adornment: (1) how WE look (dressed, hair, etc.) AND (2) (6) Environment: how our OFFICE looks (lobby to individual office – ask student assistant for fresh eyes)
DISARM - First Impression – (1) Chronemics: taking appointment on time – how to handle if late), (2) Body Language (shrugging), (3) Kinesics (I.e. Pace, how close to student: Doctor's doorway), (4) Vocalics: enthusiastic, glad to welcome (not too busy, bad mood); (5) Appearance & Adornment: (1) how WE look (dressed, hair, etc.) AND (2) (6) Environment: how our OFFICE looks (lobby to individual office – ask student assistant for fresh eyes)
ARIN
DISCOVER/ DREAM - (1) Open-Ended: 'How are you?' 'Tell me about your morning?' ; Do you have any questions? 'What questions do you have?' 'What can I help you with?'; (2) Body Languagel: (needs to match the open ended questions – consistent)/credible (leaning in, making eye contact, looking interested – appropriate facial expressions), (3) Proxemics (distance, don't face computer)
DISCOVER/ DREAM - (1) Open-Ended: 'How are you?' 'Tell me about your morning?' ; Do you have any questions? 'What questions do you have?' 'What can I help you with?'; (2) Body Languagel: (needs to match the open ended questions – consistent)/credible (leaning in, making eye contact, looking interested – appropriate facial expressions), (3) Proxemics (distance, don't face computer)
DISCOVER/ DREAM - (1) Open-Ended: 'How are you?' 'Tell me about your morning?' ; Do you have any questions? 'What questions do you have?' 'What can I help you with?'; (2) Body Languagel: (needs to match the open ended questions – consistent)/credible (leaning in, making eye contact, looking interested – appropriate facial expressions), (3) Proxemics (distance, don't face computer)
DISCOVER/ DREAM - (1) Open-Ended: 'How are you?' 'Tell me about your morning?' ; Do you have any questions? 'What questions do you have?' 'What can I help you with?'; (2) Body Languagel: (needs to match the open ended questions – consistent)/credible (leaning in, making eye contact, looking interested – appropriate facial expressions), (3) Proxemics (distance, don't face computer)
DISCOVER/ DREAM - (1) Open-Ended: 'How are you?' 'Tell me about your morning?' ; Do you have any questions? 'What questions do you have?' 'What can I help you with?'; (2) Body Languagel: (needs to match the open ended questions – consistent)/credible (leaning in, making eye contact, looking interested – appropriate facial expressions), (3) Proxemics (distance, don't face computer)
ARIN
DESIGN: (1) Environment/Body Language - Engage student with tools/resources (I.e. Checksheet, etc.),
DESIGN: During this phase, you are more involved in planning and actually laying out how student can reach goals, what they need to do academically / register for / grades to make / policies to be aware of… it’s easy to get buried in the policies and what you need to be sure to tell the student… just don’t forget to be aware of how your body language and face are communicating. Do you seem confused about the policies you’re explaining? Do you seem rushed? Nervous about making an error, unsure, etc.?
6 primary emotions: fear, happiness, sadness, anger, disgust, surprise
JOYA
DELIVER: Is there a way you can better get your point across? Clearly explain something? Emphasize certain things over others? Think about language devices you can use to help you better say what you’re trying to communicate.
Metaphor (a type of analogy – compares two objects or things without using the words “like” or “as”) – e.g., The world is at your fingertips.
Or “I’m glad you are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel” (phrases that are common to us can help paint a picture for students)
“let’s cross that bridge when we come to it”
DELIVER: STORY !!! Allusions – is a figure of speech that can be used to help people remember a message or theme – helps get point across.
-alludes / references something historical that people can recognize easily – shows deeper meaning.
e.g., “Plan ahead. It was not raining when Noah built the Ark” (allusion to story of noah’s ark)
e.g., “we have nothing to fear but fear itself” (an allusion to President Roosevelt’s inauguration)
DELIVER: Hyperboles – exaggerations, often with intent to make a point or stimulate emotions – be careful of using these – usually people interpret them as less serious because the exaggeration is too much. Can be used tactfully but you probably want to avoid using them too much…
e.g., AVOID these: “We’ve gone over this a million times”, or sharing your own dramatic stories “I had to walk fifteen miles uphill both ways, in snow five feet deep.”
BUT, sometimes they are OK to use when you’re sympathizing / reflecting back – e.g., “Sounds like you’ve been working yourself to the bones” or “I’m getting the sense that this seems never-ending to you”
DELIVER: (1) How we end the appointment - (refer back to first impression), (2) *After Appointment: (2) Chronemics – availability/time to respond, (3) Follow-up – initiate communication afterward
ARIN
Even with the toughest or most frustrating students, try to keep your cool (at least on the outside!). Think back to the paradigm shifts and how we are all conditioned differently. Take a few deep breaths and try to act like it’s not the 100th time you’ve heard “can’t you just waive that requirement for me?”
DON'T SETTLE: Pay attention to how students react to your questions and what you’re explaining. Are they really understanding? Are the being particularly quiet? Have they not given you a good explanation for why they have been skipping class? Don’t be afraid to dig a little…. It’s appropriate to ask probing questions and show them through your body language and facial expression that you are open ears, have time to listen, etc.
DON'T SETTLE: We chose this picture from the breakfast club movie for 2 reasons – 1 b/c it shows people looking fed up / tired. And 2) because in this scene, the students were all in detention for getting into various kinds of trouble. Let’s take a tough situation you all can relate to: A student you’re meeting with is on academic suspension, you’ve already met with the student a few times when they were on probation, gone over the policies and provided them with advice… what do you do. Do you give up thinking you’ve done what you can do? Or do you try something different? Remember to exercise patience. (1) Tone – may need to sound more strict / firm, (2) Written down – circle, star, smiley face the important notes about GPA; (3) facial expressions –come across as more stern, serious, worried about the student’s situation.
