A STUDY OF TOUCH AS A MODE OF NONVERBAL COMMUNICA'l'IONASUSEDBY GRADE THREE TEACHERSIN SELECTED NEWFOUNDLAND SCHOOLS
by
oJudithPollett-Arniel~B.A.(Ed.)
AThesis submitted in partial fUlfillment of'eh e requirements for the deqree of
Master of Education
Department of Educational Psycholoqy Memorial universityof Newfoundland
December 1989
St. John's Newfoundland
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ABSTRA CT
The purpose of this study vas to explore the area of touch in relation to the classroom environment, focusing specifically on the teacher'suse of touch intheir inter- actionswithchildren.
Observations were conducted in six grade three class- The data collected during the observation sessions consistedof the nature ofthe classroom activity, the type of touch teachers initiated, the body areas involved in the touch interaction, the child's activity at touch initiation and sex ofthe child.
From ananalysis of the data collected duri ng direct observationin the classroom settings, repertoires of types of touch and child's activity at touch initiation wer-e developed for each of the six teachers. Pa t t e r ns of touching behavior wexe notedamongthe sampleof six teachers on these two dimensions. Meaning categorieswere developed foI' the occurrences of to uc h observedinth i s sample.
The stUdy concludedthat the sampleof six grade three teachers did initiate various typesof to uch in a variety of circumstances inthe classroomsetting. Further research on the nature of touch as a form of nonverbal communication betweenteacherand child is re c omme nde d.
i i
ACkN OWLEDGEMENTS
Th eau t ho r would like to acknowledge the support and direct i o n prov id edbythe following individ u alswithout whom this wor k would nothave been possibl e .
Tomy su pe rv isor , Dr.No rm Ga rl i e,for his encoura ge me nt and assistance,ma ny thanks.
To my parents and hus ba nd , for their patienc e and unde r s t andi ng, thankyo u.
To my good frie ndAnne,for her advicee nd support,thank you.
To Illy research ass i s t a nt s, Sharon andJe nner, than k you.
To Brian who he lped me better understa ndthewor l dof compu t e rs, thanks.
To te a chers, pri nc i pa ls andschool board personne l who participatedin th i s study , many than ks.
iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Paqe Abstract
Acknowledgements Li st of Tables
CHAPTER
INTRODUCTION
i i iii vii
I I
Statement of Purpose Importanceof the study ResearchQuestions Limitations Definitionof Terms REVIEWOF LITERATURE
10 12 13 16 significance of Touch intheCl a s s r oom 16 Observationsof Touch in Natural Settings 23
Perceptionsof Touch 27
Effects of Touch 30
cul tu ra l Differences 41
Occurrence of Touch in the Classroom 45 Considerations inDe v elop i n g an
ObservationSystem NatureofObservations Typesof System(s) cat eg orization unit Sampling
iv
50
50 51 52
53
Recording 54
RecordingForms 54
Data Analysis 55
Reliability 5.
Valid i t y 57
Overview of Observationsystems
Appliedto Present study 58
III PROCEDURES .8
Purpose .8
Methodology .8
Participants 70
Lengthof Observations 71
RecordingInstruments 71
Record Form-A 72
Reliability 7B
Validity 80
Recordrem-a B1
validity B1
DataCollectionProcedures B2
Data Analysis 83
IV ANALYSISOFTHE DATA 85
Ini t ialStepsinData Analysis 8.
Types of Touch BB
Definitionsof Types of Touch B9 ChildBehaviors- Touc h Initiation 101
Contextual Factors 112
References Append i ces
Appendix A - RecordForm- A
v SUKMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RZCOMMEND1I.TIONB Summary
Conc lusions
Recommendations for FurtherRes earch Recommendations for Practise
119 119
12.
126
128 130
139
Appendix B - Record Form- B 140
AppendixC - Ex ce r pt s -Recordfo rm - A 141 Appendix0 - Teacher Behaviors inResponses
toSpeci f i c ChildrenI5Behaviors
During Touch 152
AppendixE - Characte r i sti cs and Meanings of
Indi vidual Touc he s 165
AppendixF - Mei'.lning cat ego r i es for Tea chers' Use of Touch
vi
16 9
LIST OF TABLES
Table Page
Categoriesfor Stude nt Observationa l For m Ind ividu a l Pre scribed Instruct ion 60
Classesof Child Beh avio r s 62
ClassesofTe ache r Behaviors 64
Interpersona l Observa tion (Form K) 6'
TouchCode 6'
Length of Observations 72
Samp l e of Recording 74
Definitions of Touch 7'
Type s of ChildrenIs Behav ior 77
10 Sampl e RecordFo r m- A 7.
11 SampleRecord Form~B .2
12 Frequencyof TeacherTouchwi th Length
of Observati on .7
13 Frequency andType of TouchIni t i at e d
by TeachersA-F 90
14 Frequencyof Type ofTouc hInitiated
Wit hSex of the Child for Teacher A 9' 15 Frequency of Type ofTo uchIn i tia ted
With Sex ofthe child forTeacher B 9.
16 Fr e que nc y of Type of TouchIni ti a te d
Wit hSex of the childfor Te ac h e rC 97 17 Fre quen c y of Type of Tou c hInitiat ed
with Sex of the Childfor Teacher D 9'
vii
is Frequency of Type of Touch Ini t iated
With Sex of the Childfo rTe a c h e r E 100 19 Frequency of Typeof TouchInitiated
With Sexof the Child for Teacher F 101 '0 Child BehaviorsWith Freq ue nc yof Type
ofTou c h for TeacherA 10'
21 Child Behav iors withFreque ncy of Typ e
of Touchfo r Teacher B 10 '
"
Child Behavio r swith Fre que ncy of Typeof Touch for Tea cherC
10.
23 ChildBeh avi orsWithFr e quen c yof Type
of TouchforTeach erD 107
"
chil.d Beha v i o r sWith Freque nc y ofTypeof Tou c h fo r TeacherE 10'
25 Ch ildBe ha viors WithFrequency of Type
of Tou ch forTe ache r F 110
as Child Be ha vio rs With Frequencyof Touch Init i ati on fo r thesamp l eof Teachers 112 27 Frequencyof Touc hWhen Applies to the
"Me an ing ca tego r i e s " 116
viii
CHAPTERI Introduction
Al though the need to be touched can be seen as a basic human need, the nature of touch in human interactions creates legal implications when one considers physical and sexual abuse of children. As caregivers,teachers are in vulnerable positions. Inherent in the reason for the use of touch with children has to be the physical and psychological nurturance of the child. Mazur and Pekar (1985) discussed the need for a clear theoretical understanding of the importance of touch in child development. Theysuggested professionals need to openly discuss these issues perhaps developing program policiesas a means of support to caregivers. To date, no guidelin es have beendevelopedbythe Newfoundland TeachersI Association to provide direction in the use of t.cucn in interactions with children. Furthermore, the exact nature or impact of touch interactions in the classroom is not known.
Thi s study was designed as a beginning step to provide this information.
st a t eme n t of Purpose
The purpose of thisstudy was to exprcrethe area of touch in relation to the classroom environment, focusing specifically on teacher'suse of touch in their interactions with children.
Importanr.:8otth estudy
In orderto viewthe importance of the study one must consider the significance of physical contact in human development, interpersonal relationships and communication.
From a developmentalperspective, Mrmtagu (1971) wrote:
Touchis the earliest sensory system to become func- tional in all species, thus far studied, huma n , animal,and bird . The skin 'sgrowthanddevelopment proceed throughout life and the development of its sensitivities depends largely upon the kind of environme ntalstimulationit re ce i ve s . (p. 3) ...adequatetactile satisfaction during infancy and childhood is of fundamental impor t a nc e for the sUbsequent healthy behavioral development of the individuaL (p. 318)
The need to touch and to be touched is a basic human need (Burgoon&saine, 1978; Knap p , 1980; Montagu, 1971; Morris, 1971). According to Maslow (1968) all human beings face a series of needs in life, and needs at more basic levels must be met before a person can go on to fulfill higher-level needs. Within Maslow's heirarchy of needs, touch can be viewed as a fundamental, physiological and psychological need of the individual. Spe.cifically, the individual has a fundamental ne e d for
wm
which includes the need tofe e l secure, safe and out of danger as wellas the psychological needs of belongingness and love which include the need to affiliate withothers.Ande r s o n (1987) suggested that:
. ..a sense of worthis the most essential ps yc ho- log i c al need of every humanbeing, and is derived from feelings ofsecurity (love, acceptance, belong- ing ne s s ) and significance (purpose, meaning,
personal adequacy) .•. Touchi ng can break down feelingsofdis c ouragement,al o n en es s,orisol atio n which lea dto a sens eof worthl essness. (p. 203) Bur goonand Saine (1978) sugg e ste d phys ica l contactis impo rtant to a child's psychological sense of securi ty and well-be in g. The y wrote:
If birthis a traum atic ex perienc e and theout s i d e world an alien one, th en human co nta c t may be cr itical to overco ming feelings of is ola tion and fear. Thefa ct tha t emotionally di sturbe d child re n us ua lly respond well to str o ki ng and rhythmic slapping suggests that. this is true •.. Touching seems to pr o vi de a source of zeaasurence and supp ort. (p. 66-67)
Many authors (Burgoon & Sain e, 1978I Knapp, 1980I Montagu, 1971;andMorris,1971) view tat-tilestimulationas importantforthe emotional, intellectua l,and physiological development ofth eind i v i duaL Anumbe r of studies ci tedin Burgoon and Saine (1978 ) and by Mon t a g u (1971) demonstra te that ser i o us biological , psychological·, and 500..:iol09ica1 problemsdo resultwhenhuma ns beingsaredepri vedof touch.
spitz (194 6 ) conducted a seriesof studies of infants in a foundl inghomewhi ch revealedseriousdelays in the infantsI
mental and phys ical develop ment , a marked decrease in resistancetodi s e a s e andhigh mort ali t y rates. In fants in the fou ndli ng hornewh::lexist.edunder unfa v ou rable environ- menta lconditions,deprivation of maternalcare,maternal love and maternalstimulationand is ola ti on suffer ed irreparable damage and eve n death.
Knapp (1980 ) statedthat ea rl y tactile experiences se e m crucial to late r mental and emotion a l ad justment. For
exampl e , he re ported that: youngste rs who have little physical cont a c t during inf a nc ymaywalkor talklater : many childr e n su f fering from schizophre nia we re deprived of handling as infa nts ; and, retardation inre ad ing andspeech hasbe e n ass oc iate d wi t h ear lydep r i v atio n of, and con fusio n in, tactile communicat ion . Silverman, Pre s s man and Bartel (197 3) found a dire c t relationship be t ween the exte nt of physic a l clos en e s s a ch ild experienc es andse lf-e s t eem. The higher the st ude nt ' s self-esteem, the mor e comfortable the student was incommuni cating th r ough touch . Mon tagu (1971 ) int r oduc ed theco nc eptofth e"t a ct u allyfail ed child". This termrefersto someonewho ha s expe rie ncedinadequat e ta ctile , or tou c h sti mul a tion and who is, therefo re , phys i ca ll y, ps ycholog i c a lly andbehaVior allyawkward inrelatio nshipswith others.
communica tion is comprised of the transmitting of messages throughver bal and nonv e r ba l ch a nnels. The verbal channels ref er to the spoke nwords whichanindividua l uses to commun i cat e toanother. The nonverbal cha nne ls refe r to the message s sent to an individual through eye cont a c t , proximity, tactility, fac ialexpres s ion s , body movement and posture, physical appearance , and vocal cues. Teache rs commun ica t e to st u d e nts through the s e channels in each int e r a c t ion whi ch occurs. If this is so, then to effe ctivel y stUdy the teache rs 'communica ti on inthe classroomenvi ronmen t one mu s t st udy wha t the teacher is communi ca ting, both
verballyandnonverba lly.
Re s e arch on nonv e rbal communi ca t i o n in the classroom environmen t should provide a source of informa tion to help teachersI bet t er unders t and what the i r nonverbal be hav i or is commu nicating tothe students. Gallowa y (1971) refe r r e d to the nonv erba l asth e language of sensi tivity. He sees the tea cher sI nonv erba lbeh a vior tobeint e gra l inthe formation of st ude nt at t itUdestowardschool. Studen tsoften see and understandnonver balbehaviors that escapethe awareness and sensi tivi tyofadu l t s . An examp leof this is illustra tedin the following:
Mr s .Johnsonheard the door slam as Keith raninto the hou s e fr o m school.
IGuessWh at, Mom?Myteacher like s me' 'Why , what did she say to you, Kei t h?'
'She didn't sa y nct.hdn' but I knowshe li ke s me , re a l l y l Sh esmiled at mewh e nI was reedf n'and she put her arms around me. Gee - I like school! ' Afewhou ses down the street,Mr s .Tur ne rlooke d out the frontdoor and saw her son, David, ki ck ing a stoneupthe sidewalk,mumbling angrily tohi ms e lf . 'Whyare you late , Dav id? Wha t' s wr ong?
'I hatetha t aI' icky sch oo l. I ha t e it . I hate , I hatei t. AndI ha t emytea c he r . She do n't like me .'
'How do you know she doesn't? ' Did som'2thi ng happe n? •
'Ye ah. I was readin' and MissBr ownke pt lookinI
at me. Then sheclicke d hertong ue like this-tsk, ts k,ti.sk, And shetoldKeithtorea d. Sheputher arm aroun d him! I hatehe r . I don' twanna go to school no more. (Galloway, 1971, p,227 )
Galloway (1971) addr e s s ed th e challenge of nonverbal researchth r oug h a discussionof: (a ) theneglect on the part of educationa l researchers to conduct studies of nonverbal in fluence ; (b) the impor tanceof thenonve r b al dimension in interactions; and (C) problems associated with studying nonverbal behavior. He pointed out, that tne research challenge facing stude nts of nonverbal behavior is the collection of data showing hownonv e rb a l cuespr ov i d e crucial information unobtainable from the observation of verbal behavior. Nonverbalbehavioris a richsource of information that can be observed with profit. He acknowledged the accumulation of knowledge about the distinctive kinds of informati onnonverbalbehavior tra nsllli ts is a necessary next step.
Koch (197 1), in discussing the teacher and nonverbal communicat ion. stated one must re membe r that the nonve rba l message is much stronger than theverbal and i fthereis an incongruity , the nonverbal is believed. He discussed the various formsof nonverbal communication, andwith reference to tiouchLnq he wrote:
Touching, when it is desired by the student, and when it is a natural act wi t h thete acher ,is a most powerful nonve r ba l act. At times it is the onlyway tore ac h a child. Special -educationchildrenoften nee dmuchtouc h i ng, evenhuggi ng. [p, 236)
Gal loway (l971) suggested re s earc h focusing on inter- actionsin the classroom environmentmayexplore thepossible functions and pedag og i ca l values ofnonve r bal behavior inthe
classr oom. He emphas i zed al l communication in the clas s room shoul d be analyzedas part of the lar ger enterpri s e ot' teaching its elf . I tsh ould be notedherethat , ten years after Galloway (1911) ellphasized theneedfor rese arc h in clas s rooms to focusonnonve r b a l behav i or , Major (1981)stated
"observations of touch intera ctions invo l vi nq teacher -c hild int e r a c tion sbey o nd preschool areso rel y needed."
Major (19BI) commen ted that despite the ackn owledged impor ta nce of touch, it is theleast re s ear chedand leas t unde r s t ood areaof nonverbalco mmun i c a tion. Sh e acknowledged that touc h has been neglected in almosteveryreviewof nonve rbal co mmunicationresearch (e . g. Argyl e, 1975 ; Harpe r , Wein s, &:Mata r az z o, 197 8 ; Kna p p ,198 0;Patter s on, 197 6).
In discussi ng observati onal studi es whi c h have been conducted . Ma j or (198!) repor t edthat:
Observa tional studies of the frequency an d corre- lates of touchhavefocu sedon both childre n ' s and adultt stouchi nqbehavi or. Tho s einv o lving chil dre n generally have ob s erve d one of three types of interactions:Dot he r-in f ant,pre s chool chi l d-teac h- er, andch ild-ch ild. Obs erv at i ons of ot her tou ch interac tions involving childre n, suchas father- - child and teacher-child int e ractio nsbeyond pre- school , are sore l y nee d e d. (p. 18)
As educatio n isconcernedwi th the heal thy development of allaspects of the child, and since it is evidentthat tactile stimulat ionhas its pl ace in the child's psycho- logi c al,physiol og i cal and socialdevelopme nt, itsroleinthe educatio na l set t ingrequ i r es further stu d y.
Literature oncommunica t ionwit h in th e cte s ercceenvi ron-
ment; (Tobey , 1970; Hur t, Scot t &MCCroske y,1978; Basset t &
smyt he . 1979 ) des cribed the se nse oftou c has having dual purpos es. First , itis a meansthrough wh ic h childr e ncan explor e, man i pulate, and di s cover objec ts in thei r sur - round i ngs an dthe worl d in which the y live . Sec ondly, itis a mean s ofcommuni ca tio n wi th ot hers. Touchplaysan impor t - ant dev elo pme nta l rol e becau se it commu n icates a sense of belong ing, securi t yand unde rs ta ndi n gto childr-en. The use of touch in inte ractio ns with childre n pr ovides immediate approva lor disap proval far more convinc i ngly than wor ds.
Inthis vei n , touch can become a sooial rein f orcerwithi n the classro o m en v i r onment (He r ber t, 1981; Sulz er& Ma yer, 1972). Wood (197 5) desc r i bedtouch asa mea ns thr ough whi ch theteacher nur turesthe child , lets him know he is doinga good job, cal mshimdownand tell s the child in agene ral sense, that theteacherlike shim. Mont agu (197 1)wrot etha t childre n who are unhappy , fright ened or ot herw i s e distur be d mayusuall y be so othed and restore d to a sense of secur ity when ta kenup in thearms of a comf o rter. ToputoneIs ar ms aroun d anot he r is to communicate love and security to th e otherper son. Ande rs on (1988 )viewe dphysical closenes san d touch ingas vitaltools in th e teac h ing-l ea rn i ng expe r ience. He wr o t e:
In as muchastact i l e experience ises s ential tothe childts cogn i tivedevelopment andgrowi ng sens e of self, phys ica lcontactbetween teache r and st udent shouldbea natu r a l ingredie nt ofthat inte r activ e relationship .• • Physical closene ss says to the ch ild, par t i CUla r l y the one who ha s bee n exper i-
en c in qle a rn ing orbehavio raldi f fi cul ties 'We are inthis toc;ethe rl• (p. 54 )
These authors expressedveryst rongviewpointsonthe import- ance of touch as a forD.ofcommu nicat i.onbetween indiv i d u al s. Inint e ractio ns wi th children, touch se rve s as a means to nelp thechi ldfUl.fillhis basicneeds and to en ha nce hi s devel op- mentas a humanbeinq .
Few researche rshav e explored thenatu reof touch in the classr o omenv i ro nme nt. The stu dieswhichhavebeen foundto date aresumma rized to provide the readerwithan over vi ew of the natu r e ofthere s earchconduc t ed. Beut ler(1.978)studied therelati on shipbet wr enteach e r behaviors (such as movement variat ionsin the classroom,proxi mity to students, be nding downto stUde nts, and tactile acHvity ) andstudentachieve- ment (aseeaeur ed byst andard izedac nlevemene tes t s at the fourthandsixthgrade ). Pratt (1973) at t e mpt edto deten.in e theext ent towhi chnonverbal coesund catfcnthro ughtouchvas related to reading achievemen t sco res of firs t and se cond grade students and sex of st uden ts. Rezllierski (1973) conductedan exploratory study ofthe nonver bal commun i c a tion of teachers and children wh i c h exa mi ned aspects of the obs ervationprOCRS S ,development of anobse rva t i onal instru- ment anddata analysis. Kle infeld(19 73) conduc t eda cross-- cultu r al stUdyto observewhe t her nonverbalteacher wa nnt l1.
would incr ea s e the learn i nq andverba 1commu ni ca t ionof Eskimo studentsand to de tenain ei fEski mos were more sensitivethan Whi tes to teacherwanth. Gehrke(1982)conducteda fiveyear
10 lOhqtitud inal study with 11 be ginning secondary school teachers. Inthefif tb year of thestudy teacherswereasked direct que stions abo u t theirliking- ofst u d ent s . Lars en (1 9 75) st udied theef f ectsofteachersu p porti v e behaviors on pr e sc hool childre n's learn ingof a !DOtor skil l andcognit ive task. Whelda1 1, Bevanand Sho rtall (1986) examined the ef f ec t sofcontingen t teach ertouc honthe classroombehavior of young chlldre n ininf antclass es. Cheney,Ma pl es &Jenkins (1988) con duct e d II pilot stu dy ofthi rd ~gradest udents to deterd n e ....hethera relat ionshi p exi s te dbetween incr ea s ed amounts ofteac her touch andstude nt's sel t-esteem.
Ifoneacknowl e d ges thesig ni ficllInc eof touchas a basic humanneed,thepot ential misuseoftouchin socie t y today, an d the rol eof the signi f i cant other in a child'sdevelop·
me nt:the nthe need for furt her studyof the exact na t ure and impact oftouc h intheereeerecs settingofyounqchildren can be seen as neces saryand, in fact ,crucial.
Researc h oues t ioD9
Since so lit t le is known about or re por ted in t.he l i terature on this topic, anexplorato r ystu dyof thene cur e of touch in theclass room environmentwa s seenasa beginn i ng step towards a gret\te rundersta nd ingof thi smode of nonverbal coaeundoatkon inth e classroom. I tlIust beemphas i z edatthis po int , that as so lit tle is kn o wnit is very difficult to provide there ader \li t hspecifi c research questions. Hope-
11 ful ly.th rough th is exploratorystudywe ..,111 bebe t ter able to spec ify fur ther directi o n in which research should be undert aken . Several gener al questions arose cut of the
lIlate rial presented In the Introdu c tion. For instance, do e s
touc hac t ually occur betweenteac hersand ch i l dr en in their dailyinteracti ons? Whatis thenat ure of thistouch(if it oc c u r s ), andunderwhatci rcumsta nces dote a cher s use touch as a meansof co mmun i c a t i on ? More specifi cally, th is stud y examined thefollowing ques tions:
1. Doteachers use touch intheir in teract ionswith chi ldren inselected grade three clas srooms? It is of ten assumedthat tou choccurs betwe en teacher s andchildren in cl ass r ooms . However, the authors review of the li t e ra t u r e ra i s es seri ous doubt about this assu.;ptio n. There f o re, thi s basicquestion l'!lustbeans wered before anyof the following que s tions canbe explored .
2. What is the natur e ofto uchas us ed byteac hers in selected grade three classrooms? (eg& Where and how do te a c her s us e to uchwi thch.ildren intheir classrooms ? )
J. will ther e be pat terns emerge among the sample of si x teac he rswi threspect towher e and howteachers us etou c h wit h child r e nin the i r clas s rooms ?
4. When do teachers use touchinthei. r interac tions wit h childr en in sel e c t edgrade thr ee clas s ro ollls ? (eg.Wha t te a c her/child activi t y isoccurri ngintheclassroomat touch in1tiatio n?)
12 5. Willtherebe patterns emerqe amonqthesampl e of sixteacherswith respe ct to te acher/chil d activity attouc h init ia ti on?
6. Bas edonthe DOcIe l providedby Jones' Ya rb r ou gh (1985),ifpatternsemer ge ,amo ngthesnp le of sixte achers, canone ass ignmea ni ngtothe s epa t terns?
Becauseof the limitat ionsinh erent inthe observatio n ofbehavi orin a sma llsample ofGradeThreeclas srooms ,these quest i ons werean s wered on an explorato ry basi s.
Limit ations
The fa l lowi n gdelimitat io ns arenoted inco nnectionwit h this study:
1. Th e st udywa s cond ucted intwo eleme ntary schools with a samp leof sixGrad",Threeclassr ooms. Therefo r eth e generaliza tionof thefindingsislimi t ed.
2. The six classr ooms were selected ba sed on the cooperative nature of sc hool perso nnel. The re s ea rc he r was familiar withthe lldm i ni sta tions of the sch o ol and the i r resp e c tive te aching sta ffs.
3. The st ud y ex tende d over a per iod of about seven week s intheMaY-June period of the schoolyear. Du e tothe end oftheyear sc hed uleseac h clas sroomco uldonlybe vis!te d for fivehalt-daysessi ons.
4. 1:nan observa tionalstu dyat le ast twoobs e rv e r s shou l dbe present toccepensete forobse rver bi as, thi s wa s
13 notpossible due to lackof fundingandsc hed ul i ngpr o blems. 5. A fair degreeofresch ed ulinghad to occur during theobservation processas teach e r illness and fie l d trip s inte r fe r e d with the data gathering. These problemsmade it impo ss i bl e tocounterbalance cl ass roomob s ervat ions.
6. Itwas not po s s i bl e tocont r ol thesp e cif i c activ- itie s ineachcla ssroom. The re fo re , ratesanti typ e of tou c h obse rved could have been affectedby thetype ofactiv i ty eac h tea cherwa s engag edin .
Definition of Terms
To provi de a fr am eof re fere nce for the reader the foll o win g basi c terms, astypica llyused in the lite r a ture , areprovid ed below. Thes eterms are ref e r red tothrough o u t thisstudyandthe i rincl us i oninthissectio n was import an t toclarifyanddefi ne thenat u re of touc h intera ction and the approac h to the observational proces s undertaken in thi s study.
Touc h: Any typeof phy sica lcont actbetw e en peop le. Holding: A touch which restrict s thebodymove ment of theotherpers on. (J o n.;as&Yarb r o ugh, 1985)
spo t touching: Brie f contactwitho u t hol d ing , wit h no hand moveme nt s andmin ima l exe rt ionof pres sure. Ca n occur wi thanumb e r of body parts. (Jo nes&'iar bro ugh, 198 5 )
Pat: A gen t lerepetit i ve tapus ua l ly with the pal mof the handor fingers.
14 Pusb: Touchwhichinvol vespress in gagainst abod y pa rt withsoaedegreeof pressure beingexe rted .
Pull: Touc h which invol ve s ho l ding a body part (body ) and causes forward movement.
Grab: A sudde n, eager gras p by the ha nd of another ' s bodypar t (body).
Meaning categorin; The catego riesof meaningdeveloped byzrcn e s , Yarbrough (1985). in Which the cont ext of touch intera c tio n wa s examinedto derivecommoncharacteristicsand esta blish categories of meanings for touch. (A detailed description ofthe meaningcategorie s isprovided in Append ix EJ.
Field notes : The notes kept by the observer whi ch consistof pers onalObservation s , impressio n s , andinte r p r eta - tions . (Good ' Br o p hy, 198 7)
Running recor d: Running records ar e nar r a tive re c ord s ....hichpr ov i de adetailed , continuous, or sequential descrip- tive accountof the behavior and itsimmed i a t e environmental conte xt . (Good" Brophy , 1987 )
This chapte r discussed the significance of phy sical contact in huma n developm en t , interperso nal re l atio ns and commu n ication,withspec if i c re f e renc e tothehealthy develop- me nt of children. The value of the useof touch byte a c hers in their daily interactions with ch il d r e n in the sc hoo l environment wa s highlighted. Research whlch focu s e d on aspectsoftouch inthe schoo l environment was re vi ewed. The
15 need fo r fur ther re s ea r c h exa m ining the us e of touch by tea chers inth ei rin teractions wi t h children was established. Chapter IIprovides an overviewofres e ar ch conductedin the areaof touch andthedevelopment of observationsystems.
16 CHAPTER II
Review of Literature
This chapter focuses on a review of the l iterat u re related to thearea of touch. In the l itera ture, touch has been studiedina numbe r of disciplines, suchas sociology, psychology ,educa tiona l psychol ogy andmedicine. Inherent in the studies in each of these disciplines, are differences in fOCU!!L This review is divided into the following areas:
observations of touc h in na t ur al settings; per ce p t i ons of touch; effects of touch; cultural differences; the taboo nature of touch; occurrence of touch in the classroom;
significance of touch in the classroom; considerations in developing an observation system: and, an overview of the observationsystems appliedtothe presentstudy.
Si g n ifi c a n c eof Touch in theClassr oom
Thissection will discuss thesignificanceof the use of touchin thetea::her-studentrelationship-.
In the classroom setting, one of the teacher 'sprimary goalsis the establis h ment of an envi r o nme nt where the child feels as i fhe/she belongs, is accep ted, and wherehis/her ne e ds are being met. In th i s enviro nment, the teacher must emanate a senseof care and concern for eachchild, recogni- zing individua l differences in learningstyles,motivational levels andpersonalit ies . The teacher shou lddevelopa close
17 relationship with each child in the classroom. Anderson (1 988 ) wrote of the importa nce of touch ing as a natural ingred ient in theIneer ectnve relationshi p betw e entea cher and student. Hesuggestedtha t:
The te a ch e r's will i ngness to mainta in physical closenessand totouc h thestude nt,the refo re, not only communica tes ac c e pt a nc e and caring, butisa re fle cti o n of the dept h and si nc e r i ty of the teac h e r'sconcernforthe stude nt and di scl os e sthe qual i tyof tiheteache r-learnerrel ationship . Among ways to streng the n the teacher-learnerrelationship is making phy sical contac t with ch dLdz-en thro ug h suchactions ashol d ing ,hugg i ng , rocking or gently tou c hing st udent s whilespeaking to them. (p . 55) The respon s e an ind i vid ua l ha s to being tou c he d will differ frolllone person to anot he r . var iations in child rearing practices, ways of showing affect ion amo ng fa mil y membersand beliefstaug h t totheyou ngchild abouttou c h i ng willco nt ributetothe childIsfe eling sof bei ng touch e d . The response an indi v.i.d ual makes upon receiving a touch is immediate . The personmay shy awa y , ac t ina ppr opr i ately or appearappreciativeofthetou c h . Since the r e arevariations in the degree of comfor table ness one ha s in touching, the teacher or student may find it uncomfo rta bl e. Anderson (1988), Hur t, Scott and Mccrosky (1978), Wood (1975), and Macfarlane (19 86) each add ressed the need to "r e ad " the st u de nt's re s pons e to being touched. Ande r s o n (1988 ) summarized that "t he te a ch e r's res pect for the child as a human be ing 'Il!U dicta t e the type of close ness or contact atte mp ted"(p. 55). Ande rson (1988 ) continue d hisdi s cu s s i on of the indiv i dual differ e nces in tactil e expe rience by
'8
quest ioningthe meani ngof the teache r '5 behaviorwhen a touch is withheld.
sinceallour interactionswith ot herscommunicate somethi ngI it is importantto askwhat message is being given to children by an adult's refusal or hesitance to interact physically with the ch ild , except topush, pUll, pound or mold. Perhaps the child Iee rns that thebod y is evil or dirty ,or that anyone whodoestouch you is evil. Perha pschildren learn that wedonotwa ntthemnear us, or thatthe y arenot really importan t , ortha t we reallydo not careabout them asind i v i du al s. Perhapsthe yle arn that school is a boring , unca ri ng , unfriend lyplace and shou ldbe avoided as much as possible.
ObviouslyI these are not the lessons we want children to le a r n . Such les sons may produce indiv idua ls vnc are uncomfortable\oJith their own body and wi t h closenesswith othersorwho have a limitedor shallo\oJ self-concept. And, because of these limitations,th e s e r.";.dldrenare restrictedin theirabi l i t yto relate warmlyand successfullyto otherpeople. They are 'tactually fa i l ed' , ie. , th ey hav e experi e nced inadequate ta c t il e or touch stimU lat ion,and,the r e f or e , are phy s i ca lly , psycho- logically ,andbehavi o r a lly awkward in relati o ns h i ps withother pe r s on s. How many lone l yor di s t u r b e d , tactuallyfailedpeoplealreadyexist (andare many teachers)? (p. 55)
Developmenta l the r a py , \oJhich is a psychoeducational intervention for children who have serious emotional and behavioral di s or de r s, advocates the us e of touch with ch ildren. Wood (1975) discussed the significanceofto uch in developmenta l therapy. Body contact is used throughout the stages of the therapyquite extensive lyand will vary widely accordi ng to the needs of the children. Body contact and touch fromthe te a c h er are usedto nurtu re a child, to let him/herkno whe/ s he is doing a great job, to calm hi m/her down, and gene ra llyto tellhim/her that the teacher likes
19 him/her. Wood (1975) ca uti oned that there aresome children who do not trust their environment . people or th e te a c h e r enoughtotolera t e any physica lcontact . Fo r these children.
body contactmay triggerimpUl s i v i t y and acting outinstead of calmingthem down or rewardingthem. physical contact may be associated withabuse or severe punishment. The personal attentionassociatedwith a tou ch mayal s o be difficult for so mechildrento handle.
Barker (1982)described thedi ffe r e nt types of classroom touch. He suggested, in the elementaryschool year'c,teachers act as surrogate parents and large quantities of touch are permitted and probablyexpected. Sincetouch is one of the most immediate, intimate forms of communication, tactile contact maybe necessaryfo r the erenentary te a c he r to convey love and affectionto students.
Hurt, Scott & Mccroskey (1978) suggested that when a teacher withholds touch, a child may feel isolated and rejected . Furthermore, the y suggested a number of tactile behaviors that canbeus ed at anylevelfrom elementaryschool through COllege. Since touch is a very personal form of communication, ha ndsh ake s and shou lder tcucnee can convey immediacy while ra r e l y beinginterpretedas a sexualcome-on.
Similarl y, pats on theback and other non-threateningforms of touch can serve as powerful reinforcersin a way that talk or high grades simply cannot. Finally, instrumental or functional tou c h es occurfrequently, in school, pa r t i c ularl y
20 in classeswhere psyc-cmcee r skills are being taught, suchas shop courses , athlet i cs, dance , art and even in learning skillssuch as ha ndwrit i ng. While the prima ry purpose of ins trume nt a l tou c h is purely task re l a t e d, this fo rm of tactile communicationprobablyconveysimmediacy as well.
Herbert (1981) listed "hugsnas a socialrein f orcer wh ich could be us e dby others to reinforce children 's behaviors.
Sulzerand Maye r (1972) lis t e d socialreinforcersforchil dren and inc lude nod s , smiles,pats on the back ,pats on thehead, pats on the kn e e , tou c he s on the cheek, and ti c k l e s as examples . Macfarlane (1986) described the use of social reinforcers thatLnc j ud e d posi tivepraise,smiles ,hugs, pats onthe beck, pats on the knee and tickles. She cautionedthat the indi s cri mina t e use of touch maycreate eth ical or legal problems. Sheadvised thatsetting, events and the age of the student be considered in determining the appropriateness or inappropriateness of using touch as a rei nf o r c er . Further - more,teachersmust learn to"r ead" the environment when using touch as a reinforcer. Macfarlane suggested that wenot aba ndon such a powerful te chn i qu e as touch but rather we need to be careful about it s use. She outli nedseveral ways to determinethe appropria tenessand appeal of sooialreinforcers which include : (a) theneed to"read " the environment ; (b) the needtoth ink about how ot heradults in the same environ- ment respond to similiarsituations; (e) the age and sex of thest ude nt;and (d) th e personalitiesof partic u larstudents
21 and their inte rp r e ta tion s of the touc h. Finally, ope n communicat ionbetwe e n pa r ents , chil d renand professionalscan help toalleviat e potential pr o b l ems.
Ma z ur andPekar (1985) furthe r emphasizedthe need for opencommuni cationamongpr o f e s siona l s whowor k withchildr en as pubLfc mistrust moun ts with stories of sexual abuse inve sti ga tio ns. They discu ssed the val ueof physical contact in chi l d de v e l opme nt in the context of early childhood pr ograms. The ir advice to professionals who work with childrenisapplic a b l e toalleducators. They emphasized the needto develop a clear th e o r e ti c al understanding of thevalue of physical contact in child development, and, to use this understanding as a basis for thoughtful interactions with children. Professionalsneedto discussthese issues openly, to supporteach other, sha reideas about appropriatetypesof touc hes , acknowledgevulnerabil itiesthat are beingexperi- enced by male te a c he r s. in particular . and consider the potent:ialrole that programpolicies canplay.
LeLandgren (1986) wrote "Inthe face of restrictions, restrai nts, orrelu c t a nc e .•. te a c he r s cantr y 'nontouchingt hugs fo r st udents" (p, 46). Le Landgren (198 6 ) developed a pr ogramca l l e d th e "nontou chi ng hug". Studentsarerequi red to thinkof a hug as any meaningful conn e cti on withanother perso n. Nontouchinghugs included a wink, a smile, a hug message ona rubber stamp,stickerswith hug themes, abut t o n witha hug message, stuffedanimals in the classroom , a hug
22
jar fil led withcook i e s,cou ponred ee mabl etor a hugat home, a hug lice ns e and a soft pup petde s i gn a t ed as the classroom hugger. Classroom activities are suggested such as a hug bullet i nboard, ahu g stuf f cente r, hug posters, a hug club andcr e a tivewriting about hugs .
Th e importanc eofthe use of physic a l con tact in teacher- stude nt inte ractions in theclassroom has be e n rec ogn i z e d.
Its si g nifica nce has beendes cribed in the valu eof touc hin commun i c a t i ng fee ling sof acceptance, car i ng. andnurturance, andit s valueas a soc ia l reinforce r for chil dren taki ng int o co nsideration the individualchild'spersonality, age, sex, and responseto ticucn, Furthermore, quest i o ns are ra i s e d as tothe message one is communica t:inqwhen a teacher withho lds touch . Cautions to wa rd itsuse have beendi s cus sed as they relate to the cuItu r a! implicat ions of touching behavior, curre nt conc e r ns wit hchild physical and se xu a l abuse, court cases onse xu a l abuse which have involvedpersons in positi ons of tru s t , i.:1c l ud i ng teachers,and thevulnerablepositionone is pl aced in as a te a c her. Clearly , the ne ed for program po licie s wit h emphasis on the va lue of physica l contact in teache r - s t ud e ntinteractions , andgu i d eline s onthe appropr i- ate typesof touch withchildrenar e neede d. The basis for suc h program policiesand guide line sli e s withi n an inc r e a s e d unde rsta nd i ngot: thenature of thetouc h whlchoccurs in the class roombetween te a c herand stude nts. Even in light of the established i1llportance plac ed on to uch in te ache r-stude nt
23 inte r a cti on s, as can be seen from thll re v i ewof re l a ted litera t ure,research to assessiftouc hac t ua l l y occurs in the classroom settingand the natureof that touch has not been co ndu cte d . The presentstudy was a preliminary attempt to find out more about crese rocn touc h and its prevalence in variouscfrcune tanc eeinthe classroomsetting.
Observationso( Touc hinNatural Bettings
This section wi ll de al wit h studies tha t have been invol ve dindisc ove ri ngwh attyp e s of touchoccurin natura l sit u ati on s.
Burgess(1981) st ud i e d the distance s mainta i ne d between cl osest playmates duringfreeplay in me nt ally retarded and nonnal grade sch ool ch ildre n. It wa s found that yo unger pub licschool childrentouchedmor e freque nt lywh il e playing (43 . 81 of time saJIlple s ) tha n did th eir ol d e r peers (""hO touc hed in8.3 \ of ti mesamples). Incont r a s t, no tOUChing vasrecordedin the ment ally retardedchildre n during observed playperiods .
Willisand Hoffman(1975) stud i ed changes which occurred intouch inte ractioninpri mary scho olchil d ren. In same-sex pair s boys and girl sin white andinintegratedsc hoo lsshowed a redu ct i on in frequencyof touc h fromkinde rgarte n to sixth grade. In th e black school , howev er, no re duc t i on in the frequencyoftouc hwasobs e rv ed. Touch was more frequ e n t in same-sexpairs than in different-sex pairs. with reg a rd to
24 body are a to uch e d , ha nd- t o-ha nd touches were frequen t in ferna l e -to- f ernaleinte r actionsandneverobs e rv e d in male- ta- male inte r a c tions.
Williamsan dWill is (1978) st udied the effects of race and social class upon touch In pre-school aged children.
Children were observed at pl ay in black law-income, bla c k middle-inc ome, wh i t e low-income, and whi te middle-income presch ool s . Rates of touch were higher for lew- income children in ins ide pla y areas and higher for same-gende r pairs. In outs ide play areas, touchwas higher for black same-genderpairsbut the r e was no race difference intouch fordi f f eren t gender pai rs . In general, rates of touchwere higher than those previous ly reported for older American childrenandadults, butlowe r than those for both children and ad ul ts fromsome ot hercultur es.
Willis and Reeves (1976) extended the study of touch interactions to children of junior hi gh school ages to determinewhe t h e r the reductionin touch interactionsobserved inthe primaryschoolcontinuedinolde r subjects. A combina - tion of maleandre nate Whites, bla ck s , and Mexica n- Amer icans wereobserved in schoo lcafeteria line s in seven juniorhigh schools. Thesex ofthe st ude nt,ethnic gro up,body area used to touchand area touched were each recorded. It was found a st udent wa s more likelyto sta ndbeh indanotherof the same sex and the same rac e . The resu ltswere similiar to th e prima r y schoo l , inthat touchwas most likely in black-blac k
'5
combinationand least in white-blackcombination. Touch was most likelyto occur shoulderto shoulder and el bowto elbow.
Increased aggressionwas noted among temales as they were observed to use the i r fists. It app e a r e d racial and sexual segregation continuedfrompr i ma r y school. Finally,touch was less frequent for all races than tJ,i'lt observed in primary school children.
Willis, Reeves and Buchanan (1978) studied the inte r - personal touching which occurs between high school students in school cafeteria li ne s . Ins t a nc e s of touch were recorded along with body part used to touch and area touched. High school students were observed to segregate themselvesby ra c e and sex as did the primary and junior high students in the earlier studies. Although hypothesized, touch with high school students was not le s s freque nt than that observed in younger students. Touc h was hi g h est among black students.
An increase in aggressive touch in female.junior high students,as observed and reported by, willis&Reeves (1976) was not observed in this study.
Willis ,Rinck and Dean (1978)studiedinterpersonal touch among adults (college students and elderly) in cafeteria lines. It was foun d that college students segrega tedthem- selvesby race and sex. The elderlysUbjects did not segre- gate the ms elv e s by gender. For college students, to uc h was highest for fe ma l e to male combinations; blacks ....ere most likely to touchblacks and least likelyto touchwhites. For
as the elderly sUbjects, touch was more likely for female to female interactionsthanit was forthe college students, but there wereno differences for the other gender combinations.
Body areas involved in touch were cl a s s i f i ed as either personal (hand, kiss, hug) orimpersonal (upper arm, shoulder, back). In cctreqestUdents, personal body areas were more likely to be used to touch ether-s of differentgender while impersonal body areas were more likely to be usedto touch others of the same gender. For elderlysUbj ec t s , there was no differences in frequencies with which personal or impersonal areas were involved intouch in relationto gender for either area used to touch or area touched. similar findings were reported by Rinck, Willis and Dean in another study in198 0.
The stUdies in this sectionfoc us e d on observationsof touching behaviours in natural~ettings. Various components such as types of touch, body parts involved in the touch interaction, age groups, ethnic ba c kg r ound, soc.ioec cncra ic class, and sex of the individuals were included in the observation process. These observational studies were conducted to examine the differences among components ofthe touch interact. ion. In the presen t study, the classroom env i r onme nt provided a natural setting in ....hichtouch inter- actioncould be observed as it occurred between teacher and child. The components of thetouch interactions were identi- fiedin the context of the schoolsetting. These components
27 of the touchinteractionsprov idedthe fr a mework for andbasis of th e re s earchquesti on s of this study.
per c e ption s
ot
TouchThest u diesinthis sect iondea lwithpeoples pe rce pti o ns of touching behaviours . pe r ceptio ns of touc h wil l have an effe c t on the way a student fe els abo ut atea ch er and about the school.
Heslin , Nguyenand Ngu yen(1983) studied themeaning of
touchbya strangeror a closefriend of thesameor opposi te sex. Two hundre d andeight re s ponde n t s ratedwha t it means toth emto be touchedinthe se way s . Both male and female respond ents ag r eed tha t (a ) touch from a cl os e fr iend is pleasant ,and (b) touch from a same sex person is unpleasant. However, tou c h fr om an opposit esexstra ngeris considere d to be un pleasan t bywomenbut quite ple a s an t bymen. Fo r women, the mean ing of tou c h isprimar ilyinfl u en c ed by how wellthey knot- the ot he r per son , for men, th e meani ng is pr ima r il y determi ne d bythe ot herpersonIs sex.
Ma jor andHeslin (1982 ) ass e s s ed observers 'perceptions of actors engaged in cr os s -se x and same-sex nonrec iprocal touchandno-touch . Toucherswerera ted si gnific a ntl y highe r than recipient s on di men sionsof status/domina nc e, instru- ment a lity/asser tiveness , andwarmth/ e xpre s sive ne ss. Further- mor e . touch ers were rate d hi gh e r and reci p ients we re rated lower , on the s e dimensio ns tha nno-touchcont r o l s. Res u l ts
28
suggestedthat no nre c i pr o c al touc hconveys several messages, and benefitsthetou c h er morethanth e re c i pie nt.
Jones and 'iarbrough (1985) examf ned the meanings in cont e xt of touches reported by persons from the i r da ily interactions. The pa rticipant observers we r e university students, 17ma l e s and 22 females, mainly between 20 - 24 years of age. The participants we r e as ke d to record the initiatorof the touch, the bodypa rtsinvo lved inthe touch, where the touch event occurred, verbalization between the ind i viduals and ti mi ng of the verbalization inte rms of the touch i ng beh av ior, appa rent meaning of touch. whethe r touch was ac c e pte d or re j e c t e d , nature of the touching, and the status of the individua l.
The results revealed 12 dio::: t i n ct meanings: support, appreciation ,inclus ion, sexual inte re s t or intent, affection, playfulaffection, playfulaggression,co mpli a nc e, attention- getting, announcing a response , greetings, and de pa r t u r e. There were alsoseveral kinds of hy b r i d neendnqs , the main ones being gree ting/af fection and departure/affection, and fourcategoriesof potentially ambiguoustouches: reference toappeacance,in s t rume nt al ancillary,inst rume nt a l intrinsic, and accidental. The first three of the s e potentially ambiguous cate go r i es of meaning for touch, were directly relatedtoth e performance of a task. Referencetoappe a r a nc e toucheswere touches whichpointedouta body part referred to through verbalization about the touch recipi entIs
29
appear a nc e. Inst rumen ta l ancilla ryto uc h e s occur red. as incident a l part ofperfo rmi nga task such as atouc h of the hand to hand when pas sing the te l e ph o ne. Instrumental int rinsic to uch e s ac comp lished a ta s k in and ofthe mse lves such ashelpingsomeone getup .
The analysis als o reve a l ed a number of patterns of be h a viourcon s isti ngof aseries of relate dtou ch esdefined as touchsequen c e s. Atouch sequencewasde f in e d as a series of two or more tou ch e s whicharecommunicat ively rela tedto one another within the sa me intera c t i on. Two type s of sequ e nc eswerefou nd: rep etitive sequences,which co nsis t of a seri e sof touc hesin Whic hthe same melllningis conveyedby each, and strategic sequences, which consistof a seriesof touches inwhich the me aning changes in the progr essio nof touches .
As can be se en above the re has been little research conducted focusing on how people , in general, perceive touchingbehavio r. Heslinet af, (1983) studiedtheme anings of tou ch among adu lts in the context of the relation s h ip betw e e n the ind ivid uals inthetouc h interac t ion. Major and Heslin (1982) st udi e dob ee xv e r e' per c e pt i on s of themeanings oftouchthr ough ob s e rvationof actors. Jo nes and Yarbrough (1 98 5 ) examined the meani ng s of touch es in dail yinteracti ons asrepo rted by pa r t i cipa ntobs ervers.Toexamineperceptions ot touch, one can question peo pl o toassess the ir feelings towar dva rious typesoftouches,anduse observe r s to examine
30 perceivedme a ni ngsot touches. The research found in the rev ie..ha s been co n fi ne d toadu~tpopulations andtouc h whi c h occ ur s bet....een adults. There has beenno rese a r c h foundtha t examine d perceptions er:touch between ad ul t s and childre n.
An examinationof theperceptionsof types of touch leadsone to reviewthe impact ofto uch onthe parties involvedin the process. This present studyexa mi ne d observers' perceptions of the meaningsof touch in adult-childinte r a c t i ons in tho classroom envi ro nment. This will provide a beginning to furt he r unde rst a nd i ng of the mean ingsof touch betweenadu lts andchildren.
Effects of Touch
The eff ects of to uc h will also be of co ncern to the cla ssroomtea ch e r as they could hav e a bearing on howthe studentfeelstowa rd thete a cher ,the classandthe schoo ling experience. Thetea cher 'susaof touc hmayhave sign i fica nc e in mo tiv a tion of the student and de a ling with classroom ma na ge me nt. The following studies examined relationships betweentouch and behavioursafter the touch occurred.
Raiche (1977) studied the effecti ve ness of touch in helping the counsellor of the young ch ild to communi c a t e empathy andrega r d andto helpthechildto be mor eself-dis- cl o s i ng wi thinthe counsellinginteraction. specifically,he wa s concerned withtouch of the hand,shoulder, back or knee. The popUlationconsistedof 950 first , sec o nd and thirdgrade
31 child r en. Ni net y-eight students from thispopulati on random l y selected by groups to take part in a test- retest reliability study ofthe instrument. Theinst r ume nt,designed bytheauthor.consis t e d of video-ta pedsegme nts of simulat e d couns e lling sessions wi t h children. Forany give nadmin i stra·
t icn,twota pedse gmentswerepresented which we r e essenti all y identical,except touchwas included in oneandnot theother.
The sex of the six year old clie nt who was shown in the segment was alway s thesame as th:lcouns ellor. Theorder of presentation (touch or no touch) was varied. The childre n chos e the couns ellor who employed tou c h significantly mor e frequently than the couns e llo r whodid not.
Beutler(19 78 ) at tempted to det e rminethe relation ship betwe e n tea c her/s t ude nt nonve r ba l int e r a c tion and aca demic achievemen t. Itwas hypothlo sized te a c her behavio r s such as move ment variationsinthecl ass room, pr ox imi tyto stude nts, pos tural va r iations, such as bendingdown to studen t s, and tactile activity betwe en teachers and student s would ha ve mot ivatio nal pote nc y an d wou Ld te nd to inc r e a se stude nt achiev e me nt beyon dtheaverage expe c ted growthas measuredby st andar diz e d ach ievementte s t s. The studywas conductedwi th grade fourand grad e six pupilsof a middle-s izedurban school population and observations were li mi t e d to social st ud ies and mathemat ics. Theaspectsof te acher expres s ive behav ior investiga ted as indepe ndent variabl eswere: (a ) de gr e e of teacher movementinatim e-3pac eframe ; (b) degreeof proxi-
32 mity between te a c her and student : (e) number of postura l varia t ionsdire c tedbytea c he rsatstuden t s; and (d) number of touch con t acts in I tIated by the te a c herto ward st udents.
As de pe nden t measu res he used the cla s s ave rage composIte score ofthe Iowa Tests ofAchieveme ntandattitudina l data such as stude nt tardiness, abs ences , cond uc t grade s , and parentparti c ipationat"Ba ck toSch ool"night. Thetact ile activ i t ymeasure countedthe number oftouchcontactstea ch ers directedtowardtheirst ude nt s duringtheobs ervationperiods.
No distinctionswe r emadebe tween alight touch,whichmi gh t have been use d to get a student ' s atte ntio n, or a heavie r touch, such as might be use d to restrain a studen t from unde sirableor calamitous activi ty. Beutl er (1918 ) included touchinhisstudy aspre vious res e arch sugge s t e d thattouc h ....as essential not onl y in human development. but als o in le a r ni ng. Anal ys i s ofthe results suggestedphysical touc h maybe iIlIplicatedinle arn i ng achievementandthatstude nts seemed to interp ret itas conveying thesame att i t u deof Care and concer n as bendingdown and gi v ing perso na l attent i on.
Pratt(197 3) attempt e d todetem nne the ext e n t to which nonverbal communi c ationthrough touc h....as relatedto re ad ing achievementscore s of first andsecond grade st Udent s andsex of seudents , The sample consisted of twentyteachers , ten fir s t grade and ten second grade , and the ir re s pe ctive studen ts. The teachers werevide otaped thr e edif fe r entt.Ine e for a totalof one hour each. The tapesve eeviewe d byjudges
33
traine d to categ oriz e the typ e of to uch exhibitedby the teacher. The st uden ts 'Were given subt e s t s of the St a nford xcnteven ent; Test. The ratingdevice allowed fortouchtobe catego r ize d in three ways: affe ct iona l, directive, and disciplinary . Af fect i o na l referredto bodycontact of a....era, lovi ng nature, either solicited byor reciprocated bythe teacher. Directi v ereferredto body contactbetwe ena teac her and a student for the purpose of direction (redirectinga s tudentss attention) . Discipl inaryrefe rredtobody contact betweenteacher and student for the purpose of discipline.
The rating scalewas exe cut ed suchthateachtimeateacher exh i b i t edan action commen s ur a te tothe cat eg or i e sconta i ned on thescal e theobs erver ma r ked intheapp ro p r i ateca tegory and dist i ngu i sh edbetw e ensex of the childtowh i c hthe action was directed. Resul ts of the study indica ted th e r e was no signi ficant rel ati ons h ipbetwee nthetype oftouchexh ib i ted bythete ache r and read ing ac hi ev ement. Thesma l l sampleused in the studycould account, in part, for the in a bi li tyto obt a i n si1nific ance. Results of the analysis involvingthe relat ionsh ipbetween the typeof tou chandse x of the students proved significant beyond th e .001 le v e l of confi dence, sugge sti ng a positive relationship between the sex of the studen t to whom thetouc h is being directed and the type of touch exhibited.
Kleinfeld (191]) conducted a cros s-cultural study to observewhe t he r teachernonverbal wa nath would increase the
34 le a r n i ng andverba l communi ca t ionof Eskimo stude nts andto dete rm ine if Es ki mos were mo re sensi tive than whi te s to teacherwarmth. Twent yvil lage Eskimo students and twen t y urbanwhitestu dents from the ninthgrade ,eq ua llydivided by sex, attendedtwo college guidanceand info rmatio nsessions . The instructor(a 26 year oldwhi tefema le)behaved in a warm style in one of the sessions and in a neu.tra l, impersona l style in theot her. Inthewarn. sesslon, the ins tructor sat at a distance of 31l inches which is defined as a per s o nal distancethatgen erate s a kinesthe ticsense of closeness. She smiledfrequent lyand touchedthe st udent twicewhile showing him a map locating colleges. In the neutra l sessi o n, the instruc t o r stood at a dista nceof80 inches anddid not smile or touch the student . Three measures whic h determined di ffe re nc esinve r balexpression an d learning in the situation were: que s tion-a ns we r ing,question -aski ng,and le arn ing. The number ofwordsinthe studentIs reply to four questions about a class ,served asth e ques tion-answeringmeasure; the numbe r of questions the studentaskedaboutinforma t ion gi ve n to him on two unfamiliar co lleges served as the ques tion-ask ing measu re ;and the studentr s verbalrespo nses to eight questions measuring informat ion acq u i si ti on served as the le arni ng Amo ng the findings were: both Eskimo and wh i te studentstend edtole ar n si gnificantly mo r e in ano nve r ba lly warm si t ua tion , wi th Eskimo femal e s showing the gre a test inc r e ase. When the warm session pr e c ed e dthe neut ralsession,
35 all groups hadabo utthe same scor es. This....ouldsug gest a possiblecar-ry -overeffec t fro m one sessionto the next.
Cleme n ts and Tracy (1977) investigated the effectsof ta ct i le and ve r balre info r ce ment and a combinat ionofbo t h on atten tion totaskandaccura c y of per f or mance solving mathe - matica lpr o b lems. Ten bo ys, ofnormal intell igence , ranging in agefrom9·11 ye arsold, who hadbc'e r.diagnosedas emotion - ally distu r bed and pl acedin a special educatio nclassroom se rved as the sUbjects for thi s study. The tact i l e cue consisted of firm hand pressure being appl i ed to both shouldersonthe child . The verbal cue consisted of telling the child that he wou ld do a "good job " . The treatme n t conditions consisted of tactile, ver bal, both tacti l eand ver ba l,and cont r ol (no cue). Each sUbject recefvedea ch of the s e treatme nt conditi on s an four differe nt occasions. I t was fo undthat , for at tention totas k, both the combi na tion of tac tile and verbal cues , and tac tile cue alone wer e significantlymore effective th aneit he r ver bal cue aloneor control. Theverbal cuealonewas also moreeffect i vethan the co ntrol in attent ionto tas k . Forad thmeticperforman ce, the co mbinatio nof tactileanda verbal cu ewas significant ly more effec t ive tha nthe tactile cue alo ne , verbal cue alone , or co ntrol cond i tion . Thes e fin dings demonstrated tha t tactile stimulationmayhavere i nf orc in gval ue especiallYwhen comb ined with ver ba l pra i s e .
Larse n (1975 )inv e s tiga ted teache r support ive behavi or s
36
and attemp tedtovarythes ebeha v io r s to me a s ur eth e iref f ec ts onpr e s c hool children's le'arningof aIllot o r skil l andcogni- t ive task. The investigation con s isted of three parts:
observ a tions of teacher l>upp o r t ive beha viors , a te ache r tr aining progr am to increase the occur r enc e of these supportivebehavio r s , and the effectsof the Use of these supportive behaviors on the chl1 d ren s ' lea r n i ng. The suppo r t ive beh avi ors whichLar sen (1975) ide ntified, from a revi ew of the liter ature, included : phy s i cal pr oximi ty, fa cial. ve r b a l , and physical cont a c t. Physical contact behav i ors iden t i f ied as sup p ort i ve in c luded embracing , pattin g,an d hol di ngth e hand or armof thechild , butnot hurtingor punishing suc has spanking ,hi t t ing orgra b bin g.
Theteacher training program significantly inc r eased thr e e tea cher beh avio rs- -p hys ical pro ximity , ve r ba l behavior , and pnysical contact. Compariso ns betw e e nthe expe riment al and cont r o l gro u ps, on th e two learniny- tasks , yielded the findi n gs that pres chool chil d ren , espec ially girls: (a ) benef i t ted significantly by increa sed teacher supp o r t in learning a :motor skill : and (b) sh owed gr e ater gain in the cognitivnareawi t hout increasedteacher support.
Whe ld all , Bev an andShorta ll(1 9 86)conducte dtwostudies whic h examine dthe effects of cont i n gen t teacher touch onthe classroombehaviorof young childrenininfa nt school s. The fi r ststUdy examin ed the effe ctofposit i v e cont i n gen t te acher touch ontheon- t a sk behavi or and dis r uption ratesof infan t
37 class children. Observations we r e made fo r te n half heur sessionsintwo infantcl assesforthe collection ofbase line data. Foll owing this , teach ers were ins tructed to to uch childre nonlywhen they prai sed them forap p r opria t e academic and/or social behavior and no t to touch them for ot her purposesof instruction or re- direction . obse r v a t ions were then made fo r ten more half hour sessions. The results indicatedthat bot h teachersincreasedtheir contingent use of posit ivecouch, During interventionthe majorityof praise st.atea errcs wereac c o mpanie d by to uch , unli k e duringbaseline, whereveryfewpr a ise s wereaccompaniedbvecuch. This effect was generally conf i ned to approval for appropria te ac a d emi c behavior. An interestingob s e rv at ion ....as made that both te achers decreased their use of disap proval toina ppr opriat e social conductalthoughnot instructedtodo so. The second study attemptedto replicate thefirs t ....itht ....o more infant cl asses. In all four cases mean cl ass on-t a s k behavior incr ea s edsUbstantially followingin terve ntion and me a s ured rates ofdisrupt i v e behavior felL All teachers, without being instruc tedto do so, decreasedth eirus e of disapproval, which may have influenced children 's on-task behav i or. Changesin children'sbehavior were notedwith increasedus e of co n t in gen t touch ....i th approval and decreased use of di s app r oval.
Cheney, Maplesand Jenkins (1988)inve s t i ga t e d the re l a- tionship between increased teacher touch and children's
se1 f -es teemin thi r d grade classr ooms. Eigh t thirdgrade classroomsin thr ee elemen ta rysc h ools parti c i pat ed inthis stUdy. Classrooms were ra ndomly assigned to either the experimen tal or control group condit ions. The Batt les Cu lture -FreeSe lf-Es teem In v e nt ory (Form A) was administer ed to all eight cl assrooms on a pretes t andposttes t basis, ap p roJdma tely ninewe eks apart. Duri ngthe 9-wee k per iod, between the testing, the teachers inth e experimentalgroups were instructed to make an effortto touch each child in their classes no less than twot imespe r week. The touches were defined as the encouragingand attention-provoking gen t le touch of the te ache r ' s handonthe child's head, shoulder, az-m,or upper back. Thete ache r s in theco ntrol group were givenno instructio n sexce ptthattheir classesconstituted a control groupin a stLldy examining children 'ssel f -esteem . Two school counsel lors made periodic observations in the experimenta l and con trolclassroomsand met with theteachers inthe exper i menta l condi tion, indi vi d u ally, todi s cus s the interve n tion and any prob1emsbeing experienced. Anecdotal repor tsof the frequencyof touc h observed in the experimental andcon trol co ndi t i onswere madeby the counsell ors. The te a chers inthe experimentalcondition were observed to usc to uch mo derate lyto frequen tly, touch ing 5 to 15 chi ldren per 30 minu teins tructional peri od. The teacher sinthe con t rol conditi on we r e observed to us e to uch occasionally to moderate ly,touchin g 0to 7 children per 30 minute instruc-
tlonal period.
39 Pos !tiv e changes wer e note d in st udent self-e stee m from thepre testtothe post t e stmeasur eme ntsin both theexperime nt al andcont r ol gro up s . No sign ificant dirf e r ences betwe en thegroup swer e 1".lted.
Holly, Trower and Chance (1984 )desc ribe d a pr o g raa1n wbic h the concept or hU9'qing ....as introduced toa cla ss of grade fivestudents . Anexperimental club vesformedtost ud y thpeffects oftouchon thestudents. Hu g g i ng wasintr oduce d asa means ofsh o wing friendship. Those whoparticipatedin the study were instructe d to hug one st ude nt each day over a sixt y day pe riod . At the endof the sixty days, the 20 stud ents who particip a ted were gi.v en an eva luatio n for m.
Analy s is of the evalua tion fons reveal e dtha t IlOst of the stud e nts (85 \)be lieved thei r teach er had a positive attitud e towa r dhug ginq and viewedhugging as a nice wayof saying hell o. Fifty·fiv eperc ent of thes tudentsrepo rt edtha t they hadmade ne wfr i ends through the club. Thir ty-fi ve percen t thoug ht othe r students wer e tr eat i ngthea be tte r andth e y enjoyed the clas s ecr e , Twe nty· U vepercent of the ch ildren bel i e ved th ei r teacher was bei ng nicer as a result of the club. Therewere no negat ive response s ind i c at e d on the eval ua tion forms. The teacherthought the program helped fos t erbette rpeerrelati ons. amo re tolerantattitudetowa r d each other, wit h les s name-call ing and general herz-esse errc , and aninc r ea s e in on-taskbehavior. I twas conclu d ed that the useof touch Is a viab 1 ese.ans of enhan cing clas sroom
40 climate.
The studIes in this section have provided an overviewof research in the educationalsetting on theeffects of touch.
The effects ottou ch on those whoha vebeentouchrecipients have been investigated. The findings of the studies suggest a numberof effec tswhich relate tothe focus of the studyand the context of thetouchinteraction. Th eeffects of touch as id e nt if i e d in thes e studies indicate nonverbal behaviors incl udingtouchmay have an effect on academic achievement and attention to task. The re l at i ons hip between toucb and academic achievement has yieldedsignificantand non-signifi- cant findings. Therelationshipbetweentouch and sel f-esteem in the classroom settingwasnot significant .
In summary , the te acher's use ofto uch may personalize the schoolingexperience andthe teacher-studentrelationship.
It maybe en integral component in the developmentof child·
rens' perception sof th e teacher, the class,and theschool.
Its use may have valuein helping the shy, withdrawn ch i ld become an active participant intheclass.
Touch may also have value in maintaining on-task behaviors and diminish ing disruptive classroombehaviors. As can be seen above,the effectsof touchhave been examined in different contexts. pos s i b l e effectsof the use of touch in teacher-atiudeneinteractions in theclassroom environment can be identifiedandneed to be furt herexp lored.
41 culturalDiffe rences
This section focuses on the cu ltura l differences which exist 1nta ctilebe havi o r. The cultural no rms which exist wi:!.l determinethe degree to which an individual uses touch in his/her da ily interactions and th e meanings which are associated ...iththe touching behavior . In interactions in the classroom environment, the teacher who uses touch !Jill also be aware of the cuI tur a l norms based onthebeliefs he/she has about tOUChingfromchildhood.
Knapp (1980) highlighted the existence of cu l t u r a l differences with reference to observations a traveller can make. Hedis c us s e d the concept of "c onta c t " versus "non- contact"CUl t ures . An examplewhich he cites is theobserva- tion one can make of the greetingbehaviors of the French or It al i a n , who are very "c onta ct-or i e n t ed" , compared to the British, who are very "non-contecc"oriented.
Morris (1971) wrote extensively of the tactile experi- encesof various cultures. In his discussion of the tactile experiences of infantsand childreninthe united states, he cited an unpublis hed doctoral dissertationby Vi da l stair Clay in which i t was found that tactile contactbecame a .:Hmi n i s h ingfa ct o r in the mothe r -childaffectional system with the increasi ngage of the child. Montagu (1971),as cited in wolfgang (1979), suggested theremay be national, CUltu ral , and social class differences inexpressing tactilebehaviors, whereby those who speak Anglo-Saxon der ived languageswould
