Blackwell Reference Online

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Teaching is a social influence process. Teachers influence students to learn. Influencing students to learn requires teachers to find ways to change students’ existing attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. Teachers may need to induce a positive attitude toward learning mathematics or science. They may need to alter students’ beliefs about the causes of World War II. Teachers may need to encourage students to read more books. In order to effect such changes, teachers need to strategize ways to influence, motivate, or persuade students. This process of →  Persuasion , or the selection of verbal and nonverbal messages to effect change, is fundamental to teacher effectiveness. Persuasion always involves communication. The source of communication, or the teacher, seeks to elicit a particular, desired response from the receiver, or the student. The purpose of the communication is to change, modify, or shape the student's responses. Classroom persuasion involves a conscious effort to influence students’ thoughts and behaviors. Influence involves change; intentional influence involves a plan, a strategy, application, and persistence. From this perspective then, effective teachers are proactive and skilled persuaders. The teacher identifies specific attitudes, cognitions, or behaviors to be targeted, and deliberately designs messages intended to elicit those changes in the student. Most of ... log in or subscribe to read full text