Using a Systems Thinking Framework to Explore Social Cognition and Physiologic Synchrony During Teaching Interactions

• In Event: Roundtable Session 17
  In Roundtable Session: Promoting Equity and Diversity Through Systems Thinking

Abstract

We now recognize the learning brain as a dynamic context dependent system that develops over time in a nonlinear fashion.1 Teaching theory has often been constructed through the lens of learning theories. While our understanding of teaching has evolved, it has yet to incorporate into its framework the dynamic systems or developmental theories used in learning. Moreover, unlike learning, teaching is inherently a social cognitive interaction. My current study will explore whether physiologic synchrony between teacher and student is a positive marker of teaching as a social interaction. The results will provide exciting preliminary data on whether framing teaching as an interactive system characterized by its social cognitive and developmental properties provides new insight into the nature of teaching.

Author

• Vanessa Rodriguez, Harvard University