Interactive Communication Used in Teaching and Learning in Social Studies Classes

Abstract

This article is based on an undergraduate thesis (“Social Studies Classes: An Opportunity for Interactive Communication in the Teaching/Learning Process”). The different communication interactions during a Social Studies class are examined as well as how they impact the teaching/learning process serve as the main objective of this qualitative study. The methodology used is phenomena-based methodology and looks at the contextual setting provided by a teacher and twenty-seven students in an actual classroom in an urban high school. Techniques used for the study include phenomenon-based observation, discussion groups and semi-structured interviews. Triangulation was used as an analysis method. Research are classified based on elements used for communication, personal-academic relationships, the actual space of the classroom and its distribution as well as the didactic aspect of teaching Social Studies as a subject. The aforementioned aspects are based on the construction of a central category called, “Empathy or Distancing in Classroom Interactions used in Classrooms” as theoretical support for the subject of study. Observation and feedback from the study participants allow us to conclude that communication interaction influences how students acquire knowledge and relate to the subject matter studied by using their own personal experience and immediate classroom setting. Furthermore, the configuration of the actual physical classroom helps determine the type of interaction that occurs which, in turn, impacts the teaching and learning process.