oliver

CHAPTER I
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Many people think of communication only as oral or written verbal exchanges.
However, spoken language is not the only way humans exchange information. Verbal
communication only takes up a small fraction of the messages people send and
receive. Some of them are not aware of the non-verbal language they communicate
daily. Non-verbal communication includes all forms of communication that are not
part of the language people speak or write.
Non-verbal language is complicated since they can be interpreted in many ways. In a
conversation, people express ideas and feelings not only with words, but also
through their facial expressions, voice tones, gestures, and position. These are
called “body language”. Body language is the language of gestures and postures.
Studies of body language analyze the emotions transmitted through movements, such
as facial expressions and the movement of eyes, hands, legs, feet, and the whole
body. These studies show how the body language of a person can reveal to his or her
state of mind and intentions, and personality traits such as self-confidence,
shyness, aggressiveness, greed, rivalry. Thus, people can say that a person’s
posture expresses his or her attitudes and feelings.
Body language helps people communicate with each other without the use of words. It
refers to the patterns of facial expressions and gestures that people use to
express their feelings in communication. It is a form of non-verbal communication
that is usually being misinterpreted. People use the language of the body to convey
all kinds of messages and meanings, and most of them take this process for granted,
never realizing that it takes place at a subconscious, rather than a conscious,
level. The point is that language does not have to be in the form of words for its
meaning to be grasped by someone else. The way people use their body to emphasize
or suggest, to inform, illustrate, or even manipulate, is like punctuation. Without
it, meaning and emphasis are lost.
It makes people aware of his or her body language. This awareness, in turn, leads
to greater self-control and more effective communication processes. If people are
aware of what they do with their body, their self-understanding becomes more
profound and more meaningful. Once people manage to control their body language,
they will be able to cross many defensive barriers and establish better
relationships. Body language is an essential component of communication, and it is
to people’s advantage to develop skills in this area to be better risk
communicators.

One of the vital function of body language is to express people’s feelings about
what they are discussing. Body language can help people determine how someone
feels about what they are saying. For example, people may tell their boss that
they would be happy to take the account, but their body language might indicate
that they are not at all happy about it.
It is essential that a person learn to analyze and understand body language. Being
aware of both non-verbal and verbal messages will give a person an important edge.
Skills in interpreting non-verbal communication will help them glean useful
information from others. Awareness can also prevent a person from harming someone
or sending the wrong message.
People should figure out how to utilize non-verbal communication for a valuable
reason. They should also figure out how to comprehend and decipher the non-verbal
communication of others while realizing that the non-verbal communication has
distinctive implications. The interpretation of non-verbal communication relies
upon the circumstance, culture, and gender of other people. This implies there is
not one body language that has a similar meaning all over the world.
Understanding nonverbal cues require background knowledge and experience. It is
easy to be misled or misinterpret signals that are not filtered for context,
culture, gender, and personal bias.
Leaders are persons who are in charge of or control of an organization or
community. They convince other people to follow and influence them towards the
achievement of a goal. Great leaders inspire confidence in other people and move
them to action. Their decisions make a difference to the whole population that they
govern. They rule and guide to maintain peace and order and to satisfy the needs of
the people around them.
Leaders must have a deep-rooted commitment to the goal that they will strive to
achieve. But whatever the situation, leaders must integrate their goal with their
followers’ goals and strive for this goal in such a way that they embrace it too
and the goal becomes a common goal. In like manner, according to Cohen (2017),
leadership is an important function of an organization because it helps to maximize
productivity to achieve organizational goals. Leadership has a crucial role in the
success of an organization, without compelling initiative no organization can work
productively. An organization is created with the purpose of achieving specific
objectives through a human group.
Leadership applies to any person at any level of an organization, in any field, who
significantly knows how to rule. Some effective leadership qualities include: clear
and flexible communication skills, ability to focus on making decisions quickly and
then follow through, empathy for others so that you can understand where they're
coming from, ability to project a great passion for work and inspire others to
share it, an unwavering sense of honesty and integrity in leadership skills, and
drive to sharpen leadership qualities and skills on a regular basis. The
communication skills previously mentioned can either be verbal or non-verbal.
In an academic setting, the leaders are the teachers. Teachers give their best to
impart their knowledge to the students effectively. They do not only supervise but
also play a guiding role for the students in a classroom. Guidance here means
instructing the students the way they have to perform their work effectively and
efficiently. Teachers play an extraordinary part in the lives of children for the
formative years of their development. They involve themselves in molding their
students into responsible citizens of their country. It is important for teachers
to become mindful of their outward nonverbal projection, as well as observation of
student nonverbal cues.
Communication, when correctly done is a two‐way interactional process. That
statement remains valid in the classroom, where, the teachers strive to communicate
clearly and effectively with their students. Effective communication is critical in
the classroom environment. However, even in a student‐centered, active learning
environment, a significant portion of verbal and non‐verbal communication is
generated by the teacher. Through the interpretation of the students’ nonverbal
cues, this seemingly one‐way classroom communication can become a more interactive,
two-way process. Students’ ability and comfort with processing instructions can be
interpreted from their nonverbal cues, which, in turn, allows the teacher to
advance the discussion based on the type of observed signals.
Nonverbal communication is a universal and well‐defined form of interaction. The
benefits for a teacher to develop a keen sensitivity and ability to interpret
student nonverbal communication should be self-evident. Both the teacher and the
student stand to gain from improved classroom communication. Understanding
nonverbal cues require background knowledge and teaching experience. It is easy to
be misled or misinterpret signals that are not filtered for context, culture,
gender, and personal bias.
According to Lazaro (2011), teacher leadership is primarily concerned with
developing high-quality learning and teaching in schools. It has at its core a
focus on improving education. Teacher leadership is not a formal role,
responsibility or set of tasks. It is more of a form of an agency where teachers
are empowered to lead development work that affects directly upon the quality of
teaching and learning. Teacher leaders guide within, and beyond the classroom, they
identify with and contribute to a community of teachers and influence others
towards improved educational practice. In contrast to traditional notions of
leadership, a form of collective leadership in which teachers develop expertise by
working collaboratively characterizes teacher leadership. The essential point is
that teacher leaders are, in the first place, expert teachers, who devote a
significant amount of their time in the classroom but take on leadership roles at
times when development and innovation are needed. Their role is primarily assisting
colleagues to explore and try out new ideas, then offering critical but
constructive feedback to ensure improvements in teaching and learning are achieved.

The Republic Act No. 10533 or the “Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013” is the law
signed by former President Aquino in 2013. This law implemented the 12-year primary
education in the Philippines. The shift in the education curriculum from the 10-
year primary school to 12 years also started in 2013.
According to Nelson Mandela, “Education is the most powerful weapon which can be
used to change the world.”
On June 3, 2013, over 23 million elementary and high school students from more
than 45,000 public schools nationwide continued their journey to change the world.
However, most of them began the school year not only with an entirely new
curriculum.
In accordance to the Department of Education (DepEd), the rationale for RA 10533 is
to address the poor quality of primary education provided by the current curriculum
as reflected in the low achievement scores of Filipino students and the
Philippines’ unemployment rate. International test results rank the Philippines not
only below the global average but also as the last in Asia.
With regards to the study, this paper sought to discuss teachers body language
hands on hips. This paper hoped to identify what the posture of the teacher is
portraying and how the teacher will portray the specific gesture. Thus, in this
context, the researchers developed a body language hands on hips poster intended
for Filipino senior high school teachers.
Definition of Terms
The following terms are defined conceptually and operationally for a better
understanding of this study:
Frame. According to Cambridge Dictionary (2018), it refers to the structure that
holds the parts of an object in position and gives them support. In this study,
frame pertains to Bolman and Deal’s four frames of leadership: structural, human
resources, political, and symbolic. Operationally, the term denotes the ideas and
assumptions which help the seeker of the understanding register and assemble
information into a coherent pattern.
Hands on Hips. It is a position of the body where the hands are resting on the
hips, and the elbows are bowed outward, bent, or bowed in a more general sense. The
outward bowed elbows expand, and visually enlarge the upper body, making it look
more powerful in size.
Human Resource Leader. The term pertains to a person who is in charge of the
department that deals with the employment, training, support, records and other
activities of a company's employees (Cabase, 2015). In this study, the term
signifies the charismatic ability of the teacher to motivate and empower their
students as portrayed by the poster. They value the feelings and relationships of
people and assume the organization must meet basic human needs through facilitation
and empowerment.
Political Leader. According to Collins English Dictionary (2018), it pertains to a
person who engages in politics out of a wish for personal gain, as realized by
holding a public office. In this study, the term refers to a person who has
commanding authority or influence. They focus primarily on resolving conflict, and
they understand that influence needs to begin with an understanding of others’
concerns and interests.

Statement of Problem
This study aims to develop a body language “Hands on Hips” poster intended for
Filipino senior high school teachers in Batangas State University ARASOF-Nasugbu.
Specifically, it attempts to answers the following questions:
1. What is the gesture to be analyzed?
2. What is the degree of the developed body language “Hands on Hips” poster
regarding its:
a) layout and design;
b) quality of the picture; and

4. What is the type of leadership observed based on Bolman and Deal’s four frames
of leadership?
5. What is the overall impression of senior high school teachers on the developed
poster?

Significance of the Study

The study is deemed beneficial to the following:
The Teachers. The teachers may benefit from this study in the sense it may serve
as a guide for them to develop a better teacher-student relationship through the
use of non-verbal communication. The study may also contribute to their effective
teaching using the “Hands on Hips” gesture.
The Students. This study may benefit the students since it will give them
additional knowledge about non-verbal communication happening inside their
classroom, particularly in “Hands on Hips” gesture. This may serve as a guide for
the students to understand their teachers’ body language.
The Researchers. The researchers’ benefit from this study in terms of enhancing
their skills and knowledge about body language particularly in “Hands on Hips”
gesture, and in constructing a systematic research paper.
The Aspiring Researchers. The present study can be utilized as a reference for the
aspiring researchers in creating research about body languages of the teacher in
the classroom.