Analysis of the relationship between saying and doing of teachers

Abstract

This study aims to analyse the correspondence between what is said by the teacher about his behavior in the classroom, related to some problem students’ behaviors, and his actual professional practice as he faces these behaviors, and to describe the situations in which this correspondence didn’t happen and those in which there was correspondence. A questionnaire was applied to three teachers from a public school about what they would do if facing several problem situations presented to them; then observations of these same teachers in their classrooms were accomplished, aiming to verify how they acted when facing problem-situations which were equal or similar to the ones presented in the questionnaire. The results showed a few occurrences in which there was correspondence between verbal and non-verbal teachers’ behavior. However, the number of occurrences rises to more than a half of the total occurences when not only the topography of the answers is considered, but also their function. A range of factors that may be responsible for the cases of nocorrespondence are pointed out.