Social Synchrony Matrix for teachers

Four themes emerged in this study as underpinning the conditions that support the development of social synchrony and therefore connectedness in the classroom. These themes were Familiarity, Affect, Competence, and Student Voice and Choice (FACS). Within each of these themes, student and teacher perspectives provided insight into the key factors, strategies and indicators relating to social synchrony. These findings were synthesised with the literature from the Science of Learning and translated into a self-regulation framework in order for them to be accessible to teachers and to have an impact on teacher practice and the experience of social synchrony in the classroom. This framework includes an Awareness phase - outlining the factors that can influence connectedness and considerations in planning learning experiences; an Action phase - strategies for increasing widespread connection to the learning experience and those within it; an Attention phase - the verbal and non-verbal indicators for teachers to be conscious of as they monitor levels of connection in the classroom; and an Adaptation phase - prompts to support teacher meta-awareness, reflection and in-the-moment decision making. These four phases and explored across the four themes of Familiarity, Affect, Competence, and Student Voice and Choice in the Social Synchrony Matrix.