Nonverbal Communication plays an important role in terms of creating a feeling of safety and comfort or threat and the need to defend oneself.

Here are some examples of behaviors that may be construed as Threatening and some that are typically understood to be Non-Threatening.

Think about how these behaviors occur in the context of a classroom or other teaching and learning environment. Are there interactions based on conscious or unconscious forms of NVC that may be unnecessarily threatening? How might the same goals be accomplished without need for displays of power?