ABSTRACT
The teacher's job is to detect that certain 'slant of light' as it flickers in a pupil's face and eyes; to hear the resonances of 'cathedral tunes' in a pupil's voice; to empathise with the 'heavenly hurt' of cognitive dissonance; and to sense, long before scar formation can occur, the all-important tell-tale signs of 'internal difference where the meanings are'. Individual variations between one pupil and another are quickly learned 'on the job' by the inner-directed teacher willing to appreciate their significance. Minimal cues are the physical signs of mental states. Educationally-relevant minimal cues are of three types. The first category is 'linguistic' cues, where the nuances of the exact choice of words are significant. Second are the 'para-linguistic' cues, where information is conveyed by the inflexion of the voice rather than the literal sense of the words. Finally, there are the 'non-verbal' cues of body language and facial expression.
