importance of communication education

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Classroom communication: why it matters and how to improve it.

November 26 2021

Classroom communication is central to teaching; in fact, it’s almost a description of teaching. But the image of classroom communication as a teacher talking to rapt rows of students is false on many counts. That’s not what happens, and it’s not the most effective method of transmitting information.

In this post we’ll show evidence that demonstrates that communication in classrooms is most effective when it’s a two-way street , informed by mutual respect, guided by teachers and focused on understanding. We’ll address the importance of teacher-student and student — relationships. And we’ll end by looking at how new technological tools can be leveraged to accomplish much more effective classroom communication.

We’ll start with the case for classroom communication as a driver of educational and pastoral outcomes.

Classroom communication and teaching outcomes

Effective classroom communication is the basis of good educational outcomes. Studies confirm that teachers who communicate better lead classes to better grades and retention rates, while higher dropout rates are partially attributable to poor classroom communication. A positive relationship between teachers and students is both a result of better communication, and contributes to an environment that supports it: we are looking at a virtuous circle, or positive feedback loop. It’s one that can help overcome in-class impediments to learning, such as poor attitudes or fractured relationships between teachers and students, helping to create bilateral communication environments centered on the pursuit of understanding rather than expression of conflict.

Within this framework student communication is also extremely important. Good teacher communication can encourage, model and coach effective student communication, including learning about expression, persuasion, self-advocacy and questioning. Effective communicators are more effective students , and good classroom communication from teachers can help close the gap between privileged and disadvantaged students in this regard.

Classroom communication and behavioral and pastoral outcomes

Good classroom communication can improve behavior and attitude, catch social problems within the school before they begin, and act as a foundation for social and emotional learning . Students who can communicate effectively can advocate for their own social and emotional needs and are less likely to turn to negative behaviors such as acting out, attention-seeking, dissociation or ‘tuning out.’

In turn, these SEL outcomes can help drive better academic outcomes: it’s another virtuous circle. In order to break existing vicious circles, self-stoking cycles of negative actions and negative outcomes, teachers have one ‘lever’ they can pull, an action which is in their direct control: they can improve in-class communication.

Types of classroom communication

Traditional in-person classroom communication consists of verbal and non-verbal communication — spoken or written requests to students, writing on whiteboards and chalkboards, and so on. Of course, this type of communication is a two-way street and students can also talk to teachers.

It also involves non-verbal communication; to some degree, being a teacher is being an actor, performing to the class. Teachers can model desirable behavior, and their nonverbal communication, like body language, can contribute to the atmosphere of the classroom and thus to the learning environment. (Students can communicate this way too — just think of all the time a student has told you what they think of you without speaking…)

However, we’re now able to communicate more effectively in classrooms because we can use dynamic visual aids, video, and simulated activities (digitally manipulating virtual objects, for instance). We’ll get further into this later in the post. For now, this graphic shows the types of learning that are known to lead to better retention and engagement — and, superimposed, the methods of communication that characterize the traditional classroom:

We focus on precisely the forms of communication that lead to worse outcomes, because they were historically the only ones available to us. It’s time to change that. How can we encourage more effective classroom communication?

Encouraging classroom communication

Classroom communication doesn’t just happen. It’s the product of well-structured teaching and positive relationships between teachers and students, students and peers, and students and the school. When students feel safe, valued, and well-instructed, they feel like they can take part in classroom discussions, answer questions, and raise issues.

Create a safe environment

This goes beyond physical safety, though in some schools, that is a factor. It’s about feeling socially safe too. Teachers who use abrasive, shame-based techniques to punish students who raise their hands and get the answer wrong are less likely to see a forest of eager hands than those who address errors more positively (and no, of course, that doesn’t mean telling students they’re right when they’re not). But teachers aren’t the only source of power in a classroom. Students often feel intense social pressure from peers, and teachers have to find a way to override that so students can spend time learning instead of defending their reputations to their peer group. That can be achieved by teacher modeling, classroom management, and by direct personal communication between teachers and students.

Teamwork and groupwork

In Lethal Weapon, two cops with completely opposite characters are obliged to work together. They gain insight and respect, become friends, and get their work done. It’s a trope — because it happens. People who truly dislike each other won’t do a joint book report and become besties, but suspicion, mistrust and uncertainty can evaporate in the shared pursuit of common goals. Again, if there’s a positive classroom environment, students can learn from their peers that they’re good at things they didn’t realize they could do, or even that they enjoy them.

Two stars and a wish: the power of positive feedback

If all kids hear is negative feedback — don’t do that, this is wrong — what they’re hearing is: you’re wrong. It feels like personal rejection, and it leads to kids switching off, zoning out, acting up and giving up. But you can’t just tell someone who thinks two and two is five that they’re right so you don’t hurt their feelings. A part of a teacher’s job is to correct error. How can teachers communicate in a positive and affirming way but still address mistakes and problems?

One option is the ‘ two stars and a wish ’ approach, addressing two good things in a student’s work and one that could use improvement. This method can be used by teachers to offer feedback to students, or by students assessing their own or each others’ work. (If you’re brave you can ask students to apply it to you…)

This approach shouldn’t be understood as sparing students’ feelings because they can’t accept criticism; instead, it should be seen as a more effective way to communicate and modify work and behavior. In particular, when we’re seeking to establish the ‘virtuous circles’ of positive communication discussed above, positive feedback can be used to build supportive relationships with students — while teachers who rely on negative feedback more typically end up establishing conflictual student-teacher relationships .

Using digital aids to improve classroom communication

We have more options now than a chalkboard and a voice. We don’t have to wheel a big TV in to play VHS tapes. Digital displays give us access to moving images, to recorded lectures and talks, and to a range of blended communication styles — slides with embedded video, annotated speeches, and so on.

That’s a massive positive, because, as we’ve seen, sitting still and reading or listening to someone talk is one of the most ineffective means of communicating information we have. The real picture is more complex, because we can identify multiple learning styles as well as a general ‘pyramid of efficacy.’ This picture is itself complicated by the fact that almost no one has a single learning style and the most common configuration is ‘quadmodal’:

Of the four identified learning styles — Visual, Auditory, Reading/Writing, and Kinesthetic — over a third of those surveyed here preferred all four:

It’s obvious from these graphics that we should seek to present information in complex, multimodal ways to match the ways students actually learn. You can’t do that with a chalkboard. But you can do it with a digital display.

Digital technology is credited by teachers with permitting greater collaboration between students (79%), supporting greater personal expression from students (78%), and allowing students to share their work with a wider and more varied audience (96%).

Using the international PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) scores, McKinsey was able to show how different classroom technologies affected learning:

Using data projectors and internet-connected computers was associated with a bump in reading that neared or exceeded the expected results of an additional year of learning. Math and science scores might be less emphatic but they remain impressive.

The evidence from McKinsey’s survey suggests that classroom-based technology is most effective when it’s in teachers’ control, with the best results coming from internet-connected screens and screens the whole class can see. (It also shows that the effect of screen usage is most pronounced, and correlates best with long usage periods of 60 minutes or more per session, in North America.)

That fits with the results of tests and surveys showing radically increased engagement from digital signs and displays. It also fits with evidence showing that such technology is most effective when used to do things for which there is no pedagogical precedent. When students used computers to look up information on the internet, attainment rose; when they used them to perform practice drills which could as easily have used pencil and paper, attainment actually fell , suggesting that it is the learning style (kinesthetic and visual) rather than the technological substrate that matters.

To bring more effective communication into the classroom, teachers should focus on pedagogical logic: why does this help students learn? Communication is a two-way street, and teaching staff should be looking for levers they can pull to help develop a ‘virtuous circle’ of appropriate and learning-centered teacher-student communication. Technology, especially in the form of internet-connected digital displays , can help with this by offering entirely novel pedagogical routes and permitting the formation of new learning relationships guided by teaching staff.

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Teaching Communication Skills

A framework for exploring with students what good communication looks like and for helping them develop the necessary skills.

Picture a great speaker—a famous politician, maybe, or a poet or performer. Maybe you’re thinking of someone speaking to an audience in a high-stakes scenario.

Most of the talk that happens in your classroom does not look like this. In small group or whole class discussions, students are more concerned with learning than with audience: Their talking is exploratory rather than presentational.

This is one of the challenges of teaching communication skills: What “good” looks like depends on the context. The skills needed to speak in front of an audience and hold a room are different from those needed to solve a problem or engage in a group discussion. If what you’re trying to teach is slippery and hard to define, how can you go about teaching it?

A Framework for Looking at Communication

Academics at Cambridge University and teachers at my school created a framework for describing good communication skills in different contexts. It divides these skills into four distinct but interlinked strands:

• Physical: How a speaker uses their body language, facial expressions, and voice.
• Linguistic: The speaker’s use of language, including their understanding of formality and rhetorical devices.
• Cognitive: The content of what a speaker says and their ability to build on, challenge, question, and summarize others’ ideas.
• Social and emotional: How well a speaker listens, includes others, and responds to their audience.

This framework provides a starting point for working out what exactly constitutes great communication in different situations. But how can a teacher create a classroom culture that values and actively develops students’ communication skills?

Start by talking explicitly with your students about what good communication looks like for a given context. While there are plenty of examples of great public speakers to hold up and analyze, it can be harder to find examples of excellent exploratory discussions. One fun way to explore what makes a great discussion is to film a group of teachers having a terrible discussion (fidgeting, going off topic, one person dominating and making irrelevant points while others aren’t listening) and then look at a really strong example (listening, building on or challenging each other’s ideas, working together to reach consensus). Comparing the two discussions, you and your students can start to build a shared understanding of what “good” looks like.

You can use this understanding to write, with your students, a set of discussion guidelines, including things like:

• We build on, challenge, summarize, clarify and probe each other’s ideas
• We are prepared to change our minds.
• We include everyone by inviting them into the discussion.

Creating guidelines with your students provides an opportunity to establish a positive culture for talk. It also enables you to dispel any negative, perhaps unspoken, misconceptions students may have about discussion, such as: “She always does well on tests, so I’ll just say what she says,” or “He’s my friend, so I shouldn’t disagree with him.”

Of course, creating discussion guidelines alone is unlikely to transform talk in your classroom—your students will need each skill to be explicitly taught, modeled, and praised, at least initially. You can establish the culture by saying things like, “I listened to what X said, and actually it’s made me think differently—I’m starting to change my mind,” or, “I’m not totally sure yet, but I think _____. What do you think?”

You’ll also need to explicitly and deliberately teach many communication skills. Take for example the skills involved in summarizing a discussion. Your students need to know what a summary is. They may also need some sentence stems to scaffold summarizing a discussion (“The main points you raised were...,” “In summary, we talked about...”). They may also need practice judging when it’s useful to summarize a discussion.

Over time, you can work on each guideline in turn and strengthen your students’ understanding of it. Continually returning to your discussion guidelines provides an opportunity for students to reflect on and talk about talking—to engage metacognitively in the learning process.

Supporting Quiet Students

For quieter students, increasing the amount of talk in your classroom may feel daunting. Ensuring that you have a guideline that requires all students to be included in discussions gives more confident students a responsibility to ensure that everyone is heard from. Again, you may need to explicitly teach what it means to invite someone into a discussion: developing an awareness of who has and hasn’t spoken yet, and turning your body to face someone who has been quiet and saying their name or asking them a question.

You can also support quieter students by providing them with scaffolds such as sentence stems, or by giving them a specific role, such as summarizer, that provides a clear route into discussion. Increasing the number of low-stakes opportunities to speak, in a supportive environment, may give some quieter students the confidence they need to find their voice.

If a student isn’t speaking as frequently as their peers, you needn’t assume that they aren’t benefiting from the increase in talking in your classroom. It’s likely that they’re listening carefully and taking in what is being said, so it’s vital to praise and celebrate listening skills as well as speaking skills.

Ultimately, learning is a process of sharing, engaging with, and responding to new and different ideas. As Professor Frank Hardman has said, talk is “the most powerful tool of communication in the classroom, and it’s fundamentally central to the acts of teaching and learning.”

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Importance of communication education

• Author By Elizabeth Lynch and Mitch Combs
• November 7, 2017

Where has digital communication not affected our lives? New business and career opportunities have opened up in companies in all industries to hire staff for communication and other jobs that were unimaginable.

Professor Cheri Simonds, Ph.D.

Illinois State University professor Cheri Simonds has played an instrumental role in improving basic communication education for the past 21 years in schools around the country.

“I’m committed to improving the communication discipline one basic course at a time,” said Simonds. Her mission has taken on added importance because communication is an integral part of our personal, professional, and social lives. Because effective communication is required in every field, high-quality communication programs are more significant than ever before.

In fact, the communication field’s value is truly on the rise for the long term, thanks in large part to the increasing integration of digital media with other, traditional media. To meet this demand, communication degrees experienced a 44 percent increase from 1987 to 2015, according to the National Communication Association’s report  Communication Is Only Humanities Discipline to Experience Bachelor’s Degree Completion Growth . It is also the only discipline to experience an increase during that time. The same increase can be found in Inside Higher Ed’s report Humanities Majors Drop .

However, despite the documented growth, the importance of communication studies in public policy is often overlooked. For example, Illinois legislators fail to differentiate between communication and English studies.

“Communication and composition are both integral to a foundational educational experience,” said Simonds, “but they must be treated uniquely because they are different even though they do intersect at times.”

The importance of proper communication education begins in students’ developmental years. Common Core standards require that students develop speaking and listening skills throughout their early education. This is to lay a foundational understanding to prepare students for college and their future careers.

Measuring students’ improvement over time is the most efficient way to evaluate the effectiveness of a communication course. Improvements are measured through a digital media platform that tracks students’ improvements overtime.

“We created a systematic speech evaluation training program so that we made sure instructors in the program evaluated student work fairly and consistently every time, instructors could communicate assignment expectations to students well, and that students would understand what they needed to do to earn a certain grade on the presentation,” said Simonds.  Eventually, the platform will be made available to other programs within Illinois State as well as other educational institutions.

It is important to re-emphasize that English and communication are not one in the same. Preparing students to succeed in communication and composition vastly differs from English studies. “Many general education programs identify both written and oral communication as essential learning outcomes. Because general education is designed to provide broad exposure to multiples disciplines and serve as a foundation for important intellectual skills, it is important that students receive this instruction across disciplines. This begins with their composition and communication instruction,” said Simonds.

Extensive research gives Simonds the evidence she needs to advocate for the importance of communication studies.

Simonds applies her teaching experiences for developing research. “I have the best job of all, because I research what I do every day. My research is on teaching and my teaching informed by my research,” said Simonds.

Through research, Simonds tailors her training program to fit the evolving needs of national communication programs. The research ensures the effectiveness of the communication education program via assessment efforts. Additionally, Simonds looks for effective tools to enhance the teacher training program. As such, she studies the best methods for teaching communication as well as the best ways to use communication to teach.

Simonds traveled to four regional areas for basic course director training in her last sabbatical in fall 2014. Illinois State University was the first to implement basic course director training. The desired outcome was to eliminate the “revolving door,” meaning those who lack the competence and desire to effectively carry out their role. “I want my legacy to be that I nurtured a pipeline of future basic course directors that are confident, competent and passionate about their role,” said Simonds.

The next project that Simonds is undertaking is through the National Communication Association. She and many other communication professionals are part of a nationwide funded social science research council to create common competencies for oral communication.

The council will create assessment instruments and apply an evaluation assessment within the school to publish nationally. Any school from across the nation can use their assessment to advocate that their course is relevant in general education. The goal is to not compete against other schools, but rather, to support one another in growing the communication education field.

Reshaping institutions’ approaches to basic communication and communication education have produced remarkable results for Simonds. It is through these efforts that Simonds is able to assist other institutions in saving their communication programs by proving their value.

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Communication in the Field of Education

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• Christos Saitis 3 &
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Communication exists within each school process and is one of the most important and difficult issues that the school head has to manage. This is because communication is the tool through which (a) information can be transferred and hence decision-making is facilitated, (b) it is fundamental for the implementation of decisions and (c) it can foster good relations and team spirit among the school members.

A solid understanding of communication is essential for the functioning of the school unit since it is a social phenomenon and a fundamental element of interrelationships among members of a formal organization.

This chapter:

Develops the meaning and significance of communication within a working environment

Briefly presents the communication process and the preconditions (e.g. ability of a person to communicate at an appropriate cognitive level) that are necessary for effective and constructive communication channels in order for communication within a school to be maintained at a functional level

Analyses the types of communication and the parameters for various message types by referring to examples about the way of which a school head should manage difficult situations

Examines the appropriate conditions for good human relations among school members

Presents case studies relating to real school situations

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Saitis, C., Saiti, A. (2018). Communication in the Field of Education. In: Initiation of Educators into Educational Management Secrets. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47277-5_5

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1.4 The Importance of Communication

Communication skills are essential in all areas of life.

Communication is used in virtually all aspects of everyday life. In order to explore how communication is integrated into all parts of our lives, let us divide up our lives into four spheres: academic, professional, personal, and civic . The se spheres overlap a n d influence one another . After all, our personal experience is brought into the classroom, much of what goes on in a classroom is present in our professional and personal environments, and the classroom has long been seen as a place to foster personal growth and prepare students to become active and responsible members of society .

Academic Success

You will bring your current communication-related knowledge, skills, and abilities to the classroom. Aside from wanting to earn a good grade, you may also be genuinely interested in becoming a better communicator. Research shows that even people who are poor communicators can improve their verbal, nonverbal, and interpersonal communication skills by taking communication courses ( Zabava & Wolvin , 1993). Communication skills are also tied to academic success. Poor listening skills have been shown to contribute significantly to failure in a person’s first year of college. Also, students who take communication courses report having more confidence in their communication abilities, and these students have higher grade point averages and are less likely to drop out of school. Much of what we do in a classroom, whether it is the interpersonal interactions with our classmates and instructor, individual or group presentations, writing assignments, asking questions, or listening, can be used to build or add to a foundation of good communication skills and knowledge that can carry through t o professional, personal, and civic contexts .  

Professional Skills

The Corporate Rec r uiters Survey Report ( Graduate Management Admission Council, 2017 , p. 50 ) found that employers in h ealth c are and pharmacy, technology, nonprofit and government, and products and services industries list oral, written, listening, and presentation communication skills in their top five skills sought for midlevel positions. Adaptability was also ranked in the top five in three out of the four industries— the ability to be adaptable can be the result of a person’s ability to perceive, interpret, and share information. The survey also found that the need for teamwork skills is growing in deman d. The ability to follow a leader, delegation skills, valuing the op inions of others, cross-cultural sensitivity, and adaptability were listed as t eamwork ski lls , and these skills can also be the result of one’s communication skills.  

Table 1.1. Top Five Skills Employers Seek, in Order of Required Proficiency, by Industry

Note: Adapted from Corporate Recruiters Survey Report 2017 , by the Graduate Management Admission Council, p. 50. https://www.mba.com/-/media/files/gmac/research/employment-outlook/2017-gmac-corporate-recruiters-web-release.pdf?la=en

Desired communication skills vary from career to career, but again, the academic sphere provides a foundation onto which you can build communication skills specific to your professional role or field of study. Poor listening skills, lack of conciseness, and the inability to give constructive feedback have been identified as potential communication challenges in professional contexts. Despite the well-documented need for communication skills in the professional world, many students still resist engaging in communication classes. Perhaps people think they already have good communication skills or can improve their skills on their own. Although either of these may be true for some, studying communication can only help.  

Personal Communication Skills

Many students know from personal experience and from the prevalence of communication counselling on television talk shows and in self-help books that communication forms, maintains, and ends our interpersonal relationships, but they do not know the extent to which that occurs. Although we learn from experience, until we learn specific vocabulary and develop a foundational knowledge of communication concepts and theories, we do not have the necessary tools to make sense of these experiences. Just having a vocabulary to name the communication phenomena in our lives increases our ability to consciously alter our communication to achieve our goals, avoid miscommunication, and analyze and learn from our inevitable mistakes.

As mentioned earlier in the chapter, communication is required for us to meet our personal physical , instrumental , relational , and identity needs.

• Physical needs are needs that keep our bodies and minds functioning.
• Instrumental needs are needs that help us get things done in our day-to-day lives and achieve short- and long-term goals. 
• Relational needs are needs that help us maintain social bonds and interpersonal relationships.
• Identity needs include our need to present ourselves to others and be thought of in particular and desired ways.  

Civic Engagement

Civic engagement   refers to working to make a difference in our communities by improving the quality of life of community members; raising awareness about social, cultural, or political issues (Image 1.10); or participating in a wide variety of political and nonpolitical processes (Ehrlich, 2000).  The civic part of our lives is developed through engagement with the decision making that goes on in our society at small-group, local, state, regional, national, and international levels. Such involvement ranges from serving on a neighbourhood advisory board to sending an email to a political representative. Discussions and decisions that affect our communities happen around us all the time, but it takes time and effort to become part of that process. Communication scholars have been aware of the connections between communication and a person’s civic engagement or citizenship for thousands of years. Aristotle, who wrote the first and most influential comprehensive book on communication 2,400 years ago, taught that it is through our voice, our ability to communicate, that we engage with the world around us and participate in our society .  

Diversity in Communication

Communication is the sharing of understanding and meaning (Pearson & Nelson, 2000), but what is intercultural communication ? If you answered “the sharing of understanding and meaning across cultures,” you’d be close, but what is a culture ? Culture is defined by more than ethnicity, race, or geography. A culture can exist wherever there is a group of people with shared beliefs, attitudes, values, and traditions. Multiple factors can shape a culture, including but not limited to age, gender, ethnicity, race, geography, workplace settings, family, abilities, and interests. According to Rogers and Steinfatt (1999), intercultural communication is the exchange of information among individuals who are “unalike culturally.” Let’s explore what intercultural communication can look like.

A culture’s beliefs, attitudes, values, and traditions are represented and expressed by the behaviours of its members. The language we use, the holidays we celebrate, the clothes we wear, the movies we watch, or the video games we play are just some of the ways we express our culture. Environment also shapes a culture, and a culture can shape the environment. For example, a person can grow up in a mountainous region and value the environment. If the person moves to a beach town, they may display pictures of their favourite mountains and participate in an outdoor club to continue to express and engage in their culture. Culture also involves the psychological aspects of our expectations of the communication context. For example, if we are raised in a culture where males speak while females are expected to remain silent, the context of the communication interaction governs behaviour, itself a representation of culture. From the choice of words (message), to how we communicate (in person or by email), to how we acknowledge understanding with a nod or a glance (nonverbal feedback), to the internal and external interference, all aspects of communication are influenced by culture. 

Can there be intercultural communication within a culture? If all communication is intercultural, then the answer would be yes, but we still have to prove our case. Imagine a three-generation family living in one household. This family is a culture, but let’s look a bit closer. The grandparents may represent another time and different values from the grandchildren. The parents may have a different level of education and pursue different careers from the grandparents. The schooling the children receive may prepare them for yet other careers. From music to food preferences to how work is done may vary across time—singer Elvis Presley may seem like ancient history to the children. The communication across generations represents intercultural communication, even if only to a limited degree.

Another example is student culture. Let’s consider what other cultures likely impact the student culture at a school, university, or college. A group of students are likely all similar in age and educational level (Image 1.11). Do gender and the societal expectations of roles influence their interactions? Of course. And so we see that, among these students, the boys and girls not only communicate in distinct ways, but not all boys and girls are the same. A group of siblings may have common characteristics, but they will still have differences, and these differences contribute to intercultural communication. We are each shaped by our upbringing, and it influences our worldview, what we value, and how we interact with each other. We create culture, and it creates us. 

If intercultural communication is the exchange of information among individuals who are “unalike culturally,” after reflecting on our discussion and its implications, you may arrive at the idea that ultimately we are each “a culture of one”—we are simultaneously a part of community and its culture(s) and separate from it in the unique combination that represents us as an individual. All of us are separated by a matter of degrees from each other even if we were raised on the same street, have parents of similar educational background and profession, and have many other things in common.

Communication with yourself is called  intrapersonal communication , and it may also be intracultural, as you may only represent one culture, but most people belong to many groups, each with their own culture. Within our imaginary intergenerational home, how many cultures do you think we might find? If we only consider the parents, and consider work one culture and family another, we now have two. If we were to look more closely, we would find many more groups, and the complexity would grow exponentially. Does a conversation with yourself ever involve competing goals, objectives, needs, wants, or values? How did you learn of those goals or values? Through communication within and among individuals, they themselves are representative of many cultures. We struggle with the demands of each group and their expectations, and could consider this internal struggle intercultural conflict, or simply intercultural communication. 

Culture is part of the very fabric of our thought, and we cannot separate ourselves from it, even when we leave home, defining ourselves anew in work and achievement. Every business or organization has a culture, and within what may be considered a global culture, there are many subcultures or co-cultures. For example, consider the difference between the sales and accounting departments in a corporation—we can quickly see two distinct groups, each with their own symbols, vocabulary, and values. Within each group there may also be smaller groups, and each member of every department comes from a distinct background that in itself influences behaviour and interaction.

Intercultural communication is a part of our everyday lives and occurs interpersonally (with others) and intrapersonally (within ourselves). Intercultural communication competency is rooted in understanding the cultures around us and adapting our communication to establish, maintain, and grow positive intercultural relationships.  

Relating Theory to Real Life

Consider the definition of culture: 

• What cultures do you feel you are a part of? What beliefs, attitudes, values, traditions, and behaviours represent your cultures?
• What cultures do you see within your own family?
• What cultural groups will you encounter in your future professional role?
• What will you need to learn to be a competent intercultural communicator in the workplace?

Ethical Communication in the Workplace

As demonstrated by the communication models presented earlier in this chapter, when we communicate, there is an immediate impact on others. This means communication has broad ethical implications. Not only do we need to learn how to communicate, but we also need to become ethical communicators by learning how to communicate the “right” way. But what does that look like?

Communication ethics deals with the process of negotiating and reflecting on our actions and communication regarding what we believe to be right and wrong. For example, we may make the choice to communicate our opinions about education to others. We would undergo a process of negotiating the ethics of this decision, such as to whom is it okay to communicate our opinions? When is it appropriate to tell others about our personal opinions? What details about our opinions is it okay to share? What is the right method for sharing our opinion? In communication ethics, we are more concerned with the decisions people make about communicating what is right and wrong than the systems, philosophies, or religions that inform those decisions. Much of ethics is a grey area. Although we talk about making decisions in terms of what is right and what is wrong, the choice is rarely that simple. Aristotle said that we should act “to the right extent, at the right time, with the right motive, and in the right way.” This quote connects to communication competence, which focuses on communicating effectively and appropriately.

We all make choices daily that are more ethical or less ethical, and we may confidently make a decision only to learn later that it wasn’t the most ethical option. In any given situation, multiple options may seem appropriate, but we can only choose one. If, in a situation, we make a decision and reflect on it, and then realize we could have made a more ethical choice, does that make us a bad person? Although many behaviours can be easily labelled as ethical or unethical, communication isn’t always as clear. Physically assaulting someone is generally thought of as unethical and illegal, but many instances of hurtful speech, or even what some would consider hate speech, have been protected as free speech. This shows the complicated relationship between protected speech, ethical speech, and the law. In some cases, people see it as their ethical duty to communicate information that they feel is in the public’s best interest. The people behind WikiLeaks, for example, have released thousands of classified documents related to wars, intelligence gathering, and diplomatic communication. WikiLeaks claims that exposing this information forces politicians and leaders to be accountable and keeps the public informed, but government officials claim that the release of the information should be considered a criminal act. Both parties consider their own communication ethical and the other’s communication unethical, so who is right?

Since many of the choices we make when it comes to ethics are situational, contextual, and personal, various professional fields have developed codes of ethics to help guide members through areas that might otherwise be grey or uncertain. A profession’s code of ethics describes what ethical behaviours , including communication, are expected of any member of the profession . Table 1.2 below lists a few examples of professions and which communication behaviours are considered ethical and expected as described in that  profession’s code of ethics . Looking across different professions, we can see that ethical communication is expected in all service areas and that communication skills are key to meeting professional standards.

Table 1.2. Professional Organizations and Ethical Communication Expectation

• What situations might arise in your future professional role that will require you to communicate ethically?
• Why is it important for you , others, your workplace, and your community to be co nfident in communicating ethically ?

Dynamic Communication Skills Are Needed in Current Workplaces

Communication is key to your success in your current workplace.

Your current ability to communicate comes from past experience, which can be an effective teacher. Now is the time to examine your current skillset and compare it to current workplace needs and skills that have been proven necessary when working on teams. “Great teams are distinguished from good teams by how effectively they communicate. Great team communication is more than the words that are said or written. Power is leveraged by the team’s ability to actively listen, clarify, understand, and live by the principle that ‘everything communicates.’ The actions, the tone, the gestures, the infrastructure, the environment, and the things that are not done or said speak and inform just as loudly as words” (O’Rourke & Yarbrough, 2008).

Workplace environments have evolved. An article in the Harvard Business Review states that current workplace teams are more “diverse, dispersed, digital, and dynamic (with frequent changes in membership). But while teams face new hurdles, their success still hinges on a core set of fundamentals for group collaboration” (Haas & Mortensen, 2016). Haas and Mortensen further describe four conditions that need to be established for effective collaboration: compelling direction (when a team establishes explicit goals), strong structure (the team has the right mix of members, and the right processes and norms in place to guide behaviour), supportive context (the team has a reward system, an information system, and an educational system in place to enable progress), and a shared mindset (when a team develops a common identity and understanding). Communication is central to establishing all four conditions. Effective teams and groups in current workplace environments need effective communication. Now is the time to consider what communication skills you have and which ones you need to grow to effectively contribute to your future team. 

Communication Merges You and Them

When we join a workplace team, communication is a non-negotiable skill in a complex environment. Being able to communicate allows us to share a part of ourselves, connect with others, and meet our needs on a team. Being unable to communicate might mean losing, hiding, or minimizing a part of yourself. Sharing with others feels vulnerable. For some, this may be a positive challenge, whereas for others it may be discouraging, but in all cases, your ability to communicate is central to your expression of self.

On the other side of the coin, your communication skills help you understand others on a team—not just their words, but also their tone of voice, their nonverbal gestures, and the format of their written documents provide you with clues about who they are and what their values and priorities may be. Expressing yourself and understanding others are key functions of an effective team member and part of the process of becoming an effective team (Image 1.13).  

Communication Influences How You Learn

You need to begin the process of improving your communication skills with the frame of mind that it will require effort, persistence, and self-correction. You learn to speak in public by first having conversations, then by answering questions and expressing your opinions in class, and finally by preparing and delivering a “stand-up” speech. Similarly, you learn to write by first learning to read, then by writing and learning to think critically. Your speaking and writing are reflections of your thoughts, experience, and education, and part of that combination is your level of experience listening to other speakers, reading documents and various styles of writing, and studying formats similar to what you aim to produce. Speaking and writing are both key communication skills that you will use in teams and groups.

As you study group communication, you may receive suggestions for improvement and clarification from professionals more experienced than yourself. Take their suggestions as challenges to improve—don’t give up when your first speech or first draft does not communicate the message you intended. Stick with it until you get it right. Your success in communicating is a skill that applies to almost every field of work, and it makes a difference in your relationships with others. Remember that luck is simply a combination of preparation and timing. You want to be prepared to communicate well when given the opportunity. Each time you do a good job, your success will bring more success.

Communication Represents You and Your Employer

You want to make a good first impression on your friends and family, on your instructors, and on your employer. They all want you to convey a positive image because it reflects on them. In your career, you will represent your business or company in teams and groups, and your professionalism and attention to detail will reflect positively on you and set you up for success.

As an effective member of the team, you will benefit from having the ability to communicate clearly and with clarity. You will use these skills for the rest of your life. Positive improvements in these skills will have a positive impact on your relationships, your prospects for employment, and your ability to make a difference in the world.

Communication Skills Are Desired by Business and Industry

Oral and written communication proficiencies are consistently ranked in the top 10 desirable skills by employer surveys year after year. In fact, high-powered business executives sometimes hire consultants to coach them in sharpening their communication skills. According to the National Association of Colleges Job Outlook 2023 survey (Gray, 2022), the top five attributes that employers seek on a candidate’s resumé are the following:

• Problem-solving skills
• Ability to work on a team
• Strong work ethic
• Analytical and quantitative skills
• Written communication skills
• Technical skills

Knowing this, you can see that one way for you to be successful and increase your promotion potential is to improve your ability to speak and write effectively.

Teams and groups are almost universal across all fields because no one person has all the skills, knowledge, or ability to do everything with an equal degree of excellence. Employees work with each other in manufacturing and service industries on a daily basis. An individual with excellent communication skills is an asset to every organization. No matter what career you plan to pursue, learning to interact, contribute, and excel in groups and teams will help you get there.

Digital and Electronic Communication Are Here to Stay

Computers and the internet entered the world in the 1940s and have been on the rise ever since. According to Jotform (2021), a global pandemic necessitated the use of digital and electronic communication because people were required to work from home as much as possible. Digital and electronic communication tools such as video-conferencing platforms, cloud storage, messaging platforms, and digital forms are now widely used and easily accessible. It’s not clear yet what digital and electronic communication methods will remain in use; however, because of their prevalence, we need to consider our communication skills in these digital and electronic environments.

Netiquette refers to etiquette, or protocols and norms for communication, when communicating using digital and electronic methods. Whatever digital device you use, written communication in the form of brief messages, or texting, has become a practical way to connect when talking on the phone or when meeting in person would be cumbersome. Texting is not useful for long or complicated messages, and careful consideration should be given to the audience. Email is frequently used to communicate among co-workers and has largely replaced print hard-copy letters for external (outside the company) correspondence, as well as taking the place of memos for internal (within the company) communication (Guffey, 2008). Email can be very useful for messages that have slightly more content than a text message, but it is still best used for fairly brief messages. Emails may be informal in personal contexts, but business communication requires attention to detail, an awareness that your email reflects you and your company, and a professional tone so that the email may be forwarded to a third party, if needed. Remember that when these tools are used for business, they need to convey professionalism and respect.

• Knowing what communication skills employers and current workplace environments require, what skills are you strong in right now? What skills do you need to develop?
• How do you see face-to-face and digital and electronic communication skills being similar and/or different? Where do you see face-to-face and digital and electronic communication in your future professional role?

Attribution

Unless otherwise indicated, material on this page has been reproduced or adapted from the following resource:

University of Minnesota. (2016).  Communication in the real world: An introduction to communication studies . University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing. https://open.lib.umn.edu/communication , licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 , except where otherwise noted.

Alberta Health Services (AHS). (2023). Ethics & compliance . https://www.albertahealthservices.ca/about/Page645.aspx

Alberta Health Services (AHS). (2016). Code of conduct . https://www.albertahealthservices.ca/assets/about/policies/ahs-pub-code-of-conduct.pdf

Alberta Therapeutic Recreation Association (ATRA). (2021). Code of ethics: A guide for ethical and moral decision-making for recreational therapists . https://www.alberta-tr.ca/media/91513/codeofethics11may2021.pdf

Bourque, T., & Horney, B. (2016). Principles of veterinary medical ethics of the CVMA . Canadian Veterinary Medical Association. https://www.canadianveterinarians.net/about-cvma/principles-of-veterinary-medical-ethics-of-the-cvma/

Canadian Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA). (2016). Principles of veterinary medical ethics of the CVMA . https://www.canadianveterinarians.net/media/o5qjghc0/principles-of-veterinary-medical-ethics-of-the-cvma.pdf

Child and Youth Care Association of Alberta (CYCAA). (2008). Code of ethics . https://www.cycaa.com/about-us/code-of-ethics

College of Alberta Dental Assistants (CADA). (2019). Code of ethics . http://abrda.ca/protecting-the-public/regulations-and-standards/code-of-ethics/

Cyr, C., Helgason, E., Appleton, K., & Yunick, A. (2021). Code of ethics: A guide for ethical and moral decision-making for recreation therapists . Alberta Therapeutic Recreation Association. https://www.alberta-tr.ca/media/91513/codeofethics11may2021.pdf

Ehrlich, T. (Ed.). (2000). Civic responsibility and higher education . Oryx Press.

Government of Alberta. (2023). Code of conduct and ethics for the Alberta Public Service . https://www.alberta.ca/code-of-conduct-and-ethics-for-the-alberta-public-service.aspx

Graduate Management Admission Council. (2017). Corporate recruiters survey report 2017 .  https://www.mba.com/-/media/files/gmac/research/employment-outlook/2017-gmac-corporate-recruiters-web-release.pdf?la=en

Gray, K. (2022, November 15). As their focus on GPA fades, employers seek key skills on college grads’ resumes . National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE). https://www.naceweb.org/talent-acquisition/candidate-selection/as-their-focus-on-gpa-fades-employers-seek-key-skills-on-college-grads-resumes/

Guffey, M. (2008).  Essentials of business communication (7th ed.). Thomson/Wadsworth.

Haas, M., & Mortensen, M. (2016, June). The secrets of great teamwork . Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2016/06/the-secrets-of-great-teamwork

Jotform. (2021, December 8). How technology has changed workplace communication . https://www.jotform.com/blog/technology-and-workplace-communication/

O’Rourke, J., & Yarbrough, B. (2008). Leading groups and teams . South-Western Cengage Learning.

Pearson, J., & Nelson, P. (2000). An introduction to human communication: Understanding and sharing . McGraw-Hill.

Rogers, E., & Steinfatt, T. (1999). I ntercultural communication . Waveland Press.

Therapy Assistant Association of Alberta (ThAAA). (2012). Code of ethics . http://thaaa.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/ThAAA_Code-of-Ethics.pdf

Zabava Ford, W. S., & Wolvin, A. D. (1993). The differential impact of a basic communication course on perceived communication competencies in class, work, and social contexts. Communication Education, 42 (3), 215–223. https://doi.org/10.1080/0363452930937892

Image Credits (images are listed in order of appearance)

Figure 6. Graduation by Hippo px  by U3167879, CC BY-SA 4.0

Protest-sofia-incinerator  by 008all, CC BY-SA 4.0

Group of students in front of the DARM  by Violetova , CC BY-SA 4.0

Meaning of ETHICS101  by Pokemon1244, CC BY-SA 4.0

Teamwork Skills Training Workplace Illustration  by Digits.co.uk Images , CC BY 2.0

Introduction to Communications Copyright © 2023 by NorQuest College is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Information and communication technology (ICT) in education

Information and communications technology (ict) can impact student learning when teachers are digitally literate and understand how to integrate it into curriculum..

Schools use a diverse set of ICT tools to communicate, create, disseminate, store, and manage information.(6) In some contexts, ICT has also become integral to the teaching-learning interaction, through such approaches as replacing chalkboards with interactive digital whiteboards, using students’ own smartphones or other devices for learning during class time, and the “flipped classroom” model where students watch lectures at home on the computer and use classroom time for more interactive exercises.

When teachers are digitally literate and trained to use ICT, these approaches can lead to higher order thinking skills, provide creative and individualized options for students to express their understandings, and leave students better prepared to deal with ongoing technological change in society and the workplace.(18)

ICT issues planners must consider include: considering the total cost-benefit equation, supplying and maintaining the requisite infrastructure, and ensuring investments are matched with teacher support and other policies aimed at effective ICT use.(16)

Issues and Discussion

Digital culture and digital literacy: Computer technologies and other aspects of digital culture have changed the ways people live, work, play, and learn, impacting the construction and distribution of knowledge and power around the world.(14) Graduates who are less familiar with digital culture are increasingly at a disadvantage in the national and global economy. Digital literacy—the skills of searching for, discerning, and producing information, as well as the critical use of new media for full participation in society—has thus become an important consideration for curriculum frameworks.(8)

In many countries, digital literacy is being built through the incorporation of information and communication technology (ICT) into schools. Some common educational applications of ICT include:

• One laptop per child: Less expensive laptops have been designed for use in school on a 1:1 basis with features like lower power consumption, a low cost operating system, and special re-programming and mesh network functions.(42) Despite efforts to reduce costs, however, providing one laptop per child may be too costly for some developing countries.(41)
• Tablets: Tablets are small personal computers with a touch screen, allowing input without a keyboard or mouse. Inexpensive learning software (“apps”) can be downloaded onto tablets, making them a versatile tool for learning.(7)(25) The most effective apps develop higher order thinking skills and provide creative and individualized options for students to express their understandings.(18)
• Interactive White Boards or Smart Boards : Interactive white boards allow projected computer images to be displayed, manipulated, dragged, clicked, or copied.(3) Simultaneously, handwritten notes can be taken on the board and saved for later use. Interactive white boards are associated with whole-class instruction rather than student-centred activities.(38) Student engagement is generally higher when ICT is available for student use throughout the classroom.(4)
• E-readers : E-readers are electronic devices that can hold hundreds of books in digital form, and they are increasingly utilized in the delivery of reading material.(19) Students—both skilled readers and reluctant readers—have had positive responses to the use of e-readers for independent reading.(22) Features of e-readers that can contribute to positive use include their portability and long battery life, response to text, and the ability to define unknown words.(22) Additionally, many classic book titles are available for free in e-book form.
• Flipped Classrooms: The flipped classroom model, involving lecture and practice at home via computer-guided instruction and interactive learning activities in class, can allow for an expanded curriculum. There is little investigation on the student learning outcomes of flipped classrooms.(5) Student perceptions about flipped classrooms are mixed, but generally positive, as they prefer the cooperative learning activities in class over lecture.(5)(35)

ICT and Teacher Professional Development: Teachers need specific professional development opportunities in order to increase their ability to use ICT for formative learning assessments, individualized instruction, accessing online resources, and for fostering student interaction and collaboration.(15) Such training in ICT should positively impact teachers’ general attitudes towards ICT in the classroom, but it should also provide specific guidance on ICT teaching and learning within each discipline. Without this support, teachers tend to use ICT for skill-based applications, limiting student academic thinking.(32) To sup­port teachers as they change their teaching, it is also essential for education managers, supervisors, teacher educators, and decision makers to be trained in ICT use.(11)

Ensuring benefits of ICT investments: To ensure the investments made in ICT benefit students, additional conditions must be met. School policies need to provide schools with the minimum acceptable infrastructure for ICT, including stable and affordable internet connectivity and security measures such as filters and site blockers. Teacher policies need to target basic ICT literacy skills, ICT use in pedagogical settings, and discipline-specific uses. (21) Successful imple­mentation of ICT requires integration of ICT in the curriculum. Finally, digital content needs to be developed in local languages and reflect local culture. (40) Ongoing technical, human, and organizational supports on all of these issues are needed to ensure access and effective use of ICT. (21)

Resource Constrained Contexts: The total cost of ICT ownership is considerable: training of teachers and administrators, connectivity, technical support, and software, amongst others. (42) When bringing ICT into classrooms, policies should use an incremental pathway, establishing infrastructure and bringing in sustainable and easily upgradable ICT. (16) Schools in some countries have begun allowing students to bring their own mobile technology (such as laptop, tablet, or smartphone) into class rather than providing such tools to all students—an approach called Bring Your Own Device. (1)(27)(34) However, not all families can afford devices or service plans for their children. (30) Schools must ensure all students have equitable access to ICT devices for learning.

Inclusiveness Considerations

Digital Divide: The digital divide refers to disparities of digital media and internet access both within and across countries, as well as the gap between people with and without the digital literacy and skills to utilize media and internet.(23)(26)(31) The digital divide both creates and reinforces socio-economic inequalities of the world’s poorest people. Policies need to intentionally bridge this divide to bring media, internet, and digital literacy to all students, not just those who are easiest to reach.

Minority language groups: Students whose mother tongue is different from the official language of instruction are less likely to have computers and internet connections at home than students from the majority. There is also less material available to them online in their own language, putting them at a disadvantage in comparison to their majority peers who gather information, prepare talks and papers, and communicate more using ICT. (39) Yet ICT tools can also help improve the skills of minority language students—especially in learning the official language of instruction—through features such as automatic speech recognition, the availability of authentic audio-visual materials, and chat functions. (2)(17)

Students with different styles of learning: ICT can provide diverse options for taking in and processing information, making sense of ideas, and expressing learning. Over 87% of students learn best through visual and tactile modalities, and ICT can help these students ‘experience’ the information instead of just reading and hearing it. (20)(37) Mobile devices can also offer programmes (“apps”) that provide extra support to students with special needs, with features such as simplified screens and instructions, consistent placement of menus and control features, graphics combined with text, audio feedback, ability to set pace and level of difficulty, appropriate and unambiguous feedback, and easy error correction. (24)(29)

Plans and policies

• India [ PDF ]
• Detroit, USA [ PDF ]
• Finland [ PDF ]
• Alberta Education. 2012. Bring your own device: A guide for schools . Retrieved from http://education.alberta.ca/admin/technology/research.aspx
• Alsied, S.M. and Pathan, M.M. 2015. ‘The use of computer technology in EFL classroom: Advantages and implications.’ International Journal of English Language and Translation Studies . 1 (1).
• BBC. N.D. ‘What is an interactive whiteboard?’ Retrieved from http://www.bbcactive.com/BBCActiveIdeasandResources/Whatisaninteractivewhiteboard.aspx
• Beilefeldt, T. 2012. ‘Guidance for technology decisions from classroom observation.’ Journal of Research on Technology in Education . 44 (3).
• Bishop, J.L. and Verleger, M.A. 2013. ‘The flipped classroom: A survey of the research.’ Presented at the 120th ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition. Atlanta, Georgia.
• Blurton, C. 2000. New Directions of ICT-Use in Education . United National Education Science and Culture Organization (UNESCO).
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What is Communication?

At its foundation, Communication focuses on how people use messages to generate meanings within and across various contexts, and is the discipline that studies all forms, modes, media, and consequences of communication through humanistic, social scientific, and aesthetic inquiry.

In November 1914, on an unseasonably warm Chicago day, 17 Speech teachers voted to formally sever ties with the National Council of Teachers of English and form their own association, the National Association of Academic Teachers of Public Speaking (now NCA). In so doing, these teachers declared that the study and teaching of Communication was distinct from other disciplines, deserving of its own institutional and intellectual legitimacy as a discipline within the context of American higher education. Over the next century, this vision flourished; Communication is now firmly established as a course of both undergraduate and graduate study in colleges and universities across the United States and around the world. At its foundation, Communication focuses on how people use messages to generate meanings within and across various contexts, and is the discipline that studies all forms, modes, media, and consequences of communication through humanistic, social scientific, and aesthetic inquiry.

The academic study of Communication dates back centuries. For the ancients, Communication was the study of rhetoric—the art of persuading others through public speaking and oratory; they believed that understanding rhetoric was critical for every citizen’s education. As the ancient Greek rhetorician Isocrates wrote in his famous Antidosis , “Because there has been implanted in us the power to persuade each other and to make clear to each other whatever we desire, not only have we escaped the life of wild beasts, but we have come together and founded cities and made laws and invented arts; and, generally speaking, there is no institution devised by man which the power of speech has not helped us to establish.” Throughout many centuries of rhetorical study as a liberal art, Isocrates’ words have served as an enduring reminder of the power of communication, and the contemporary academic discipline of Communication continues to promote its effective and ethical practice.

The classical study of rhetoric as a liberal art migrated to U.S. colleges and universities; Harvard University has long had an endowed chair in rhetoric and oratory (the Boylston Chair), for example, and one of the first professors in that position, John Quincy Adams, authored a two-volume collection of Lectures on Rhetoric and Oratory in 1810. The development of the Communication discipline in the United States owes much to this classical tradition. The mid-20th century expansion and evolution of the discipline, furthermore, owes much to the emergent interest in the social sciences that flowered in the post-World War II period. Perplexed by the power of communication to move entire populations toward fascism and violence in Europe and Asia, Communication scholars turned to social scientific methods as a means to understand audiences and message effects. As the research focus of some Communication scholars shifted, so, too, did the curriculum in many Communication departments. Joining the courses in Public Speaking, British and American Public Address, Rhetorical Theory, Radio Speaking, and the like were new offerings in Interpersonal Communication, Mass Communication Effects, and Persuasion and Social Influence. Along with studies of great orators and their rhetoric, graduate students began producing dissertations that experimentally tested the power and reach of mass-mediated communication and that surveyed large audiences for their attitudes toward political communication, for example.

Amidst all of these disciplinary and scholarly changes, Communication scholars and teachers retained their appreciation for the role and influence of communication across all aspects of public and private life. They continue to embrace the ubiquity of communication and are mindful of the inherent value of communication to meaningful citizenship. Emerging from the democratic impulse embodied in 19th- and 20th-century progressivism, this is the pedagogical foundation of the discipline.

Communication cuts across contexts and situations; it is the relational and collaborative force that strategically constructs the social world. Knowledge and understanding of communication and strong communication skills allow people to create and maintain interpersonal relationships; employers in all sectors seek employees with strong communication skills; and society needs effective communicators to support productive civic activity in communities.

The Learning Outcomes in Communication (LOCs) are meant to stimulate meaningful conversations among faculty members about enhancing curricular development in the interest of improving student learning. They are a starting point for conversations; they are not exhaustive or prescriptive. They are designed to be adapted by individual departments and programs based on their particular imperatives and areas of focus, and they are adaptable to different expectations for level of accomplishment at different degree levels. The LOCs are a foundation for effective assessment of student learning.

A central assumption at the foundation of these Learning Outcomes in Communication is that Communication constructs the social world and is relational, collaborative, strategic, symbolic, and adaptive.

• LOC #1: Describe the Communication discipline and its central questions
• Explain the origins of the Communication discipline
• Summarize the broad nature of the Communication discipline
• Categorize the various career pathways for students of Communication
• Articulate the importance of communication expertise in career development and civic engagement
• Examine contemporary debates within the field
• Distinguish the Communication discipline from related areas of study
• Identify with intellectual specialization(s) in the Communication discipline
• LOC #2: Employ Communication theories, perspectives, principles, and concepts
• Explain Communication theories, perspectives, principles, and concepts
• Synthesize Communication theories, perspectives, principles, and concepts
• Apply Communication theories, perspectives, principles, and concepts
• Critique Communication theories, perspectives, principles, and concepts
• LOC #3: Engage in Communication inquiry
• Interpret Communication scholarship
• Evaluate Communication scholarship
• Apply Communication scholarship
• Formulate questions appropriate for Communication scholarship
• Engage in Communication scholarship using the research traditions of the discipline
• Differentiate between various approaches to the study of Communication
• Contribute to scholarly conversations appropriate to the purpose of inquiry
• LOC #4: Create messages appropriate to the audience, purpose, and context
• Locate and use information relevant to the goals, audiences, purposes and contexts
• Select creative and appropriate modalities and technologies to accomplish communicative goals
• Adapt messages to the diverse needs of individuals, groups and contexts
• Present messages in multiple communication modalities and contexts
• Adjust messages while in the process of communicating
• Critically reflect on one’s own messages after the communication event
• LOC #5: Critically analyze messages
• Identify meanings embedded in messages
• Articulate characteristics of mediated and non-mediated messages
• Recognize the influence of messages
• Engage in active listening
• Enact mindful responding to messages
• LOC #6: Demonstrate the ability to accomplish communicative goals (self-efficacy)
• Identify contexts, situations and barriers that impede communication self-efficacy
• Perform verbal and nonverbal communication behaviors that illustrate self-efficacy
• Articulate personal beliefs about abilities to accomplish communication goals
• Evaluate personal communication strengths and weaknesses
• LOC #7: Apply ethical communication principles and practices
• Identify ethical perspectives
• Explain the relevance of various ethical perspectives
• Articulate the ethical dimensions of a communication situation
• Choose to communicate with ethical intention
• Propose solutions for (un)ethical communication
• Evaluate the ethical elements of a communication situation
• LOC #8: Utilize communication to embrace difference
• Articulate the connection between communication and culture
• Recognize individual and cultural similarities and differences
• Appreciate individual and cultural similarities and differences
• Respect diverse perspectives and the ways they influence communication
• Articulate one’s own cultural standpoint and how it affects communication and world view
• Demonstrate the ability to be culturally self-aware
• Adapt one’s communication in diverse cultural contexts
• LOC #9: Influence public discourse
• Explain the importance of communication in civic life
• Identify the challenges facing communities and the role of communication in resolving those challenges
• Frame local, national and/or global issues from a Communication perspective
• Evaluate local, national and/or global issues from a Communication perspective
• Utilize communication to respond to issues at the local, national, and/or global level
• Advocate a course of action to address local, national and/or global issues from a Communication perspective
• Empower individuals to promote human rights, human dignity and human freedom

Read more about the LOCs

One of the defining features of the discipline of Communication is that it has many areas of specialization. That means a major in Communication can often be tailored to a student’s interests, strengths, and ambitions through “concentrations” or “tracks.” While areas of emphasis differ from one school to another, the list below describes some of the most common areas of Communication study. In addition to the specializations below, NCA's Interest Groups represent many more areas of study .

Applied Communication – How Communication theory and research can be useful and relevant in addressing practical problems. Example : How can emergency management personnel best communicate severe weather warnings to affected populations?

Communication Education – How communication theory and practice can inform effective instruction and learning in the classroom and other pedagogical contexts. Example : How can teachers establish credibility with students?

Electronic & Digital Media – How people make use of different forms of media to communicate with audiences. Example : How are news reports produced and disseminated via social media?

Health Communication – How people communicate in different health care contexts. Example : How should doctors communicate with patients to increase the likelihood of adherence to prescribed medication protocols?

International & Intercultural Communication – How people communicate across national and international boundaries and different cultural backgrounds. Example : How can diplomats from different countries most effectively negotiate with one another in a manner that is sensitive to the other’s cultural norms?

Interpersonal Communication – How pairs of people communicate in personal relationships. Example : Why does father-daughter communication differ from mother-daughter communication?

Legal Communication – How communication organizes and creates meaning in courtrooms and other legal contexts. Example : What should defense attorneys do to effectively persuade juries of their clients’ innocence in closing statements?

Mass Communication & Media Literacy – How mass forms of communication, such as print, radio, and television, create meaning for audiences. Example : How does watching Grey’s Anatomy on television affect viewers’ interactions with their health care providers?

Mediation and Dispute Resolution – How conflict is understood, managed, and resolved via different types of communication interactions. Example : How can the competing claims and arguments of opposing parties in negotiations over labor contracts be resolved?

Organizational Communication – How people communicate in different organizational contexts. Example : How can suggestion boxes in employee lounge areas encourage positive feelings about an organization?

Performance Studies – How performers, audiences, texts, and contexts interact in popular entertainment and other forms of public performance. Example : How do different types of Latino/a performance art redefine citizenship and political participation in U.S. states that border Mexico?

Political Communication – How we can explain the communicative activity of citizens, individual political figures, governmental institutions, the media, political campaigns, advocacy groups, and social movements. Example : Are protestors effective at influencing public policy?

Public Address – How speakers have persuaded audiences and shaped social and political ideas in their specific historical contexts via public oratory. Example : How did Abraham Lincoln’s pre-presidential oratory shape public and social understandings of abolition and antebellum politics?

Public Relations – How relationships between an organization and its various publics are managed. Example : How can non-profit organizations most effectively use public service announcements to recruit volunteers?

Rhetorical Criticism – How rhetoric is defined, classified, analyzed, interpreted, and evaluated. Example : How can audiences interpret and evaluate the most relevant and important characteristics of the U.S. President’s most recent State of the Union address?

Small Group Communication – How groups of three or more individuals interact around a common purpose and influence one another. Example : How does a 10-member citizens’ advisory group for a local food co-op reach a decision about whether to sell beer and wine?

Visual Communication – How people communicate using visual data, such as through architecture, photography, film, or visual art. Example : Why has the iconic photograph of World War II soldiers raising a U.S. flag on the island of Iwo Jima been used so frequently by multiple generations?

Communication Training: The Most Overlooked (and Most Important) Workplace Training

Radical candor.

• Building a Team , Featured , Radical Candor

By Indiana Lee, a freelance journalist specializing in business operations, leadership, communication, and marketing.

No business with multiple employees succeeds in silence. Communication in the workplace is vital to the success of everything from basic day-to-day operations to empowering people to innovate.

While people may have a range of interactive abilities, their communication skills might not always be honed to the point of being effective for your company or their careers.    

This is why workplace communication training is a powerful tool. By giving your workforce—from entry-level employees to executives—the knowledge to improve their communication skills in relevant areas, you’re setting a foundation for improving team performance and achieving success. 

However, even though you know how impactful communication training in the workplace can be, it’s not always easy to know exactly what aspects of communication can be most impactful. So, let’s examine a few key areas of workplace communication training.

Table of Contents

Workplace Communication Training Strengthens Your Organization

This improves retention a nd reduces quiet quitting . By learning to have Career Conversations , asking questions, and clarifying thoughts and ideas before communicating them to others, you set yourself and your company up for success.

What type of workplace communication training influences organizational success? Understanding the most important types of communication at work is a good place to start.

1. Communicating Upward

For upward communication to work, leaders must ask employees for feedback and employees must feel safe to give feedback to their boss .

Encouraging employees to communicate up the chain of command gives managers and executives visibility into day-to-day activities, while employees feel safe to speak truth to power without fear of reprisal. Effective upward workplace communication training includes teaching managers how to establish psychological safety , regularly solicit feedback from their direct reports , and provide training via feedback workshops like the ones offered by Radical Candor .

2. Communicating With Direct Reports

Leaders knowing how to communicate with their direct reports effectively ensures that relevant information is passed on to those who need it. The most important part of workplace communication training is providing managers with opportunities to improve their leadership communication skills regularly as communication is an ever-evolving process and what works for one person won’t work for every person. 

Training should encourage managers to get to know the people who report directly to them well enough to know what they do, what tools they need to perform well at their jobs, and how they like to receive information.

For managers who haven’t received workplace communication training, it’s easy to default to an absentee management style. Some managers assume if they hire the right people they can let them loose and ignore them.

Kim Scott, author and co-founder of Radical Candor says adopting a “choose and ignore” mindset is a big mistake.

“If you don’t take the time to get to know the people who get the best results, you can’t understand how they want and need to be growing in their jobs at that particular moment in their lives. You’ll assign the wrong tasks to the wrong people. You’ll promote the wrong people. Also, if you ignore your top performers, you won’t give them the guidance they need.”

3. Communicating With Peers

Also known as horizontal or lateral communication, this type of communication is vital for peer-to-peer and cross-functional team collaborations. 

Despite peer-to-peer and cross-functional communication being so vital, many people are apprehensive about communicating with peers and attempt to funnel everything through their manager.

Managers, when someone tells you about something great a colleague did, urge them to also share that feedback directly with the colleague who did the great work.

This will develop stronger relationships between peers, allow for more praise to be shared (again, you don’t want to be a feedback bottleneck), and provide more perspectives on what’s going well and why.

When there are issues, insist that people communicate them directly. It’s kinder for them to tell their colleague about the issue that needs to be fixed than to report that issue to the boss.

This type of workplace communication training should focus on encouraging peer feedback , helping people build workplace relationships , and teaching people the importance of clean escalation versus talking about someone behind their back.

 4. Communicating Externally

Your employees’ interactions with clients, supply chain partners, and other external parties are integral to the strength of your organization. Not to mention that these interactions influence your reputation. 

This type of workplace communication training should focus on the company’s brand voice, values, communication expectations, and how to interact with external partners in a way that accurately represents the organization and its goals.

Workplace Communication Training: What’s Next?

It’s worth considering that these types of communication will be used in different ways depending on the structure of your organization. 

When designing your workplace communication training programs, start by examining how your employees communicate and what hurdles currently exist.  You’re then better able to tailor your training to focus on which methods are most in need of upskilling or adjustment. 

You may also want to offer folks a workplace communication training course for employees so everyone has a grasp on the organization’s communication culture. This kind of workplace communication skills training can be offered asynchronously by using platforms like MasterClass or LinkedIn Learning .

Now that you know what kinds of workplace communication training are most important to your organization, let’s talk about how establishing a culture of Radical Candor facilitates effective communication at work.

Radical Candor = Caring Personally + Challenging Directly

he most effective way to implement a successful feedback culture is by embracing the principles of Radical Candor to teach everyone a shared language for communicating that’s kind, clear, specific, and sincere.

Absent this kind of workplace communication training, people tend to default to Ruinous Empathy , being kind but not clear, Obnoxious Aggression , being clear but not kind, and Manipulative Insincerity , being neither kind nor clear and talking about others behind their backs. 

Radical Candor offers virtual, in-person, and digital courses for companies of every size to help you level up your workplace communication training.

Workplace Communication Training Enhances Employee Wellness

@thegardeningtheologian #greenscreen let’s talk about the new model for workplace wellness: Protection from harm. Connection and community. Work-life harmony. Mattering at work. Opportunities for growth. I love this model because it highlights the ways that we can create work environments that are connection-centered vs. productivity centered. #fyp #work #connection #inclusive #equity #healthywork ♬ Just a Cloud Away – Pharrell Williams

  When you care for people and give them the resources to thrive, they generally respond positively. 

Workplace mental health and employee welfare is both an ethical duty for companies and a business imperative. Reliable workplace communication impacts employee well-being in a range of ways. 

It enables social wellness by helping employees build stronger bonds with colleagues, reduces stress, and improves employee engagement. 

Open communication also fosters a culture of feedback and transparency, in which people are comfortable sharing thoughts and feelings, thereby strengthening mutual trust.

Another element of workplace communication training is ensuring everyone understands that a diverse workforce is key to innovation and a richer experience for all stakeholders. This is why it’s important to hire people who are “culture adds ” rather than “culture fits.” 

To get the most out of any workplace communication training, it’s important not only to be aware of cultural differences in the workplace but also to commit to creating an inclusive workshop experience where everyone feels safe to participate.

Kim Scott’s book Radical Respect: How to Work Together Better teaches folks how to optimize for collaboration instead of coercion and to value individuality instead of conformity.

Good workplace communication training supports everything from organizational success to employee well-being. Remember, though, that one-off training courses are unlikely to be effective on their own. 

It’s important to integrate what you learn into your company’s overall culture, including all areas of employee training and development. You’ll find your efforts have a more holistic and lasting impact when you walk the talk versus thinking of workplace communication training as one-and-done.

If you’re interested in learning about AI-driven workplace communication training practice partner from Radical Candor, contact us today!

Indiana Lee is a freelance journalist specializing in business operations, leadership, and marketing. Her writing aims to provide insights that promote personal and organizational growth. Connect with her on  LinkedIn

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Do you want to fix communication issues in the workplace? Then you need The Feedback Loop  (think  Groundhog Day  meets  The Office ), a 5-episode workplace comedy series starring David Alan Grier that brings to life Radical Candor’s simple framework for navigating candid conversations.

We’re offering Radical Candor readers 10% off the self-paced e-course.  Follow this link  and enter the promo code  FEEDBACK  at checkout.

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In order to have a successful implementation of the Birth to Six Initiative, it is imperative that the Agency take the time to create a viable and realistic plan to launch and sustain the activities of the Initiative.

FIRST , it is important to engage stakeholders to participate in an assessment and planning process. Stakeholders include internal staff, community partners and the families and children themselves.

SECOND , the Agency would introduce these stakeholders to the Birth to Six Initiative, the scope of the problem, and potential interventions.

THIRD , a strategic plan would be developed where a self-assessment would be developed and a plan of action developed. A workgroup would be developed to forge the way of implementation. A communication plan might be outlined and sent to important stakeholders. An implementation team would be responsible for seeing that the innovation has actually come to fruition. The action plan would outline:

• What the innovation is
• The roles and activities of the workgroup
• The expectations and mechanisms for communication (i.e., meetings, documents, training, etc.)
• A strategic plan that would develop a strategy for informing and training the staff and stakeholders

The documents below will walk the Agency through the planning process.

The Birth to Six Initiative - Implementation Readiness Checklist provides of list of items that can be used when preparing for the implementation of a new innovation. Implementation leaders, implementation teams and implementers may find that it helps to know what they have and what they need in terms of implementation.

Communication Plan

Communication is a key element when starting something new. This communication workplan includes several things that may be helpful as people navigate their expectations, roles and tasks regarding implementation. It includes:

• Identification and definition of roles of stakeholders
• Example of a communication matrix
• Guidelines for meetings
• Sample meeting agenda
• Sample and blank communication directory matrix

The blank documents are intended for users to complete based on their work.

Stakeholder Analysis

Analysis may consist of thinking of all the people who are affected by your work, who have influence or power over it or who have an interest in its successful or unsuccessful conclusion. It may be important to prioritize your stakeholders into categories of people who may have a direct impact on the attainment of the program's goals and the outcomes of the innovation.

This stakeholder analysis document includes several things that may be helpful as implementers think about how to identify stakeholders and how to work with them. It includes:

• Example of people (listed by title or function) who may be vested stakeholders
• A list to be completed by the implementer(s) to that includes fill-in tips to help identify stakeholders
• Grid for stakeholder prioritization
• Questions for understanding stakeholders

Strategic Planning

This strategic planning tool is a matrix that users can complete as they think about assessment, implementation, monitoring of progress and sustainability. Users can insert tasks, names of people responsible for completing the tasks and deadlines for task completion.

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