Content area
Full Text
One of the most challenging elements of being a teacher is that we are considered responsible for our student's learning. And yet, we cannot learn for our students; student learning is an activity done by the student not by the teacher. So, how teachers are responsible for student learning becomes a relevant and interesting question. In what ways can we be responsible for an outcome which, ultimately, is not under our control? The essays by Central States Communication Association teaching award winners for 2002 provide some insights into this issue. Stephen Hunt (2003) argues that teachers are responsible for student learning by actively engaging in practices which research shows makes learning more likely while Lynn Bryant (2003) discusses the teacher's responsibility to not put barriers in the way of learning. Both focus on the processes of communication in and out of the classroom which create or hinder student learning. There is also a third factor affecting communication processes which is controlled by neither teacher nor student that affects learning: the environment in which instruction occurs.
Proactive Practices Promoting Learning
Much past instructional communication research has focused attention on such teacher communicative behaviors as non-verbal immediacy (e.g., McCroskey, Fayer, Richmond, Sallinen, & Barraclough, 1996), confirmation (e.g., Ellis, 2000), and clarity (e.g., Chesebro & McCroskey, 2001). We know that these behaviors are associated with student learning. Hunt, however, goes beyond a simple focus on individual teacher behaviors and argues that teachers are responsible for implementing communication processes that enable and support student learning.
Hunt (2003) draws on Astin's theory of involvement to argue that student involvement facilitates student learning. We would expect that behaviors like nonverbal immediacy also promote involvement-and, in fact, Hunt refers to using such behaviors as an integral part of his pedagogical practices....