Jonathan Doram

Dr. Vesnon
ROD Prompts- Chapters 1 and 2
1.1 Domains of Communication of Education
What do you know?
The three domains of communication education are communication
pedagogy, developmental communication, and instructional
communication.
What do you think?
It is important to understand the distinction so that we as teachers
can evaluate what areas are our strengths and what areas need more
improvement. For example, I might have studied more instructional
communication research, and so I am well versed on the types of
verbal and nonverbal messages that occur in the classroom. However,
if I am not aware of developmental communication, my
communication may not be as sensitive to the developmental
readiness level of my students (as they will be from wide range of
ages from 5-18). As a researcher, I would ask: How can teachers more
effectively use communication to teach students? How do personal
assumptions regarding race and gender affect communication, and
how is that being perceived and impacting the students? What
characterizes healthy, positive communication between teachers and

students, teachers and parents, teachers and other teachers, students

and other students, and teachers/students and administration?
1.4 Classroom Communication
What do you know?
Classroom communication, according to the textbook, consists of the
verbal and nonverbal transactions between teachers and students and
between or among students (pg. 8). This includes the following
elements: people (those involved), frame of reference (where each
person comes from), verbal messages (what one says), nonverbal
messages (how one says it), channels (medium for communication),
interference (obstacles to shared meaning), feedback (responses), and
context (time, location, background to communication). These all
occur as a transactional process, meaning the simultaneous sending
and receiving of messages that occur in context (pg. 9).
What do you think?
I think the most important element to remember is the frame of
reference, or the fact that the teacher and student may be coming to
the conversation from wildly disparate backgrounds, experiences, and
beliefs, all of which greatly affect how the communication is
interpreted. Therefore, it is the job of the teacher to listen to the
student, so that they can better understand where they are coming
from (so that they are then better able to help them learn and grow).
The very first transaction is commonly the first day of school. The

student is walking into the classroom for the first day with their own
thoughts and feelings regarding it being the first day of school (frame
of reference). The teacher similarly also comes to the first day with
their own set of thoughts and feelings, like possibly being nervous
(their frame of reference). The student receives nonverbal
communication immediately through the classroom artifacts and how
the teacher interacts in the space (channels and nonverbal messages).
The teacher may then introduce themselves to the class and start the
first class session (verbal messages).
2.1 Relationship Stages
What do you know?
The stages are initiation (the first set of interactions and encounters
between the teachers and students that set the stage), experimenting
(exploring with how the expectations for behavior actually play out
day in and day out), intensifying (communication becomes more
interpersonal as the teachers and students get to know each better on
a deeper level), and deterioration/dissolution (the natural stage that
occurs as the school year ends and interaction ceases).
What do you think?
Teacher-and-student relationships are similar because most
communication occurs first between people viewed only in their
respective roles (like during the experimenting stage). Some
examples of roles include between child and parent, parent and

teacher, teacher and administration, employee and employer, and

congregation and pastor.
Teacher-and-student relationships are different than some because
there is a possibility of the student having no say in stating or sharing
expectations for the relationship, of their being a natural closing stage
to the relationship not due to negative factors but the natural flow of
the school year, and of the teacher having a specific, job-driven
agenda of using the communication to teach the student lessons.
2.4 Self-Disclosure
What do you know?
The characteristics of effective self-disclosure include appropriateness
(consider the context for the disclosure and if another time or place
would work better), taking the steps incrementally (build trust and
respect in the relationship), and reciprocity (the teacher must first
open up in order for the students to open up to them). Factors that
influence self-disclosure are age (younger children self-disclosure
more readily), gender (females may be more likely to self-disclose),
and race/culture/nationality (a student may be more likely to selfdisclose if the teacher is from the same ethnic background as them).

What do you know?

I will intentionally create a safe space in my classroom for disclosure.
In order to sing well, one must feel free to share their whole selves (as

the voice is such an intimate and personal instrument). As dialogue

will be a staple of my classroom, I and my students will be encouraged
to share daily our honest thoughts, feelings, and opinions. I think
appropriate self-disclosure would be communication that is relevant to
the class discussion and respectful. In the classroom, I will disclose
freely with my students my struggles with controversial topics and my
background and how that affects who I am today. In one-on-one
settings with students, I will allow them to disclose whatever they feel
comfortable sharing. I want them to feel comfortable talking to me
and opening up. Obviously, certain self-disclosures (such as admission
of suicidal thoughts or abuse at home) require me legally to take
action and therefore forsake confidentiality, but students will know
that I care for them and want to help them in whatever way I can.