When I first immigrated to the United States, almost 18 years ago, I was fascinated by how different teaching styles were compared to back home. The challenge of learning to listen and think in different ways was daunting yet refreshing. What became clear during those early years of my American academic journey was the importance of communicating in culturally relevant ways. I still carry this lesson with me as an instructor, as I shape lessons to resonate with a culturally diverse group of students. As such, I tend to think of classes as broken down into three frames: the opening frame, the lecture frame, and the practice frame. Each segment of class is meant to help students conceptualize the theories being discussed in multiple ways. This teaching narrative offers a picture of how my attention to communication practices in the classroom shapes a cultural environment that facilitates diverse ways of understanding a particular topic.
Opening Frame
I believe that how an instructor frames a course has a tremendous effect on how students interact with the teacher, the theory being discussed, and their fellow classmates. Attention to framing goes beyond the syllabus, providing an overarching structure for the course.
Framing starts before the class begins. I play relaxing, classical music in the minutes before class. I call this the debriefing period and encourage students to move around and engage with each other during this time. This is meant to help students become more comfortable with all the multiple personalities comprising the classroom culture. Once the music stops, students know that class is about to begin, and they have a minute to reorganize themselves.
Every class I teach starts the same way, with a low stakes check-in activity. I always start by asking students what the buzz on campus is; what kinds of events and note-a-bull news we should be aware of. I start this way because it allows me to promote the idea of university culture, and how important it is to participate in the local rituals that make the USF community unique. This facilitates discussions relating to USF clubs, charity and community service events, athletic competitions, etc. While this is where the check-in activity starts, conversations tend to seep into different areas of the social world that students see as being relevant. For instance, following the state of the union address by the president, students of my Persuasion and Media course discussed the potential benefits of our university president delivering a similar type of message each year. This discussion led to an activity, where I asked students to come up with themes that would be culturally relevant for Judy Genshaft to discuss in this hypothetical speech. Ultimately, by starting class with the debriefing period followed by the check-in activity, I invite students to see participation as an organic occurrence. This creates a classroom culture where discussion operates as a collective accomplishment, here, students feel comfortable bouncing ideas off each other without much moderation.
Lecture Frame
A central goal in my teaching is offering a learning space that promotes sensitivity towards many diverse perspectives to create the possibility for dynamic learning experiences. The classroom becomes a stage for exploring knowledge claims and the social impact that such claims can have in day to day experiences. Due to this, the class is designed for lectures to follow the check-in activity; I am then able to facilitate connections between theories presented in assigned readings and the topics discussed during the check-in. As such, I lecture in three different ways to increase student engagement/interests and to offer connections for students from a variety of learning backgrounds.
I lecture using PowerPoint and Prezi as visual aids for chapters and theories which are most dense. The use of visuals helps students focus on complex ideas while providing visual examples through pictures and videos. Alternatively, I also lecture using written notes on the whiteboard. I start by outlining the main theories being discussed that day on the board and then add information as the conversation develops. This lecture-style creates a more interactive exchange between me and students. On days when I lecture using the whiteboard, I ask students to put laptops away (unless they have some kind of accommodation) to enhance their focus on the topic through active participation. Finally, I also lecture through delivering a speech. I write speeches to engage students in a different form of listening, and to tap into their emotional connection to a particular idea. I tend to do speech lectures on days when I teach a topic most students are already familiar with; this is done to create a different frame for students to consider a theory or idea. All three approaches allow for me to keep lectures fresh and engaging while offering different ways for students from a variety of backgrounds to listen and connect with ideas.
Practice Frame
Following each lecture, I ask students to become the investigators themselves by engaging with the theory presented. One foundational philosophy I carry with me into the classroom is that the learning space is a “practice” space. I derive my appreciation for the practice metaphor from my time as a high school soccer coach. I find it essential to promote the values associated with “practice” to create an atmosphere that feels safe enough to try out new ideas, generate critical discussions, and maintain an attitude that fosters co-learning. I bring that same frame of practice into both my “Public Speaking” and “Persuasion and Media” classrooms.
The notion of practice can play out in different ways based on the objective of the course. For example, in Public Speaking (SPC2608) the metaphor of practice is commonplace in most activates and lessons. I start by promoting the importance of rehearsal before performing a speech. I note the simplicity involved with showing up to rehearse and highlight how practicing creates room for more creative forms of expression. I ask students to practice their speech once, and then to record themselves the second time. This allows students to make note of which areas of the speech might need improvement. After presenting their speech, I ask students to record their speech once more to analyze what about their delivery needs improvement for the next speech. Students engage with the practice of speech criticism while doing this self-analysis assignment.
In Persuasion and Media, the theme of practice functions a bit differently. I try to follow each class lecture with a media clip that engages with or demonstrates the ideas that were discussed in the lecture. As a group, we critique and analyze media clips for relevance and potential connections to the textbook. This helps students to develop confidence in presenting their ideas and opinions while engaging with different and varying opinions from their classmates. Over the course of the term, students gradually transition from verbal analysis to the written analysis. From a pedagogical perspective, group analyses allow us to see different ways of making critical claims while understanding that each persuasive message has the potential for multiple interpretations.
The practice of group-based analysis and criticism helps students prepare for their final papers, in which they write an independent analysis. While developing their final papers, I engage students in a different type of practice that deals with the advantages of multiple perspectives when editing. One activity in particular help develop students’ editing skills while demonstrating the value of multiple revisions. “Workshop Bingo” is an activity in which students offer editing advice to their classmates on initial drafts of their final papers, working through one section of the paper at a time. Similar to a bingo game structure, nine squares require students to gather edits for a different section of their papers. Each square must be completed by a different person. To encourage more fruitful feedback, horizontal “bingo” is not allowed only vertical or diagonal. During Workshop Bingo, I facilitate the game, helping students figure out how to best help their peers. This ensures that interactions offer advice that the reviewer see as most valuable for that section of the paper. This activity creates a rich environment for students to engage with each other’s work while practicing their editing skills.
The practice frame allows students to engage with multiple scholarly concepts in different ways, such as analyzing a media text or developing speech topics and creates the type of active learning that fosters continued inquiry. It is my goal that students leave the course with a strong understanding of the course content and an openness to learning new things in new ways. Most importantly, students should be able to develop a theoretical understanding as to how course concepts impact their daily lives, and how they can continue investigating beyond the classroom environment.