Class discussion questions for academic study

Communication Discussion

Discuss one principle you have learned in this class and already put into practice.

Unlike many other classes, it is relatively easy to see the applicability of the principles of this class in everyday life. Communication, as it is often observed, is something that takes place on a daily basis. One cannot escape the dialogue of communication with others and with the world. Even making the decision to be silent, when others are speaking, communicates something, if only sullenness. However, as 'easy' as it may be to communicate or to convey a message, it is not always easy to put into practice the principles learned in a communication class, such as the need not only to put forth one's own desired message, but to receive the communicative messages of other individuals.

One of the most key principles learned in this class is the need to respect other individual's viewpoints in such a way that they feel acknowledged. This can be done as simply, as when debating a controversial issue in class, to reiterate what the other person has said accurately, before responding to it in a critical or appreciative fashion. Beyond this intellectual, rhetorical device, to do so is emotionally satisfying to the person, even if he or she disagrees with one's own advocated point-of-view. Truly listening to another human being is a fundamental and vital way of acknowledging another individual's uniqueness and separate, yet completely equal status, in the dialogue of human communication. Furthermore, even when an individual does not speak in the form of a dialogue, as during a lecture or a performance of a monologue, acknowledging the possibilities of diversity and alternative points if view is critically important. This may be done as a verbal gesture, perhaps noting that, 'others think differently than what I am advocating in the subject of my lecture.' It can even be as simple as using gender inclusive pronouns or ethnically and racially neutral examples and a diverse range of names and cultural citations, embracing the diversity of the listening audience one is communicating to.

Explain what difference, if any, the practice of that principle has made for you? For anyone else?

For myself, respecting the differences of others has been a crucial advance in my hopefully life-long communication education. I am less apt to take diverse viewpoints as gestures of negativity than I was before. It is tempting, in a self-centered fashion, to assume because another person has a different point-of-view, or even a different lifestyle than you, that this is somehow a threat or a challenge to one's own set of core values. I have come to realize, slowly, through more effective communication, that even in a state of disagreement, I can still hold my own points-of-view without having to directly challenge or change the views of the other individual I am discussing them with.

Sometimes, the most effective way to truly change someone's mind is simply an exchange, rather than contention. The practice of respecting the diversity of viewpoints can be seen, when practiced in a positive light, to be an instrument of tolerance and peace, as is evidenced by its potential to be used during conflict mediation sessions between warring peoples during treaty negotiations, as well as negotiating on a personal level, between spouses, significant others, and friends and housemates, about issues of conflict around the world and around the home.