Over the course of my thirteen (13) years as a university lecturer, my approach to student education has shifted from an emphasis on my teaching, to a more central focus on student learning, and finally to a more holistic realization that the two are inseparable aspects of the same whole. I would define "teaching and learning" much as I would define "communication" as a holistic process in which there is a co-creation of meaning between student and teacher. In order to accomplish this "co-creation of meaning," I struggle constantly to balance five basic classroom dialectics: giving knowledge and facilitating understanding; theory and application, helping and challenging; maintaining rigor and encouraging creative experimentation; and respecting and supporting a wide diversity of students and student needs while maintaining balance and fairness.

Giving Knowledge And Facilitating Understanding: Students come to my classes with many layers of knowledge about course materials. I try to help these students tap into their prior knowledge, test it against what is presented in class, and use that knowledge as a base on which to build a greater understanding of more complex networks of theory and behavior.

Theory and Application: I believe that learning requires deep understanding that can only come when students internalize and actively apply knowledge in creative and meaningful ways. In any class I teach, I hope that students will be able to wrestle with the course material in their own lives, applying abstract theories to what they experience in their everyday world. Ideally, this approach should empower students to articulate ideas and process concepts in ways that are meaningful to them.

Helping and Challenging: I also understand that part of a student's everyday world is the university itself. Thus, my role as a teacher includes helping students succeed in the unique culture of higher education. While I want students to be able to personalize their education via active learning, I also recognize that I have expertise from which students may benefit. I believe most students will rise to the challenge when quality work is demanded of them if they are also helped to develop the skills necessary to make that possible. For this reason I encourage critical thinking and the improvement of oral and written skills in all of my classes.

Maintaining Rigor and Encouraging Creative Experimentation: I believe students are best served when they are actively and rigorously engaged in the pursuit of knowledge. A teacher may inspire, but students should be actively engaged in the learning process for it to be successful. In an effort to give students greater ownership of the knowledge they encounter, I use cooperative and active learning strategies as well as lecture in my classroom and try to develop assignments that foster both analytical and critical thinking and opportunities for creative application.

Respecting and Supporting a Wide Diversity of Students and Student Needs While Maintaining Balance and Fairness: The study of communication is, I believe by its very nature, imminently practical; it is practiced and applied by our students and ourselves on a daily basis. As a result, we teach by what we do in the classroom as much as by what we say. By modeling good communication, concern and compassion for our students, and a real enthusiasm for our subject matter we also teach the value of our subject. As an interculturalist, I strongly value the diversity of learning styles and the unique perspectives - both individual and cultural - that my students may bring to the classroom. As a result, I strive to provide an environment where students feel comfortable in expressing their needs and opinions and believe that the entire class benefits and learns from that process.

Like all values, these are ideals for which I am constantly striving but not always fully successful in achieving. I have also found that each institution and each class provides new challenges and opportunities for my own learning as an instructor and a scholar. As my students change, I change. As my discipline grows and matures, I am constantly struggling to meet the challenge of passing that knowledge on to my students. But ultimately, I also hope to give them the curiosity and skills that will allow them to participate in the genesis of that knowledge.