Instructional communication (IC) scholars have made significant contributions to the study of educational outcomes by creating a deep understanding of the teacher-student relationship (Mottet & Beebe, 2006). IC research published in "Communication Education" and other outlets therefore appropriately emphasizes interpersonal…

At the conference of the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (ISSOTL) in Bergen, Norway in October 2018, Elizabeth Minnich gave a lecture titled "People Who Are Not Thinking Are Capable of Anything: What Are Students Learning How Are Students Learning It, and Does It Make Them Better People?" As a follow-up…

In this article Susan Jacobson offers advice on connecting and leading as a college or university president, whether new to the job or with years of experience. The key, Jacobson says, is communicating. She explains that while it might sound obvious, the importance of reaching out, connecting, and building and maintaining relationships cannot be…

John McDowell begins his essay "Knowledge by Hearsay" (1993) by describing two ways language matters to epistemology. The first is that, by understanding and accepting someone else's utterance, a person can acquire knowledge. This is what philosophers call "knowledge by testimony." The second is that children acquire knowledge in the course of…

Over the past few years, the language of interpersonal "boundaries" has migrated from the clinical to the public domain, and many young people in particular are familiar with the concept of boundaries in relationships with others. Not only do boundaries help to define relationships with others, but they also clarify one's unique sense of self.…

This essay about the work of a famous anthropologist is an attempt to illuminate one way that researchers could apply their findings about the behavior of people in particular groups to ethical considerations of social relations. I argue that Gregory Bateson (1904-1980) is a good example because he applied a few seminal ideas to a wide range of…

Five empirically based critiques have undermined the standard assumption that conscious thought is primarily for input (obtaining information from the natural environment) or output (the direct control of action). Instead, we propose that conscious thought is for internal processing, to facilitate downstream interaction with the social and…

Developing controls from within requires the helper to be a person of influence able to create conditions of safety in relationship. In order to do so, a focus on the characteristics of adults' relationships with youth is essential. Relational practice offers such a focus. In this article, the author talks about relational practice as a connection…

The proliferation of digital media and social networking software highlighted the need for scholars to identify what has been coined "New Literacies". This thinking recognizes that being literate in a digitized world means navigating and interpreting multiple contexts and complex interactions of identification as people communicate, interact, and…

If there is a salient defining condition of the modern age, it must surely be our tenacious belief in technology. We shall argue that our insatiable infatuation with the computer or "compuphilia", as we herein dub it, represents a serious and growing threat to the mental health of school children. Computers may make communication easier, but they…

In this rejoinder, I comment on how going through the activity of participating in this forum and of engaging in dialogue with my commentators makes sense at several levels--most importantly, at the personal and the conceptual--and how these two levels are intricately connected. The link between the personal and conceptual (cognition and…

In this article, the author shares her reflections on teaching and learning. The author's teaching philosophy is rooted in her studies of developmental psychology and educational psychology. The theoretical approach most compatible with her view of teaching and learning advocates a contextualist and interactionist view that Tharp and Gallimore…

In an effort to encourage dialogue and reflection on matters of common concern and interest, the journal staff invite responses on selected articles from other educators, who engage the text critically and offer some reflections about its utility and validity. This article offers responses from Michael Fierro and Diana Hankins on the article…

Intentional, systemic philosophical change on an educational program level and on an individual level is often a slow and cyclic process. In this article, we reflect on the journey of philosophical change and growth from a traditional philosophy to an inquiry-based, Reggio-inspired one that occurred on both levels in an early childhood teacher…

This paper begins with a consideration of some important themes dealt with in the paper by Treagust and Duit. These include the relationship between research on conceptual change and educational practice, the significance of emotion and identity in the process of conceptual change, and role of cognitive conflict in motivating change. I then argue…