Describe your "philosophy statement" approach to the first assignment. Which rhetors are you thinking of using, and why?
After the discussions in class and reading Dr. Rice's philosophy statement, I think that I will focus just on communication in the workplace. Although I want to teach some day, I don't think I have enough experience or insight to make a teaching philosophy at this point.
As Dr. Rice put it, we should focus on our beliefs or core values for this assignment. When I think of communicating in the workplace, to me it is most effective when these three things are considered and acted upon: diversity, intercultural awareness, and usability.
Although diversity and intercultural awareness can be similar, I think that they are separate and powerful factors in communication. Being aware of cultural differences and similarities is important in order to connect with other audiences. To the know the values, beliefs, and traditions of another society may be the key to landing the big contract or successfully advertising your company's new product line. Having a diverse group around you is also imperative. If everyone thought the same and had the same background, innovation would be hindered. Having people question one another keeps everyone on their toes and alert. It's when the best ideas develop. Lastly, I chose usability because I think that too many times important members of the team are left out because the information is not communicated in a successful, usable manner. Usability needs to be considered in the growing use of technology. Almost every part of the world we can now be reached, but is it being reached successfully? This is a short synopsis of why I chose these three values. What are your thoughts?
As far as rhetors go, I definitely relate to Aristotle. Appealing to the audience using pathos, logos, and ethos I think is essential in communication, with the audience being the most vital part of the communication. I also agree with Quintilian with his instruct, move, and charm methods. Also in his thinking that an effective orator has quality in his speaking and the emphasis he puts on education. I know my values and the rhetors I'd like to use, I am just trying to figure out how to tie everything together.
I have found it increasingly difficult to separate theories of writing with theories of communication, ultimately. Perhaps this is because I add location and modality to how I think about the rhetorical triangle now, and those are essentially communication components rather than conventionally seen as writing components. I think you see usability in the same way; that is, that communicating well is a recursive and iterative process involving close analysis of reception of ideas from actual users, and because users/audiences today come from such complex and diverse backgrounds, close attention to that reception is critical to quality communication. In many ways I think you can make this connection to Aristotle and to Quintilian--when we make connections to an audience we are, in effect, inventing through selection or choosing the best way to delivery specific content. This requires training, training on the content but also training in terms of understanding the audience. Have you had a change to review Indian student blogs a little? Please do--you might see some differences in ideas about "home" which are illuminating.
ReplyDeleteI have a book chapter I fairly recently published that may be of interest to the line of thinking that I had when making this assignment. It may be useful to skim as you massage your thinking on this assignment. See the second chapter of http://wac.colostate.edu/books/eportfolios.
I still remember transitioning from working as an engineer to teaching technical writing. Even though I attended plenty of workshops regarding what to expect, I'll never forget that first day of teaching. Long story, short, my nerves got the best of me precisely because I hadn't yet considered what it really meant to be an effective communicator in the workplace or the classroom. I'd just always been good at dealing with people, so I never really had to break down why or how. I say this because you're already addressing many of the ideas I wish I had thought about prior to entering the classroom. I guarantee that awareness of these concepts and discussing them in your philosophy statement will have you better prepared for your eventual teaching than I was hahaha.
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Mira - I didn't know where to put feedback from your Ppt, so I thought I'd put it here. I hope you see it. I really like your presentation. Nice work! You have done really well integrating this course's concepts into your own world and made them relevant for your audience. My only suggestion is to have a little more going on while you speak. I like how you bring up different pictures throughout, but there are times when the screen is static and you are narrating. Although you use some text on screen, adding additional text to highlight important names or concepts in addition to the images would be helpful, especially when talking about reading a diverse audience with varying needs. Otherwise, great job!
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