Communication Theory

• How do therapists know how to help People?

• How do teachers know how to teach?

• How do coaches know how to win?

• How do we know how to communicate most effectively?

Are Theories Difficult?

• An invitation to the life of the mind

• Learning to love knowledge for its own sake

• Invitation to an ongoing conversation

i.e. Kenneth Burke’s Parlor

• Communication Theory is an idea game

Suggestions

• Stay Positive

• Maintain a Perspective--Big Picture

• Find Good Resources

• Don’t Procrastinate

Some Perspectives

• Fort Peck--Order or Chaos

• The Elephant and the Blind Researchers

• What is your perspective?

• How do you perceive communication?

More on Perspectives

• Communication Theories describe and/or explain. Do they predict?

• Eastern vs. Western perspectives--Wholeness and unity vs. analytical reductionism; spirituality vs. individual purpose; non-speech vs. speech/language

• Study of Communication is diverse, eclectic, and multidisciplinary today.

Three Types of Scholarship

• Science--objectivity

• Humanities--subjectivity

• Social Science--blends the two

Three Approaches to Knowledge

• Knowing by discovery--search for objectivity

• Knowing by interpreting--construction of meaning

• Knowing by criticism--application of values and judgements to what is observed or experienced

Five Genres of Communication Theories

• Structural/Functional--assumes that reality is ordered

• Cognitive/Behavioral--mechanisms of the mind

• Interactional/Conventional--social life

• Interpretative--meaning and language

• Critical Theories--domination/oppression

Four Levels or Contexts of Inquiry

• Interpersonal

• Group

• Organizational

• Mass

Ten General Theories

• We will look at ten general theories that may apply to all the categories

• They are core theories and apply to any context

So, Welcome to the Adventure of the Mind called Theory

• The Farmer and the “object in the field”

• Which explanations do you most often turn to?