Teaching for Change

Abstract

This essay explores the relationship between communication pedagogy, notions of change, and assessment. The authors draw on our teaching experiences and student writings in electronic portfolios (e-portfolios) collected during a 2-year research project on the scholarship of teaching and learning in communication. Our research contributes a framework for understanding transformative learning comprised of four communicative capabilities—emotional discernment, openness, dialogue, and reflection—that emerged both from existing literature and from analysis of student e-portfolios. The authors advance a new conceptualization of communication terms to enhance educators’ thinking, teaching, and assessment of transformation in the classroom. The authors argue for a more robust and meaningful approach to counting change—a vision urgently needed in the current climate of institutional assessment.