Central states outstanding teaching award winners wisdom, eloquence, and a little bit of yourself: A philosophy for teaching

Wisdom without eloquence has been of little help to states, but eloquence without wisdom has often been a great obstacle and never an advantage. Cicero (Kennedy, 1980, p. 91) The above quotation is my touchstone. It embodies what I want my students to learn and who I want to be as a teacher. If, as a researcher, I focus only on wisdom, my students may not present their ideas in an effective and engaging manner. If, as a teacher of speech, I focus only on eloquence, my students may persuade without understanding what it is they are advocating. This quotation also reminds me that I must continually strive to be both eloquent and wise so that my students will want to engage material that challenges and enhances their understanding of symbolic practices. In this article I will describe how the above quotation shapes my teaching and share some of the specific activities and strategies I use in the classroom to enhance learning. This will be done in a manner consistent with how I would actually teach these ideas in the classroom. That is, I have grouped ideas together under headings, included stories as well as key points, explained my rationale for why I do things, and shared a bit of myself. Over the past ten years I have been fortunate to have many teachers whose wisdom and eloquence have inspired me to forge my own teaching philosophy. Dr. David Frank could hold a class of 150 spell-bound as he discussed Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and Cicero with anima (life/spirit). Dr. Linda Putnam's outlines of organizational communication theory created order out of chaos. Dr. Edward Schiappa's discussion questions gently guided me through Rorty and Heideggar. Dr. Robin Clair weaved stories through and around feminist theory while we explored the aesthetic by painting our nails in class. These individuals, and so many more, are reflected in my approach to teaching and the activities described herein. TEACHERS AND STUDENTS CO-CONSTRUCT THE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT While students and teachers begin with formal roles in the classroom, a learning environment emerges from the interactive dynamics wherein teachers become learners and learners become teachers. As a teacher it is my responsibility to help students see this relationship. On the first day of class I do two things designed to promote this relationship. First, after I have discussed my expectations of the students (i.e., through the syllabus), I ask what their expectations are of the course and me. We then discuss how all of our expectations can be met through both of our actions. Second, we discuss whether learning is an active or passive activity and what behaviors create active and passive learning environments. The first time I did this exercise I was surprised that the students did not come up with a single expectation. I jokingly asked them if they expected me to shower everyday. After the laughter died down, I asked them to bring a list of expectations to the next class period. Their expectations were very reasonable: Be in my office during office hours. Return papers in a reasonable time. Provide guidelines or examples of how to complete assignments. Announce how much of their large report they should have finished on specific dates. Treat them with respect. After writing their expectations on the board, I explained that one of the worst things that can happen in an organization is for management to solicit feedback and then not respond. Therefore, I tell my students that there are some things I can do, some things I can't do, and some things I won't do. As we go over the list of expectations, I identify which I can, can't, or won't do and provide reasons for the latter two. For example, I can't return papers the next class period because I need at least a weekend to grade them. I won't monitor the progress on their large report because it is inconsistent with my belief that college students are adults who can make decisions about whether they need to be in class or when they need to work on an assignment. …