Immediacy: Indispensable for Initiating Inquisitive Dialogue

“And, when worlds collide, when we must speak across what may feel like profound ideological difference, we look to dialogue—to loving inquiry and unflinching self-relexivity—to render that difference meaningful and (re)act, in relation, to it.”                              (Fassett & Warren, 2007, p.56)

Productive and inquisitive dialogue is a necessary ingredient for creating a collaborative learning environment in which both students and teachers can act together to transform the world. Although a collaborative learning environment may be ideal for an educator who wishes to move beyond the traditional pedagogical style of information “banking,” the heavy responsibility of initiating, facilitating, and managing valuable dialogue in the classroom may be perceived as a daunting and overwhelming task. 

If the implementation of collaborative learning in your classroom is perceived as a distant ideal, the strategic (re)use of immediacy may be a small catalyst that encourages you to take the plunge. 

The practice of immediacy in the classroom may be used to create a supportive classroom climate, encourage student participation and contribution, and negotiate power constructs in the classroom. This may help ease the fear of vulnerability that accompanies practicing critical communication pedagogy.

A supportive classroom climate is essential for dialogue. If students do not feel comfortable enough to share their own opinions, examples, and experiences, dialogue does not occur. To create an environment that encourages collaborative learning and transformative dialogue, immediacy may be used to lessen the psychological distance between the teacher and student. The tactics included in this process may be things such as soliciting students’ opinions on issues related to the course or allowing students an opportunity to share information about themselves with the class.

As an educator, it is important to remember that each individual student is not inherently brave enough to speak up in the classroom and participate in dialogue. In order to engage fearful students (although no two are the same), a helpful tactic may be to solicit the opinions of all students and show supportive verbal and nonverbal immediate feedback. This may be done by an acknowledging nod of the head, a reassuring smile, or a verbal assurance of appreciation (“That’s a great point!” or “That is an interesting way of looking at it”).

The practice of immediacy is naturally incorporated in the humanizing quality of critical communication pedagogy. By viewing students as individual and subjective beings, the need for subjective, loving, and understanding behavior from the teacher is imperative. By practicing supportive and immediate behaviors--such as the use of inclusive pronouns (“us” and “we”) and providing prompt feedback—the traditional psychological distance that (traditional) power structures create may be lessened.

#ImmediacyAndLearning

Resources

Fassett, D. L., & Warren, J. T. (2007). Critical communication pedagogy. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.