Classroom Communication and Diversity: Enhancing Instructional Practice

Teachers face myriad communication challenges in today's classroom, reflecting the growing diversity of the student body; the ever-increasing number of students; gender issues; and students' learning disabilities. This volume provides a useful framework for helping new and experienced teachers manage the diverse communication challenges they encounter. It also encourages teachers to reflect on how their personal cultures influence their expectations about appropriate classroom communication and ways to demonstrate learning.

This textbook is distinctive in its integration of information from a variety of sources to establish a viewpoint that focuses on the needs of the individual learner. Drawing on the research in the communication and education disciplines, authors Robert G. Powell and Dana L. Powell provide theoretical models and useful strategies for improving instructional practices. They address the ways in which culture influences communication in the classroom, and assist teachers in developing the skills necessary to meet the needs of the students in their classrooms.

Much of the information shared in this text derives from the authors' research and experience in schools and from the experiences of others, including teachers, parents, and children. Their experiences, combined with the cross-disciplinary approach, produce a volume of unique perspectives and considerable insight. Teachers and scholars in the communication and education disciplines will find this text to be a practical and valuable tool for classroom teaching, and it is appropriate for instructional communication courses in the areas of communication and education.

Robert G. Powell (PhD, University of Nebraska) is Director of the Assistant Lecturer Program at California State University, Fresno. He is currently investigating alternative instructional strategies for teaching and measuring critical thinking. He is also interested in the role of student culture on instructional practices and better understanding processes which influence learning in the classroom. He has been selected as a Master Teacher by WSCA and was Chair of the Instructional Development Division of ICA. He is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Applied Communication.
Dana L. Powell is Assistant Professor of special education at California State University, Fresno. She has over 20 years' experience, as a teacher, administrator, and therapist, working with students who have learning, emotional, and/or behavioral problems. Her research interests include programming for students at risk, parent involvement, behavior management, social skills training, and inclusion of special needs students in the mainstream.