Blackwell Reference Online

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Because a teacher is a manager of a communication environment, investigation into the teaching process analyzes the complexity of the communication situation and the specifics of student–teacher communication. The specificity of a distinct “scholarship of teaching,” suggested by Ernest Boyer (1990) , argues that studying those topics emanating from the teaching process is worthy of scholarly recognition. While Boyer started discussing an individual teacher reflecting on the teaching process, the study of instructional communication added a structured approach, with evidence-based conclusions, to the broader dimension of teaching communication. For Boyer, scholarship existed in systematic examination and sharing with others about teaching (→  Educational Communication ; Learning and Communication ). In Boyer's perspective, this sharing may range from the course level, with syllabi and assignments, to teaching portfolios (now often used for evaluation of teaching excellence by many universities), to published articles and books. What made Boyer's perspective distinct was the emphasis on teaching materials, approaches, and theories in contrast to the teaching done by what was previously seen as the “teaching of colleagues by publication.” Now a teacher might collect all the topics used in public speaking classes to discover to what extent international topics are reflected by the ... log in or subscribe to read full text