Communication Practices
There are many different ways to communicate, through reading, writing, speaking, listening, visual means, technology, the media, numeracy. In fact, communication practices include all ways of ensuring that your voice is heard – by different people, in different languages, at different levels, in different contexts and at different times. Each is important, and different means have relatively different effectiveness and importance in different contexts.
Why communications practices? Traditionally adult education classes have focused on literacy, and the ability to read and write is key if people are to be able to communicate in certain contexts. However, other ways of communicating are equally important in different situations. In the time of ‘knowledge economies’ a conventional definition of literacy is simply not sufficient. People need the capacity to articulate their own experience and perspective, they need to be able to communicate and engage with an ‘external world’ (whether this is a public space or within the private sphere) – this is at the essence of real democratisation. People’s capacity to communicate is fundamental to equitable relationships, whether between men and women or adults and children.
In March 2000 members of CIRAC (the International Reflect Circle) agreed that:
‘a central concern of all Reflect programmes is to enhance peoples capacity to have
their voice heard – by whatever communication means necessary’For this reason we talk about Reflect as being about communication practices.
Two way communication: Communication is not unidirectional – it is both transmitted and received. Further, no communication is neutral – the capacity to communicate and be heard is determined by power relationships that need to be analysed. Being unable to communicate is both a cause and effect of inequitable power relationships – and those who are subjected to inequitable power relations exist in a culture of silence when they no longer feel that they have the right to communicate. The key challenge for Reflect is to enable people to use all the different types of communication, rather than being used by them. Reflect, therefore, is about dealing with ‘texts’ (chunks of communication) – critically reading those external texts that have power, then actively developing, reproducing and using alternative texts. In this way ‘communication practices’ become a way of altering power relations.
How can Reflect improve people’s ability to communicate? Reflect focuses on:
- Asserting people’s right to communicate (individually and collectively)
- Giving people space for analysis and reflection so that they can decide what to communicate
- Developing people’s capacity to communicate (‘crack the codes’)
- Enabling access to appropriate ‘instruments’ of communication
These aspects are all crucial if power relations are to be challenged and people are to be able to communicate effectively.