Applying Dialogic Public Relations Theory to Public Relations Education (2012)

This article compares and contrasts theories of pedagogy with Kent and Taylor's (2002) public relations model. Several possible explanations are offered to explain the lack of research on pedagogy among PR scholars and educators. public relations is proposed as helpful approach to make PR education more relational and student-centered. Practical ideas are suggested for applying PR principles to classroom teaching.Keywords: dialogue, pedagogy, public relations, public relations educationKnowing what person means by the term, dialogic, is not always easy. Although the word clearly refers to dialogue, or conversation of some sort, it takes on different connotations within different academic disciplines. According to Cissna and Anderson (1994), means one thing when talking about knowledge, and something else in the context of relationships. also has specialized meanings for conversation analysts, ethnomethodologists, and literary critics; therefore, when scholars use dialogue or to describe education (Freire, 1970/2006), public relations (Kent & Taylor, 2002), mentoring (Bokeno & Gantt, 2000), or religion (Keaten & Soukup, 2009), confusion can arise.This article argues that principles of can enhance public relations (PR) education. Some PR educators may be using in their classrooms already, but there is lack of scholarly work connecting with PR education. One reason may be that dialogic pedagogy-the approach to most prevalent in education scholarship-comes from an understanding of that is problematic for some PR training. Fortunately, PR has its own model of public relations, based on different approach to dialogue, which can be extended to PR education. This article will briefly describe pedagogy, explaining why this approach is often less than ideal for PR education. Then, Kent and Taylor's (2002) theory of public relations will be discussed, along with two reasons this approach to should be applied to PR training.Finally, several suggestions will be offered for how PR instructors might adapt and apply Kent and Taylor's theory to their classrooms.What is Pedagogy?As with dialogue, itself, no single definition of pedagogy exists. pedagogy has been used to identify set of classroom techniques, as well as fundamental approach to the construction of knowledge. Burbules (1993) focused on as both theory and practice, suggesting, Dialogue is guided by spirit of discovery, so that the typical tone of is exploratory and interrogative (p. 8). Burbules also distinguished between teleological and nonteleological views of dialogue. Teleological dialogue, according to Burbules, has a definite, predetermined end point (1993, p. 5). That is, teleological is conversation designed to arrive at specific truth. A prime example is the Socratic method. An instructor uses questions to engage students and make them think, but the instructor already has some idea where the conversation should go. In contrast, nonteleological involves setting aside dogmatic positions and simply exploring ideas without preconceived destination in mind.Arnett (1992) emphasized the role of values and character development in pedagogy. He argued that sharing information is not enough. Rather, students must be encouraged to think about how they will use what they learn in the context of civil society. For Arnett, Dialogic education is form of communicative praxis inviting conversation about ideas and between people, while asking value questions of how and why particular information will be put into action (1992, p. 18).The dominant approach to pedagogy seems to view as an entire epistemological approach, rather than mere classroom technique. …