Communication — an essential art

In all courses in further and higher education some attention is paid at the outset to the most basic theory. A course in Philosophy considers the problem of defining philosophy itself, and discusses fundamental principles before looking at specific philosophies. So with Business Studies, or Science. So even with Education — or so it was. And if these fundamental, introductory programmes are compared with one another, they are found to have certain common ingredients. One in particular stands out; the need to define and have a common understanding of terminology, so that possible future misunderstandings can be avoided, so that there is common ground on which students and teachers can stand with a sure footing, and so that there are established bases for hypothesis and conjecture as the course unfolds. In other words, attention is paid to the need for an efficient medium of communication in the classroom. Once that medium is created, transfer can take place to the library or the study. The student takes it with him wherever he goes, and uses it whenever he works within his subject. How sad it is that he has no way of making use of it — or of the principles involved in developing it — in any other context.