21st Century Capabilities: Communication

As noted at our April 1 meeting, the plan is to address one capability per week for the next five weeks. This week we're moving on to Communication.

Below you'll find the definition of Communication as determined by the two teams from the April 1 meeting along with ideas about how that capability might translate to the workplace, higher education and community life.

After taking a moment to review the definitions, respond to the following questions:

• How important might this capability be for SPS students?
• What might be the implications if we don’t explicitlyaddress the capability through curriculum, instruction, and assessment, i.e., if we maintain the status quo?

Team E Description/Definition: The ability to effectively express and receive information, thoughts, and feeling to a rand of audiences using a wide variety of mediums.

Team F Definition/Description: Two-way transfer of knowledge, thoughts, or ideas through verbal, non-verbal, or written means with attention to tone, social norms, vernacular, and diplomacy to convey a clear, concise, and accurate message.

What might this capability look like in business or the workplace?

Team E
• Ability to communicate with bosses, co-workers, and customers
• Ability to summarize data
• Coaching subordinate
• Communicating goals
• Computer skills
• Customer service
• Electronic
• Email etiquette
• Ethical-when to say what, how to be
• Express feelings appropriately
• Face-to-face
• Job interview
• Leadership skills
• Listening and seeking clarity
• Listening set aside
• Non-verbals
• Phone
• Public
• Public speaking
• Research
• Successful project completion
• World language
• Writing
• Writing job evaluations
• Writing resume


Team F
• Acceptance of other ideas and opinions/understanding of ideas or opinions
• Clarity of expectations
• Different methods of communication to reach identified audience(s)
• Important for collaboration
• Interpret and prioritize information
• Interviewing potential employees
• Listening skills
• Negotiating
• Podcast/Webinars and email

What might this capability look like in higher education?

Team E
• “Blackboard” interaction
• Career decisions
• Collaboration
• Community building
• Conflict resolution skills
• Cross cultural language skills, especially Spanish
• Electronic
• Framing
• Improved achievement
• Listening
• Non-verbal
• Public
• Research
• Responsibility for self independent learning
• Work as a team-member

Team F
• Collaboration among peers
• Communication between students and teachers through various electronic formats
• Communication with college peers/social life
• Content knowledge/differing opinions/ideas
• Projects; podcast/webinar

What might this capability look like in the community or life experience?

Team E
• Advocacy
• Being able to communicate loudly and with force, not timid
• Effective parenting
• Framing
• Listening
• Marriage/family
• Non-verbal
• Passing on story of culture
• Private
• Problem solving
• Providing resources
• Seeking to understand and be understood
• World language, bilingual

Team F
• Social networking texting
• Cell phones
• Family, school, home, church, friends
• Getting along with others; diplomacy, acceptance, social norms
• Talking with others releases stress