Engagement Beyond Interruption: A Performative Perspective on Listening and Ethics

Abstract

This article presents an understanding of listening as a performative and pedagogical act. Moving beyond existing theories of listening in communication and education studies that frame listening as a selective and incremental act, this article considers listening in terms of a performance studies and critical education studies perspective. An argument for listening as an embodied act is developed through the consideration of 3 classroom interactions and the critical reading of existing education and communication studies literature on listening. Six implications of the respecification of listening as a mode of embodiment are offered for critical education studies.

Notes

¹A detailed description of this classroom activity can be found in McRae (2012a).