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...management communication: is the tension between teaching practical, career-focused skills versus critical and/or interpretive analysis; the second is the multicultural classroom environment where students, educated in monocultural context, are exposed to other interpretations and critiques of their own cultural predispositions and values.

In addition, there is no clearly defined notion of a management communication student in a graduate or MBA program. The how and what of graduate management communication programs are constantly in question as we prepare these graduates for an increasingly complex, ambiguous, and multicultural workplace (Mintzberg, 2004). Therefore, reflecting critically on our practices as educators is essential (Cunliffe, 2004; Grey, 2004). This article briefly describes the context of teaching management communication at the Waikato Management School and the key tensions experienced in that context. We then explain the concept of critical reflexive practice and its implications for teaching. Finally, we illustrate the framework through several critical incidents in the classroom.

SETTING THE CONTEXT

The context for this study is the Department of Management Communication within the business school of the University of Waikato in New Zealand. The department is a research center, not primarily a service department; it fosters creative, critical, interpretive, and practice-relevant scholarship and interdisciplinarity (e.g., Cockburn-Wootten, Henderson, & Rix, 2005; Holmes, 2004; Motion & Weaver, 2005; Munshi & McKie, 2001; Roper, in press; Zorn, 2002).

The department offers undergraduate and graduate programs in management communication and public relations. Students may undertake research courses at the master's level for the Master of Management Studies (MMS) degree and a doctorate by thesis. The department's expertise is also applied within the international and executive MBA degree programs, both of which integrate theory and practice. MBA courses, however, are more vocationally oriented, whereas the MMS degree program is more academically oriented, providing students with a theoretical and critical grounding for doctoral research, as well as the critical problem-solving knowledge to be effective communication specialists in the work place.

In addition, the department is characterized by cultural diversity. The 13 faculty represent 8 different nationalities and have diverse research approaches and interests. The graduate student body is both bicultural (consisting of New Zealand Maori and non-Maori) and multicultural, including many international students, predominantly from East and Southeast Asia. In New Zealand, "biculturalism" acknowledges the equal partnership between Maori--the indigenous people--and non-Maori. According to the Treaty of Waitangi (1840), the founding document for the governance of New Zealand people, education of Maori and non-Maori (including international students) must take place in a framework of participation, protection, and partnership.

The faculty's critical and interpretive research orientations can sometimes be seen to clash with student expectations for a traditional "functionalist" business education. In addition, the pedagogies and practices of faculty are required to acknowledge and cope with both student and faculty diversity. Herein lie two key tensions experienced in teaching management communication in this context. In the next section, we explain an approach for...

NOTE: All illustrations and photos have been removed from this article.



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