Cultivating change: an introduction and invitation to critical interpersonal and family communication pedagogy

ABSTRACT bell hooks explains that “the classroom remains the most radical space of possibility in the academy,” and that through teaching, we can “provide students with ways of knowing that enable them to know themselves better and live in the world more fully.” However, as teacher–scholars of interpersonal and family communication (IFC), this promise of possibility is largely missing from our pedagogy. In this essay, we challenge teacher–scholars of IFC to (re)imagine their curriculum in conversation with critical perspectives and to (re)consider their ethical and social responsibilities inside of the classroom. We present our vision for a critical interpersonal and family communication pedagogy framework, providing three key considerations for engaging this perspective: (1) teach to transform; (2) create reflexive classrooms; and (3) abolish the public–private binary. For each consideration, we highlight the potential and praxis for IFC and IFC-adjacent curricula.