Wright, A., Kuhn, T., Michailova, S. et al. (1 more author) (2023) Ventriloquial authority in management learning and education: a communication as constitutive of learning and education perspective. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 22 (2). ISSN 1537-260X
Abstract
This theoretical essay argues that management learning and education (MLE) is fundamentally accomplished by communication. Specifically, we utilize a Communication as Constitutive of Organization perspective to advance MLE as fundamentally a communicational accomplishment, which we label ‘Communication as Constitutive of Learning and Education’. We focus on authority in the sense that all classroom conversations are authored, showing that the educator who faces the students is but one of many participants authoring classroom conversations. Authority becomes an emergent claim on action shaped by multiple interrelating texts that compete to influence practice. Classroom practice thus is a site of ventriloquial authority: when someone or something is made to speak in a specific way by a present or distant other that makes a difference for a conversational trajectory. We argue that management classrooms are replete with ventriloquial authority and that this is consequential for what educators teach and what students learn. We support our argument by illustrating ventriloquial authority in the classroom through the use of textbooks and visual media. We end with a “Call to Action” for educators to appreciate communication’s constitutive quality and to rethink how authority acts in MLE.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
---|---|
Authors/Creators: |
|
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2021 Academy of Management. This is an author-produced version of a paper subsequently published in Academy of Management Learning and Education (AMLE). Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | Ventriloquism; authority; communication as constitutive of organization (CCO); text; discourse; management learning and education |
Dates: |
|
Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > Management School (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 22 Mar 2022 12:40 |
Last Modified: | 26 Jun 2024 10:08 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Academy of Management |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.5465/amle.2019.0191 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:185022 |