Reflections
This essay pushes back on the idea that software engineers (SEs) don't need communication skills by arguing that SEs communicate constantly, and that communication failures carry real costs. I make a case to appeal to engineers' analytic mindsets by teaching them to analyze rhetorical situations as they craft their communication.
Continue reading →Drawing on Barbara Schneider's work on professional development and Lloyd Bitzer's rhetorical situation, this reflection argues that engagement in technical training depends on making the “why” of upskilling clear and issuing a genuine invitation into the learning, not an order from above.
Continue reading →This reflection draws on Zoltán Dörnyei's L2 Motivational Self System from second language acquisition research and asks how “ideal” and “ought-to” selves might explain who sticks with learning to program.
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