ABSTRACT
Critical communication pedagogy (CCP) as a philosophical approach or paradigmatic perspective, seeks to infuse critical theory and cultural studies scholarship with both communication education and instructional communication. This chapter utilizes a CCP perspective to address the ways in which instructional communication texts address students who represent "special populations". There are at least four pervasive and routine assumptions about introductory communication courses, among these that introductory communication courses are "basic", are primarily a service, emphasize skills at the expense of theory, and may be staffed by people who have little disciplinary or pedagogical training. Most introductory course textbooks benefit from a series of pedagogical features or elements that help the reader better understand and retain key concepts. Developmental editors at the various publishing houses often reference what other high-selling textbooks include as a matter of marketing texts to prospective adopters.
