Page 11 - Šolsko polje, XXX, 2019, št. 5-6: Civic, citizenship and rhetorical education in a rapidly changing world, eds. Janja Žmavc and Plamen Mirazchiyski
P. 11
j. žmavc in p. mirazchiyski ■ civic, citizenship and rhetorical education ...
that students who have higher civic knowledge tend to be bullied less of-
ten compared to the less knowledgeable students.
In the second part of the publication, four authors discuss rhetoric
and its social (i.e. civic and educational) role from various theoretical per-
spectives. They also present their development of teaching models and
practices, as well as explore the role of rhetoric in the context of education
for active citizenship. The reading of these articles shows that we can still
talk about the problems of diversifying the ever-heterogeneous field of
rhetoric and rhetorical education, which accompanies this discipline from
the time when Greek philosophers first exposed the problem of definition
and scope of rhetoric. Despite the technological and social transforma-
tions that present a new challenge for rhetorical theories and practice, one
thing may be certain: ancient (Ciceronian) ideas of the liberal education
of the speaker–citizen as a pursuit of humanitas, which represents a pro-
cess of a comprehensive (even personal) formation of the knowledgeable
speaker, who only gives true meaning to the social benefit of rhetoric, is
likely to remain one of the key needs even in modern times and societies.
In the article Debate at the Edge of Critical Pedagogy and Rhetorical
Paideia. Cultivating Active Citizens Foteini Egglezou examines the con-
cepts of rhetorical paideia and critical pedagogy through the analysis of
the educational practice of debate and its possibility of cultivating active
students–citizens. Debate as a multi–dynamic practice inevitably collides
with rhetorical tradition on a conceptual and practical level. However, in
order to be able to understand the differences between the two it is neces-
sary to consider theoretical conceptions from the fields of rhetoric and ar-
gumentation, as well as historically grounded notions such as for example
agon and dissoi logoi.
In the article A Road to Rhetorica: Teaching Rhetoric as Social Sen-
sitivity and Behaviour Petra Aczél offers her reconceptualization of rhet-
oric as the study of social sensitivity and behaviour. Revising the present-
ly domineering Hungarian and Central-European educational practices
of rhetoric, she presents a new three-layered teaching program of rhetoric
that focuses on rhetorical sensitivity and includes three, in her opinion, of
the most important skills for the 21st century: critical thinking, creativity
and connecting/debating with others.
In the article titled Slovenian Experience with Rhetoric in Prima-
ry Schools Igor Ž. Žagar presents the unique situation of teaching rheto-
ric in Slovenia as a compulsory elective subject in primary school. As the
main author of the first syllabus and the editor of the textbook, he ex-
plains the conceptual background of the structure of the syllabus and pro-
vides a general evaluation of its practical realisation. His findings repre-
9
that students who have higher civic knowledge tend to be bullied less of-
ten compared to the less knowledgeable students.
In the second part of the publication, four authors discuss rhetoric
and its social (i.e. civic and educational) role from various theoretical per-
spectives. They also present their development of teaching models and
practices, as well as explore the role of rhetoric in the context of education
for active citizenship. The reading of these articles shows that we can still
talk about the problems of diversifying the ever-heterogeneous field of
rhetoric and rhetorical education, which accompanies this discipline from
the time when Greek philosophers first exposed the problem of definition
and scope of rhetoric. Despite the technological and social transforma-
tions that present a new challenge for rhetorical theories and practice, one
thing may be certain: ancient (Ciceronian) ideas of the liberal education
of the speaker–citizen as a pursuit of humanitas, which represents a pro-
cess of a comprehensive (even personal) formation of the knowledgeable
speaker, who only gives true meaning to the social benefit of rhetoric, is
likely to remain one of the key needs even in modern times and societies.
In the article Debate at the Edge of Critical Pedagogy and Rhetorical
Paideia. Cultivating Active Citizens Foteini Egglezou examines the con-
cepts of rhetorical paideia and critical pedagogy through the analysis of
the educational practice of debate and its possibility of cultivating active
students–citizens. Debate as a multi–dynamic practice inevitably collides
with rhetorical tradition on a conceptual and practical level. However, in
order to be able to understand the differences between the two it is neces-
sary to consider theoretical conceptions from the fields of rhetoric and ar-
gumentation, as well as historically grounded notions such as for example
agon and dissoi logoi.
In the article A Road to Rhetorica: Teaching Rhetoric as Social Sen-
sitivity and Behaviour Petra Aczél offers her reconceptualization of rhet-
oric as the study of social sensitivity and behaviour. Revising the present-
ly domineering Hungarian and Central-European educational practices
of rhetoric, she presents a new three-layered teaching program of rhetoric
that focuses on rhetorical sensitivity and includes three, in her opinion, of
the most important skills for the 21st century: critical thinking, creativity
and connecting/debating with others.
In the article titled Slovenian Experience with Rhetoric in Prima-
ry Schools Igor Ž. Žagar presents the unique situation of teaching rheto-
ric in Slovenia as a compulsory elective subject in primary school. As the
main author of the first syllabus and the editor of the textbook, he ex-
plains the conceptual background of the structure of the syllabus and pro-
vides a general evaluation of its practical realisation. His findings repre-
9
