Page 8 - Šolsko polje, XXX, 2019, št. 5-6: Civic, citizenship and rhetorical education in a rapidly changing world, eds. Janja Žmavc and Plamen Mirazchiyski
P. 8
šolsko polje, letnik xxx, številka 5–6
One of the major challenges to civic and citizenship education is the
globalization of the modern world and the national boundaries on the
one hand and the national boundaries of the curriculum on the other.
While the nation state is easier to understand and control, the global com-
munities are less predictable. The national curriculum is more focused on
the national structures and issues, emphasizing less the international ones
(Reynolds, 2012). Of course, this is expected since we all (even under the
European Union) still live in nation states with their own cultures and
specific traits of the social and political systems; this is related to the na-
tional curricula on the subject. In addition to this issue, there have been
worldwide rapid changes affecting the entire planet with repercussions on
regional, country and local levels. With the advance of technologies in the
last decades, these repercussions have become instant and the changes ap-
ply much faster than they used to do in the past. A new form of citizen-
ship, the digital one, came about – taking part in internet activities affects
how we think, communicate and participate in society, which results in
adopting new perspectives towards the self, others, the communities and
the entire world. This process makes the boundaries between online and
offline activities more transparent for the more digitally–oriented gener-
ations, making the Internet an empowering space for active engagement
in civic life in a way that is closely related to the traditional forms, and
even going beyond them (Choi, 2016). In addition, there is the issue of the
mass migration of people – some of them as a normal consequence of the
globalizing world, others as refugees from war zones and chaos. This also
complicated the development of civics and citizenship education due to
the rise of multiple issues like populism and nationalism around the world
(Banks, 2017).
Rhetorical education, on the other hand, has an enviably long tradi-
tion when it comes to facing social changes. With more than 2000 years
of perpetual ups and downs with regard to its reputation, rhetoric is a
constantly present topic throughout the education in Europe and Amer-
ica and offers an important insight into how to make sense of education-
al content in a concrete, time and place specific socio-cultural context
(Glenn, Lyday and Sharer, 2009).
Commonly defined as the art of successful (public) persuasion, rhet-
oric is closely associated with the development and conception of democ-
racy and citizenship culture in the European historical and cultural space
with its origin in the Greek polis, Athenian democracy and Roman res
publica. Namely, rhetoric was never (only) an art of speaking well, as it is
still perceived in the everyday notions as well as in certain academic dis-
courses, which emphasise merely its long tradition in writing instructions
6
One of the major challenges to civic and citizenship education is the
globalization of the modern world and the national boundaries on the
one hand and the national boundaries of the curriculum on the other.
While the nation state is easier to understand and control, the global com-
munities are less predictable. The national curriculum is more focused on
the national structures and issues, emphasizing less the international ones
(Reynolds, 2012). Of course, this is expected since we all (even under the
European Union) still live in nation states with their own cultures and
specific traits of the social and political systems; this is related to the na-
tional curricula on the subject. In addition to this issue, there have been
worldwide rapid changes affecting the entire planet with repercussions on
regional, country and local levels. With the advance of technologies in the
last decades, these repercussions have become instant and the changes ap-
ply much faster than they used to do in the past. A new form of citizen-
ship, the digital one, came about – taking part in internet activities affects
how we think, communicate and participate in society, which results in
adopting new perspectives towards the self, others, the communities and
the entire world. This process makes the boundaries between online and
offline activities more transparent for the more digitally–oriented gener-
ations, making the Internet an empowering space for active engagement
in civic life in a way that is closely related to the traditional forms, and
even going beyond them (Choi, 2016). In addition, there is the issue of the
mass migration of people – some of them as a normal consequence of the
globalizing world, others as refugees from war zones and chaos. This also
complicated the development of civics and citizenship education due to
the rise of multiple issues like populism and nationalism around the world
(Banks, 2017).
Rhetorical education, on the other hand, has an enviably long tradi-
tion when it comes to facing social changes. With more than 2000 years
of perpetual ups and downs with regard to its reputation, rhetoric is a
constantly present topic throughout the education in Europe and Amer-
ica and offers an important insight into how to make sense of education-
al content in a concrete, time and place specific socio-cultural context
(Glenn, Lyday and Sharer, 2009).
Commonly defined as the art of successful (public) persuasion, rhet-
oric is closely associated with the development and conception of democ-
racy and citizenship culture in the European historical and cultural space
with its origin in the Greek polis, Athenian democracy and Roman res
publica. Namely, rhetoric was never (only) an art of speaking well, as it is
still perceived in the everyday notions as well as in certain academic dis-
courses, which emphasise merely its long tradition in writing instructions
6
