Page 146 - Šolsko polje, XXX, 2019, št. 5-6: Civic, citizenship and rhetorical education in a rapidly changing world, eds. Janja Žmavc and Plamen Mirazchiyski
P. 146
šolsko polje, letnik xxx, številka 5–6
an “ordinary” elective subject, one among 60–70 (depending on how one
counts).
With the new government that took office in 2014, things have
somehow changed and there was a renewed interest in rhetoric. What also
helped was that I became the director of the Educational Research Insti-
tute in 2015, which gave me more institutional power and the possibility
to push things further.
So we are now in the process of revising the syllabus for primary
schools (Žmavc et al. 2018), preparing the syllabus for secondary schools
and even negotiating a new university program for educating the future
teachers of rhetoric.2
How the Syllabus was Structured
Now, after this long but necessary introduction, it is time to show you
how our syllabus was constructed, what worked and what did not, what
in more than 15 years of practice – accompanied with big changes in so-
ciety and advances in the technological development – turned out to be
too difficult, and what will have to be adapted to the new generations of
the 21st century.
Our definition, the starting point in the rhetoric syllabus was the
following (Žagar, Ž. et al., 1999/2004, p. 2):
Rhetoric is a discipline which, in various forms and scope, has accompa-
nied mankind practically throughout history. This, of course, is not acci-
dental, since the aim and objective of rhetoric is the analysis and more ac-
curate and precise formation of arguments and techniques of persuasion
in all spheres of human life from everyday seemingly trivial conversation
through the media and educational system (to mention but two spheres)
to scientific discourse. What is said or written can have an optimal effect
only where a speech or written record is adequately structured when it is
relevant to its objective and its target audience.
And the aim of the new school subject (ibid., p. 3):
The aim of rhetoric as a compulsory elective subject is to teach pupils not
only the concepts of persuasion and argument, but also the techniques
of persuasion, elements of persuasion procedure, factors of successful
persuasion, forms of persuasion, structuring of (persuasive) speech, and
the versatile command of speech situations on the one side, the differ-
2 Activities that are related to the revision of syllabus for primary school and preparing a
syllabus for secondary school are a part of the project “Developing of theoretical bases
and practical guidelines for teaching rhetoric in the primary and secondary school” (2018–,
head: dr. Janja Žmavc), which is founded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport.
144
an “ordinary” elective subject, one among 60–70 (depending on how one
counts).
With the new government that took office in 2014, things have
somehow changed and there was a renewed interest in rhetoric. What also
helped was that I became the director of the Educational Research Insti-
tute in 2015, which gave me more institutional power and the possibility
to push things further.
So we are now in the process of revising the syllabus for primary
schools (Žmavc et al. 2018), preparing the syllabus for secondary schools
and even negotiating a new university program for educating the future
teachers of rhetoric.2
How the Syllabus was Structured
Now, after this long but necessary introduction, it is time to show you
how our syllabus was constructed, what worked and what did not, what
in more than 15 years of practice – accompanied with big changes in so-
ciety and advances in the technological development – turned out to be
too difficult, and what will have to be adapted to the new generations of
the 21st century.
Our definition, the starting point in the rhetoric syllabus was the
following (Žagar, Ž. et al., 1999/2004, p. 2):
Rhetoric is a discipline which, in various forms and scope, has accompa-
nied mankind practically throughout history. This, of course, is not acci-
dental, since the aim and objective of rhetoric is the analysis and more ac-
curate and precise formation of arguments and techniques of persuasion
in all spheres of human life from everyday seemingly trivial conversation
through the media and educational system (to mention but two spheres)
to scientific discourse. What is said or written can have an optimal effect
only where a speech or written record is adequately structured when it is
relevant to its objective and its target audience.
And the aim of the new school subject (ibid., p. 3):
The aim of rhetoric as a compulsory elective subject is to teach pupils not
only the concepts of persuasion and argument, but also the techniques
of persuasion, elements of persuasion procedure, factors of successful
persuasion, forms of persuasion, structuring of (persuasive) speech, and
the versatile command of speech situations on the one side, the differ-
2 Activities that are related to the revision of syllabus for primary school and preparing a
syllabus for secondary school are a part of the project “Developing of theoretical bases
and practical guidelines for teaching rhetoric in the primary and secondary school” (2018–,
head: dr. Janja Žmavc), which is founded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport.
144
