Logos, both as thinking and speaking, consists of the cornerstone of education. As a consequence, students’ education in the oral and written speech art is interwoven with the daily educational practice in order to enhance their intellectual and social life. This acceptance generates questions as the following ones: How is the art of speech taught in modern education? How can educators help students become sufficient thinkers, speakers, readers, authors in various scientific contexts?
The Conference “The art of speech in the praxis of didactic: Searching for modern aspects of rhetorical paedeia” will attempt to answer the above questions. The conference, which will be held in Alimos (Athens) on the 9 and 10th of February 2019, is organized by the francophone Greek schools Saint Paul-Delasalle [1] in collaboration with the Hellenic Institute of Rhetorical and Communication Studies (I.R.E.S.E.) [2] to commemorate the ten years anniversary of the Delasalle Elementary School in Greece [3].
Within the framework of the conference, we are happy to announce as Key-Note Speaker, Igor Ž. Žagar [4], professor of Rhetoric and Argumentation at the University of Primorska. The title of his speech is: Rhetoric in the Slovenian Primary School Curriculum: Fifteen years after. The abstract of his speech follows:
In 2001, the Republic of Slovenia introduced Rhetoric as a compulsory elective subject in Slovenian primary schools (compulsory elective meaning that all primary schools – more than 400 in Slovenia – have to offer it to their pupils). I was the author of the syllabus and the editor of the textbook.
This talk will explain how the syllabus was structured and why, how the in-service training was performed (since there was no “official” higher education programme for future teachers of rhetoric), how the learning took place, what worked and what didn’t, where and what the problems for the pupils as well as the teachers were.
These findings now serve as the basis of the new syllabus, as well as of the introduction of rhetoric into secondary schools.
References and Notes:
[1] The Universal Educational Organization “La Salle” was founded during the 17th century in France by Jean-Baptiste de La Salle, a pioneer pedagogue of his era.
[2] The Hellenic Institute of Rhetorical and Communication Studies (I.R.E.S.E.) was founded in 2016. It is a scientific society which aims at the promotion and extension of research, study, teaching and practice of Rhetoric and Communication as arts and sciences of “thinking, speaking and acting well”. Within this framework, argumentation is considered the main factor of communication and the more essential “tool” of critical discourse analysis at all educational levels (formal, non-formal and lifelong education) and in various scientific fields (pedagogy, law, literature, philosophy, history, linguistics, psychology, political sciences, physical sciences, health education, journalism, advertisement, communication, administration, dramatic arts, digital education, economy etc.).
[3] Delasalle Elementary School in Greece https://synedrio-delasal.webnode.gr/ ; https://www.rhetoricinstitute.edu.gr/.
[4] Igor Ž. Žagar studied philosophy, sociology, and linguistics in Ljubljana, Paris, and Antwerp. He received his doctoral degree in Sociology of Culture from the University of Ljubljana. He is Professor of Rhetoric and Argumentation (University of Primorska), Senior Research Fellow (Head of the Centre for Discourse Studies) at the Educational Research Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia, and currently also its director. He has lectured in Belgium, United States, Italy, China, Taiwan, United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Spain, Russia, Romania, Poland, and France. Žagar is especially interested in pragmatics (speech act theory, (critical) discourse analysis), philosophy of language, argumentation, and rhetoric. He is the (co)author and (co)editor of fifteen books, and more than a hundred articles.
Сп. „Реторика и комуникации“, брой 37, ноември 2018 г.
Rhetoric and Communications Journal, Issue 37, November 2018