Facilitating critical consciousness and advocacy through a textbook case study

Abstract

Unaffordable textbooks highlight neoliberal regimes in higher education, whereby privatization and profit undermine student success. The cost of textbooks has risen more than 1,000% since 1977 (Popken, B. 2015, Aug. 6. College textbook prices have risen 1,041 percent since 1977. NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/freshman-year/college-textbook-prices-have-risen-812-percent-1978-n399926), outranking inflation in other sectors, and “students are suffering because they cannot afford to purchase their textbooks” (Stark, G. 2018. Library, student government hoping for solution to expensive book prices. Daily Toreador. http://www.dailytoreador.com/news/library-student-government-hoping-for-solution-to-expensive-book-prices/article_490647b8-36d1-11e8-a857-9325559e8187.html). Public speaking offers avenues for students to advocate for themselves and communities critically. Because students experience the material fallout of neoliberal cultural regimes, including unaffordable textbooks, we believe that critical public speaking practices can “afford students the opportunity to ready, write, and learn from a position of agency” (Giroux, H. A. 2020. On critical pedagogy. Bloomsbury Publishing, p. 178). This unit-specific activity uses a textbook case study that foregrounds critical consciousness and advocacy skills in students by focusing on persuasive argument construction aimed at audience-centered values.

Courses

Public Speaking, Persuasion, Advanced Public Speaking.

Learning goals

By the end of this activity, students should be able to: (1) analyze audience values and beliefs; (2) craft a persuasive advocacy based on research and experience; and (3) interrogate neoliberal educational norms as sites of potential advocacies.