Understanding the ecology of the public speaking course

ABSTRACT

This essay explores the nested interdependencies and feedback systems that help explain why the “basic” or introductory communication course can only evolve slowly and with difficulty. It considers differences between the basic course and first year composition, and the challenges for bringing them into a closer alignment around a civic theme.

KEYWORDS:

• public speaking
• systems
• Mt. Oread
• composition

Notes

1. Some resources on systems and General Systems Theory might be Kenneth Boulding, “General Systems Theory: The Skeleton of Science.” Management Science, Vol.2. (1956): 197–208; Frederick Emery (ed.), Systems Thinking: Selected Readings (New York: Viking Press, 1969); Alexander Laszlo and Stanley Krippner, “Systems Theories: Their Origins, Foundations, and Development,” in Systems Theories and A Priori Aspects of Perception, ed. John Jordan (Amsterdam: Elsevier Science, 1992), 47–74; Herbert A. Simon, “The Architecture of Complexity,” Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 106 (1962): 467–468; Ludvig von Bertalanffy, General System Theory: Foundations, Development, Applications, Revised Edition (New York: George Brazillier, 1969).

2. The American Association of Colleges and Universities began a large-scale effort to reform general education requirements at thousands of institutions across the country. The effort was called Liberal Education and America's Promise (LEAP), and contained a set of “essential learning outcomes” which embraced communication goals, thought maybe not pedagogy. www.aacu.org/LEAP contains many links to reports and white papers on general education reform, and its connection to internal and external stakeholders.

3. Ellen Wardle, “Mutt Genres’ and the Goal of FYC: Can We Help Students Write the Genres of the University?” College Composition and Communication 60.4 (2009): 765–89.

4. http://www.abet.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/EngineeringChange-executive-summary.pdf

5. This happened at Oregon State University. In 1999, after working with some engineering faculty for several years, I had created five modules which would allow engineering instructors to teach units in their courses on presentation, group skills, etc. They were abandoned by Engineering in favor of Stephen Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, which was declared to be “all the communication skills they [the students] will need.”

6. See e.g. James A. Berlin, Writing Instruction in Nineteenth-Century American Colleges (Urbana, IL: Conference on College Composition and Communication, 1984); James A. Berlin, Rhetoric and Reality: Writing instruction in American colleges, 1900–1985 (Urbana, IL: Conference on College Composition and Communication, 1987); Robert J. Connors, Composition-rhetoric: Backgrounds, theory, and pedagogy. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press,1997).

7. Keith, W. and R. Mountford. “The Mt. Oread Manifesto on Rhetorical Education,” Rhetoric Society Quarterly, 44 (2014): 1–5.

8. See the Rhetoric and Civic Life course at Pennsylvania State University, http://sites.psu.edu/pennstatercl/.

9. Joshua Gunn's forthcoming Speechcraft (Bedford/St. Martins) will take this approach.

10. Cindy Griffin's Invitation to Public Speaking (Boston, MA: Cengage, 2014, 5^th edition) does this.