Entrance into the Public

Sphere

Marginalized Students Engaging their Local Public Rhetoric

Bruce J. Martin

Lone Star College – North Harris

Houston TX

Overview

• Theory

• Local Rhetoric

• Course Design

• Call for the Community College to College to the Community

Theoretical FrameworkCritical Pedagogy

• Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. 1970.

• hooks, bell. Teaching to Transgress. 1994.

Writing as Meaning-Making

• Council on Writing Program Administrators, et al. Framework for Success in Postsecondary Writing. 2011.

Public Sphere

• Barton, David and Mary Hamilton. Local Literacies: Reading and Writing in One Community. 2012.

• Habermas, Jurgen. Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere. 1989.

• Long, Elenore. Community Literacy and the Rhetoric of Local Publics. 2008.

• Weisser, Christian. Moving Beyond Academic Discourse. 2002.

• Welch, Nancy. Living Room. 2008.

Boots on the Ground,

Freire, 2.0 (Barton & Hamilton)

• Grounded in individual experience (“existential experience”) -- authentic

experiences versus the oppressive system

• Teacher less a masculine leader of revolution than a feminine nurturer;

advocates classrooms as community more than a merely “safe spaces”

• People/students will have different reasons for coming to liberation; versus

Freire’s belief of a singular path to liberation

• Assumptions of power -- who is able to talk, who affects whom

Long, The Local Public Framework Point of Comparison Brief Definition

Guided Metaphor The image that describes the discursive space where ordinary

people go public, including distinctive features

Context Location, as well as other context-specific factors that give

public literacies their meaning

Tenor of the Discourse Register – the affective quality of the discourse

Literacy Key practices that comprise the discourses; how people use

writing and words to organize and carry out their purposes for

going public

Rhetorical Invention The generative process by which people respond to the exigencies

that call the local public into being

The College and Its Students

Median household income = $33,000

Latino population 60%-80%

Some areas 50% foreign-born

Harris county Civic/ Rhetorical Ecology

County Commission

City of Houston (et al)

Homeowners Associations

School Districts

Special Legislative Districts

Constable Precincts

The CoursePublic Sphere

Persuasion

Authoritative Textual Analysis

Critical Survey of the Local

Personal Rhetorical Biography

Rhetorical Autobiography Voices

As a woman, I face unconscious feelings of racism and discrimination from

others on a daily basis. Despite this, I am the type of person who voices their

opinion whether people like it or not. I know my obstacles but I also know that

they can be broken enough to get my point across. If something needs to be

said I will say it and make sure I’m listened to.

Female, 19

Rhetorical Autobiography Voices

In my family we like to discuss issues going on in society in our barbeques we have twice a

month. We sit there and complain and critique, but I've never heard any of us say, “Let’s do

something about it.” I believe that this is the mentality that most Hispanics around my

community have. In school we are taught that we have the right to free speech but many

Hispanics are afraid to exercise that right because of fear of ICE or La Migra because of the

raids that have happen in the local flea markets. I believe that this causes the Hispanic people

to want to remain silent and hidden. The fear of being stripped from their homes quiets the

sleeping giant. They act like whatever the government decides to do won’t affect them, when in

reality they are the main ones being targeted by the government.

Male, 19

Rhetorical Autobiography Voices

I have never been a big fan of English courses. So when Prof. Martin gave us the writing

assignment and project for the course I was excited. Our project was to find a local problem

learn from it, and get it out to the public. it wasn't guaranteed to get fix right away but getting

people to be aware of it was the main goal. This project made me well aware of problems

within my own community which I was blind to…. This class taught me that speaking is truly

the only way problems can be heard and getting your opinion out there doesn't mean there will

be a "fight" or an argument. So since this class I’ve been speaking up a little more in class and

have been trying to be less shy.

Male, 19

Critical Survey of the Local Rhetoric

Authoritative Textual Analysis

Local texts as public discourse

Harris County Commissioner Position IV

Quarterly NewsletterParks and green

spacesCommunity Centers

for Events

Little attention to working class concerns

• Street safety

• Pedestrian safety

• Animal control

• Crime control

Local texts as public discourse

School Districts

Programs, positive only

No discussion of pedestrian

safety

Two mile walking

Public Sphere Persuasion

Rhetoric of World-Making

Not to change the world, but to engage with own peer-stakeholdingcitizens to create a consensus, or at least a counterpublic to the authorities which overlook these working/poverty class, people of color families that come to the community college.

Ultimately, our obligation is to return the college back to the community.

Student findings• Both students and their families are unaware of “state” (local government) rhetoric

– distant publics (J Rice).

• Local government sometimes uncommunicative, uncooperative – problem of

serving the end-user

• Local government engagement not addressed to working class families – where

public spheres don’t exist

• Local government chooses to engage Spanish-speaking, except for fees

• Students’ neighbors are interested, but often themselves do not know how to get

started

• Writing from “me” to “us” helps map personal responsibility and cultural obstacles

Student Engagement

• Trash disappeared and monthly contract for large-trash removal

• Surveys for widening one of the two-lane roads

• More public information re: report potholes, etc.

• Greater understanding how to approach/call/visit local governments

• More understanding of communities’ history, composition, lack of

engagement

• Some students more engaged on campus in free speech efforts

A New Rhetorical Public Sphere Model

New LanguagesNew Places/

TimeNew

Communication

A New Rhetorical Public Sphere Model

Community College Students Interns for 21 Technologies Communication

Community College Students Host on Campus Place

Community College Students Interns to Translate and AddendumLanguage

My ReflectionsConcerns

• No secondary or ENGL 1301 writing [or other GOVT] has prepared for ENGL

1302 for such public engagement – large learning curve

• “Local government” illiteracy – little awareness of how local power works –

secondary standardized testing invisible to effective rhetoric

• Basics of public communication needed – students now how to make a phone call

• Ethnic and social class stereotypes inhibit rhetorical multilingual participation

• Students’ enthusiasm cyclical as they become more involve in their community

• Long-term results – more than 15 weeks

The CoursePublic Sphere

Persuasion

Authoritative Textual Analysis

Critical Survey of the Local

Personal Rhetorical Biography