Millennial Politics-Effective activism requires effective communication; in public & online
“Quite plainly, the nearly indomitable forces of societal digitization have christened public speaking as unimportant. From elementary to post-secondary education, public speaking is viewed as an ancillary skill, where students frantically search for a natural ability to express themselves or face a cycle of rhetorical disenfranchisement. While these concepts may appear nebulous, they couldn’t be more important on the organizing stage or picket lines. According to Forbes, 74% of Americans face a varying degree of Glossophobia, a fear of public speaking, and millennials are significantly less comfortable with oral communication than their preceding generations. Even as public speaking becomes an antiquated art in the digital world, the physical world’s affinity for rhetorical persuasion will leave millennials outside of the proverbial activism arena.”
Link: https://millennialpolitics.co/activist-amplification-the-role-of-effective-oral-communication-in-millennial-advocacy/
ASCD Education Update-“we Need To Talk”
In our highly structured education system, I understand the pressure on educators to check the endless boxes of standards. Still, many of the cultural problems that plague our schools—intolerance toward different perspectives, lack of student engagement, few to no opportunities for student leadership—can be remedied through discussions anchored in student voice. These discussions offer students the chance to build empathy and become masters of their own education.
Link: http://www.ascd.org/publications/newsletters/education-update/nov18/vol60/num11/We-Need-to-Talk.aspx