Democracy across the Baltic Sea region is under increasing strain. Political polarization, disinformation, and declining civic trust threaten the conditions for public deliberation, while young people across these societies report uncertainty about how to participate meaningfully in democratic processes. At the same time, teachers lack concrete strategies for fulfilling the democratic mission assigned to schools. These challenges call for renewed attention to rhetorical education – an underexplored but powerful tradition that equips individuals to navigate disagreement, articulate positions, and engage others in constructive dialogue.
This conference addresses the civic potential of rhetorical instruction in secondary education. It explores how rhetorical and deliberative competencies are cultivated in classrooms and how they might be further developed to strengthen democratic resilience. Particular attention is paid to the role of language instruction, including the mothertongue subject, in fostering argument literacy and deliberative agency.