The Rhetoric of Concern: Trust and Control in an Urban Desegregated School

Abstract

Various sets of actors in an urban desegregated high school are found to use a rhetoric of concern in discussing events in the school and the operation of the school. This rhetoric is based upon the accepted understanding that schools do “what's best for kids.” Since the rhetoric appeals to diverse segments of the Pawnee community, it enables school officials to manage the conflicting demands of maintaining control and gaining the confidence of the community. The rhetoric of concern allows school people to talk about control in ways that build trust. Although this kind of language is useful in gaining a consensus, it is dysfunctional for dealing with the persistent problems of race relations in this desegregated high school.

“Its Own Kind of Torture”: Denial, Acknowledgment, and the Debate About Force Feeding at Guantánamo Bay

“…We might expect this claim when a form of institutional or state control or violence can be credibly construed as in the best interest of the victim. We see this rhetorical technique used, for instance, in claims about disciplinary practices in public schools (Slawski and Scherer ). But perhaps with no other rhetorical strategy is the bind of denial more obvious.…”

Accountable Talk: “Real” Conversations in Baltimore City Schools

“…By comparison, according to statistics shared with participants that year, of the 84,747 students who attended Baltimore City Public Schools in 2013–2014, 84.7% were black and 84.5% came from low‐income families. The disparities between teacher and student demographics in Baltimore are not unique when compared with other cities, but they are important: race and class have significant implications for issues of power, trust, and authority that meaningfully affect communication (see, e.g., Collins ; Fordham ; Heath ; Scherer ; Wortham ).…”

“…I propose that one way we can tease out the relationship between policy's construction and its differential reception in these two sites is by focusing on meta‐discourse (for more work on language and schooling, see, e.g., Bernstein ; Collins ; Heath ; Mehan ; Slawski and Scherer ). Silverstein () writes that meta‐discourse—more simply, talk about talk—is a site where we can see language use as a form of “social action” (see also Lucy ; Silverstein ; cf.…”

Democratizing Conversations: Racialized Talk in a Post-Desegregated Middle School

“…Unfortunately, these workshops focused more on conflict resolution than on issues of intercultural communication and understanding (Wolters, 1984). The few workshops offered on race relations were soon eliminated as schools reframed their efforts to focus on the perceived "problems" of discipline and low test scores (Slawski & Scherer, 1978).…”

“…Questions such as the one Christophine asked in the excerpt above are the exception rather than the rule. As if by tacit agreement, students, teachers, and administrators remain silent on the subject, eschewing conflict or even disagreement (Clement, Eisenhart, & Harding, 1979;Cohen, 1993;Jervis, 1996;Slawski & Scherer, 1978).…”