This article examines the notion of “secure-base relationships” in kindergartens. While this concept originally emphasized early emotional bonds between parents and children, recent developments in attachment theory highlight its interconnectedness with social relationships. However, the dichotomy between a secure base and exploration remains prevalent in the literature. Adopting a practice-based approach informed by rhetorical listening, we analyse kindergarten teachers’ descriptions of exploratory processes with children. Examples from two phases of a project on the theme of the universe are discussed in light of the concepts of ethos and habitual places. Findings suggest that secure-base relationships in kindergartens are closely interwoven with exploration, forming a polyvocal and dynamic place that involves choice and risk. Embodied interactions in familiar activities are shown to support relationships, and alternating positions in play emerges as a beneficial pedagogical strategy to support a culture of sharing. Finally, the relevance of a civic notion of ethos for kindergarten communities is underscored.

The conquest of America brought with it the introduction of rhetoric as a model of teaching and as a practice in the different manifestations of religious discourse, of which the preaching or sermon was the most important for scholars of the colonial era (16th-18th centuries) who, on the other hand, gave little importance to the three political genres: deliberative, epideictic and judicial or forensic, although these had not disappeared as discursive practices. The great classical deliberative oratory had taken a backseat in New Spain but continued to develop in the consistories of the mayoralties and in public debates; the judicial genre continued to be exercised in lawsuits before the Inquisition and local judicial bodies and the epideictic genre was manifested in the lives of saints and praises of various kinds. This situation changed during the 19th century, particularly in the second half, when great parliamentary oratory, civic and patriotic speeches that flooded the republic and judicial oratory flourished because of the new political conditions brought about by the struggle for independence and the triumph of liberalism, in addition to other important genres such as history and journalism. The purpose of this essay is, first, to offer an outline of oratory practices and rhetorical teaching during the Colony, emphasizing the importance of sermons and the oblivion of other discursive expressions and, second, to show the emergence of political genres during the 19th century, which reached their greatest splendor in discursive practices and liberal education.

The field of argumentation theory is a rich field, with rather deep divisions.In addition to the perhaps most important distinction between formal logic and practical argumentation, that is, between the study of logical-mathematical inferences and how people actually argue within different domains, there are several "schools" that study practical argumentation.One could say (as argumentation theorists like) that the various schools are based on three different perspectives on argumentation in Western thinking, inherited from classical times: logic, dialectic, and rhetoric.The title of this fine anthology, edited by Christian Kock and Marcus Lantz, reveals that it is concerned with a rhetorical look at argumentation.More specifically, the book presents insights into the work on argumentation theory from the Copenhagen milieu in rhetoric.This builds on the seminal work of Merete Jrgensen, Charlotte Onsberg, Christian Kock, and Lone Rrbech, consisting of both a textbook (Jrgensen & Onsberg 1987) and an empirical research project -"Rhetoric that moves votes".These have been the cornerstone of the Copenhagen research into and teaching of argumentation, and the background for their particular rhetorical perspective.How does a rhetorical perspective on argumentation differ from the others, such as informal logic (based in Windsor, Canada) or pragma-dialectics (based in Amsterdam)?The distinctive character, and advantages, of the Copenhagen school are clearly highlighted in the book's introduction: A rhetorical perspective on argumentation takes the functions argumentation has in a democratic society as its starting point -always from a normative angle.What does it take for argumentation to serve (deliberative) democracy?In this sense, the Copenhagen 1.

Paul writes to the Galatians in the New Testament to bridge the two realms of cultural Judaism and Roman Imperialism. In this analysis of the letter written to the church of Galatia, we see both Hebraic prophecy and Greek, or Gentile, parrhesia. As the context shows, Paul attempts to persuade a hybrid audience on the edge between the two ancient cultures. Paul diagnoses the church’s problems through a prognostic teaching that fulfills a larger Pauline gospel agenda. Future scholars will need to attend to the work of both parrhesia and prophetic rhetoric in Christian texts over the two millennia since Paul’s initial fusion.