摘要：Abstract“The universal science of public life” is what Cicero called rhetoric – an art long referred to as the technique of persuasive discourse. Nevertheless, rhetoric can be considered from the very beginning as more of a complex educational program than a subject field, guiding and coaching learners to gain knowledge and skills for competition, cooperation and dialogue. In the culture of global participation, schools and teachers are constantly facing new challenges when educating students in this competence. In accordance with emerging new spaces of learning, new “literacies” need to be identified and taught. Among them is a (global) public literacy that may integrate community literacy, procedural literacy and media literacy. Rhetoric proves to be a treasure house for the educational programs of this integrative public literacy. The paper aims to introduce a frame for describing, interpreting and applying public competence and its teaching. An illustrative case of a rhetorical program is presented and, within this, competencies and literacies and their teaching methodologies will be dwelt upon. On the basis of classical and theoretical approaches, the essay endeavors to provide a rhetorical dimension of the education of our age.
