Download PDFContents
The Social Issues Informative Guide Project: A Concrete Application of Invitational Rhetoric
Why Invitational Rhetoric for Technical Communication Pedagogy?
Core Principles of Invitational Technical Communication Pedagogy
Implications: How Invitational Rhetoric Addresses Systemic Exclusion in Technical Communication
Considerations, Challenges, and Honest Limitations
Appendix A: Social Issues Informative Guide Project Overview
Appendix A
The following worksheet provides a complete overview of the Social Issues Informative Guide Project as designed for use in undergraduate technical communication courses. Instructors are encouraged to adapt objectives, guidelines, and assessment criteria to suit their institutional context.
Project Objectives
- Practice principles of invitational rhetoric by co-creating an informative guide that genuinely values diversity of input, facilitates participation on equal terms, and seeks to empower rather than exploit marginalized groups
- Build contextual and situated rhetorical knowledge to match community needs and priorities rather than imposing predetermined formats or frameworks
- Develop critical consciousness regarding intersections of social issues, specific discourse communities, technical communication practices, and systemic inequity
- Learn to recognize and resist extractive or othering approaches to marginalized communities and instead practice reciprocal, relational communication
Key Guidelines
- Student teams will identify a contemporary social issue (e.g., homelessness, immigration, healthcare access, disability justice, food insecurity) and impacted discourse community (e.g., unhoused veterans, migrant farmworkers, undocumented immigrants, Deaf individuals) through deliberative dialogue rather than top-down assignment, ensuring investment in the chosen focus
- Solutions and recommendations should be shaped based on priorities and perspectives actively solicited from discourse community members themselves through interviews, focus groups, surveys, or other outreach methods—not assumed personal knowledge or external expertise
- Design and communication strategies should demonstrate awareness of systemic factors including racism, poverty, disability, gender, language, and other dimensions to work toward authentic rather than performative inclusion
- Teams will share findings with class and collaboratively write reflective memos examining tensions, contradictions, and challenges that arose during the process, and suggesting revisions or next steps to strengthen invitational aims
- Assessment should evaluate both the final guide and the process by which it was created—with particular attention to whether invitational principles were genuinely honored in community engagement, or whether hierarchies and extraction occurred
Outcomes
| Outcome | Evidence of Achievement |
|
Community-Distributed Guide |
Finalized guide(s) distributed to chosen community organization or directly to community members, demonstrating accountability beyond course completion |
| Rhetorical Reflection | Written reflection demonstrating rhetorical knowledge tailored to community context and a conscious approach to communication promoting genuine empowerment and access |
| Community Engagement Evidence | Documentation of authentic co-constructive learning, including reflection on moments where invitational aims were achieved and where challenges arose |
| Professional Identity Statement | Student articulation of how this project connects to their roles as future technical communicators accountable to justice |