Introduction to Debate as a Teaching Tool

The use of debate as a teaching and curricular tool becomes the foundation for teaching and learning in this course. Students and their teacher become involved in discourse, following similar steps with each topic of debate. Thematic studies of many topics in the discipline of social studies can be used within the framework that is herein described. It is also adaptable outside of the social studies curriculum. This particular model of a four week course in social studies relies on a repeating cycle of topic analysis:

1. SpAr debate topic to reveal prior knowledge

2. Research topic and explore its debatability

3. Debate topic with research

4. Write position paper on topic

Each week a new topic is debated using the same structure of process.

The first week’s topic becomes the rough work of teaching debate, or civil argumentation, in the space of a summer school classroom. The teacher’s primary responsibility during this first week is to assemble an acceptable classroom climate, and make as much of a diagnosis of the student body as possible. By diagnosis it is here meant that the teacher should be making careful observations of what learning and behavioral potholes might exist for as much of the student body as is possible. One week of careful observations during this week, while failing to give up all of the necessary information on the learning needs of every student, should give the teacher a rough idea of how to ramp up each following week of debate.

The second and third week of debate should be used to improve various elements of the debate work. Ultimately, since each week ends with some writing exercise, the greatest emphasis should be made on improving the quality of persuasive constructed responses. This work will be the most significant agent of improvement for student test scores, wherever writing is involved, as in, for example, the tests mandated by certain debatable federal, state, and local legislation (which can itself become content for the course).

During the second and third weeks students should be graded on participation in debates leading up to the written exercise, but need not be directly involved with all debates. The role of judging is critical to debate, and perhaps the most overlooked outcome of debate training is not so much the speaking but the listening aspect of the activity. Students should become aware of the responsibilities of both debaters and audience during the weeks leading up to the final week.

The final week holds the most weight for a grade, and two major assignments are required. The first is a demonstration of learning grade, which can be achieved by being a part of the final debate. Participants and judges may receive grades based on their debate or their ballot, which for this final debate is the most extensive yet. Separate rubrics are used to grade the two tasks, but either carries the same weight. The second major grade is given to the persuasive writing piece, which all students must complete.