Classroom Spotlight | Speech & Debate

/ / Published in NEWS, news & event
“Never before has it been so essential to learn to separate the true from the false.  We have come to put great emphasis upon education in science and engineering.  But speech, rather than science or engineering may actually hold the key to the future of the world. Science makes George Orwell’s 1984 a possibility.  Effective speaking may prevent it’s becoming a reality.” 

– Francis Horn

Speech and debate classes offer a lifetime of benefits to the students who take them. Studies across the US have found that high school and middle school debate programs improve reading ability, grades, school attendance, self-esteem, and interest in school. Speech and Debate classes help to improve speaking, writing, and research skills while building confidence in students to speak publicly while expressing ideas and opinions. When students are debating, they are forced to see two sides to an argument because they may not know which they will ultimately be arguing; this helps students in the future to form an opinion and be able to provide evidence as to their feelings about that opinion. Speech and Debate programs teach students valuable skills that they will be able to take beyond high school, into their college years, and beyond that into their careers.

While the Speech & Debate program at Boston is newer than most, students can still gain a multitude of benefits from taking this course. A significant challenge I faced this year was integrating the 12 years of experience I have in the Speech and Debate world with our IB curriculum and our Boston learners. It has opened the door to being more creative in my approach to learning. Students have learned reasoning skills, communication skills, and how to form an opinion through speaking activities such as the game ‘Super Fight’ and the activity ‘Four Corners.’ Super Fight asks students to create random superheroes and then to reason with their opponents as to why their superhero might win in a fight. While students are having fun playing a game, they do not even realize they are building reasoning skills, building opinions, and being asked to support that opinion with justification for their superhero skills.

In our second unit, we began to learn about Public Forum Debates. PF debates are when students debate various topics one on one. Topics can range from domestic to foreign policies and politics to inequality and economics. PF Debates can be done competitively through the National Speech and Debate Association, which is active here in China. My hope is to create an NSDA chapter here at Boston and hopefully become a competitive team. As we were unable to attend any competitions this year, I still wanted students to fully understand what it might be like to compete in around. We held our Public Forum Debate in the Performing Arts Center, and I invited teachers to come and help judge. Students had a small audience which helped with the whole experience. Going into the debate, many of the students were nervous as this was their first authentic public speaking experience on a stage for them. After the debate, many were excited about the outcome and asked if they could do more activities like this.

Forbes published an article suggesting that employers seek out ex-debaters for the future leaders of their companies. As that article notes, debate teaches “how to persuade, present clearly, and connect with an audience,” precisely the skills businesses look for in their young employees. Ex-debaters are excelling in business, law, politics, academia, and many other fields throughout the world. A benefit members of the National Speech and Debate Association have is that when you join you are a lifetime member. This is an accolade which can be listed on your CV for future college applications, scholarship applications, and future job applications. It informs employers and college recruiters them of skills they may already possess and the impact this person may have on their school or business. Many universities even offer scholarships specifically for college debaters.

My hope for the future here at Boston is to not only to build a successful program, but to instill in my students the skills and confidence necessary to go out and take on the world.

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