WORLD SCHOOLS DEBATE WORKSHOP

Although COVID-19 presented exceptional circumstances for our typical in-person camp, we fully embraced the interconnectivity, flexibility, and collaborativity offered in 2020 by a virtual experience where students from all geographies can attend. To impart students with a solid foundation in World Schools Debate, our staff instructors (including 10 USA Debate Team members) have designed a hands-on, interactive curriculum modeled after Team USA’s online training through education-standard software (Google Classroom, Zoom, Dropbox, etc.). 

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In addition to live video lectures and small group breakout sessions, our online curriculum emphasizes more flexible practice opportunities through pre-recorded and live electives, practice debates/drills, office hours, and an entire virtual debate tournament at the end of camp. Because we recognize the challenges of engaging students through a laptop screen, we will always have designated instructors available to answer questions during lectures and even after lab sessions. Students will have 1 on 1 time with instructors during office hours and drill sessions, as well as access to individual feedback after practice debates and during the tournament.

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We guarantee a 6:1 student teacher ratio and cap registration to ensure all students of various learning styles can maximize interactions with staff. Based on the skill levels and students enrolled, there will be multiple, independent World Schools debate labs with separate classrooms and tailored instruction, but the same, unified approach to debate theory and practice will be utilized; we will teach to all students debate fundamentals (case-writing, crystallization, extensions, refutation, research) and skills to successfully navigate debate (cultural competency, analyzing history & politics, self-improvement strategies). Crucially, students will leave our workshop with the knowledge, drills, and strategies to prepare for tournaments and improve their success through their own initiatives.

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Last year, 94% of our students rated our workshop 8/10 or higher, and 75% said they strongly or somewhat agree that they “feel confident in their public speaking abilities” after camp, compared to only 52% before our debate camp. We are also pleased that 17.5% more students indicated they strongly agree that they “strongly identify with my heritage, family history, and culture” after debate camp. We hope to continue this record of success in 2021.

Our workshop approach combines the international successes and personal experience of our staff instructors with an active and engaging teaching methodology. Our curriculum design is led by multiple USA Debate Team members with 15+ combined years of international debating experience (AND our Worlds Debate Director, Anh Cao, is the top-ranked female debater in the world with the highest speaker points of any female competitor at WSDC 2019!). Our drills and curriculum are implemented by current debaters and rising stars in Worlds Debate to include the best and most up-to-date practices.

We believe the best way for our students to learn is to actively engage them in both theory and practical applications of the material they learn. We recognize that rising 8th to 10th graders require unique support to continuously maintain their interest and inspire them to continue learning, and thus, we have built our curriculum around the attention and educational needs of our students. 

Our lab time consists of a balance between lectures (content/teaching material), applications to debate (short drills, videos, skill-focused activities), and review exercises or additional reinforcement. We tailor our curriculum to each lab based on research in learning sciences and gamification, incorporating game elements and unique incentives to keep students engaged. Too often, other debate camps and educational institutions employ hour-long lectures without breaks or practical applications to activate the content that students learn. Rather than talk at students, we believe in working with and alongside our students.

For students looking to focus on persuasion and rhetorical skills in a large breadth of international topics, the international World Schools Debate may be a better choice than many American debate formats. As a common standard used by other countries as well as the USA Debate Team, World Schools Debate offers deeper discussions with active engagement on both sides through Points of Information and longer (8 min) constructive speech times. In addition, World Schools tournaments change motions (the topic of the debate) each round and alternate between prepared (the motion is released before the tournament) and impromptu motions (the motion is released only 1 hour before the debate starts), encouraging students to cover many different international topics and develop quick-thinking skills. 
 

For students seeking to compete internationally and/or alongside the USA Debate, our 6 Team USA instructors with over a dozen years of combined experience on USA Debate can offer both tips for applying to the national team and techniques for international success. More importantly, our curriculum covers strategies for debaters to develop the open-mindedness, diverse lines of argumentation, and global awareness necessary for success. We teach our students the skills that even internationally competitive teams struggle with, and we equip them with the foundational skills necessary even for the USA Debate Team. 

Yes we do! Here are a few sample topics from our curriculum plan:

1. Debate Fundamentals

   1. Impromptu Motion Preparation: Teamwork, Time Allocation, and Speaker Roles  

   2. Research Techniques & Analyzing the Topic 

   3. Case-writing & Substantive Arguments

   4. Claim, Warrant, Impact: Structure of Argumentation & Refutation

   5. Persuasion & Rhetorical Techniques 

   6. Word Economy & Efficiency

2. Debate Theory 

   1. Constructive Speech Structure & Framing

   2. Refuting Assumptions in the 2nd Speech

   3. Principle and Practical Arguments

   4. Strategic Models & Countermodels

   5. 3rd Speech Organization & Strategy

3. Skills for Successful Advocates

   1. Cultural Competency in Debate: Navigating Race, Class, Gender, and Social Identifiers

   2. The Path to Success: Tournament Preparation, Drills, and Self-improvement

   3. Debating Difference: Understanding Arguments from Multiple Perspectives

   4. Process & Product: Tournament Psychology & The Mindset of Champions

   5. Developing Round Vision & Executing Team Strategy