Debate as a method for improving critical thinking and creativity

Alfred C. Snider, World Debate Institute, University of Vermont

475 Main Street, UVM, Burlington, VT 05405 USA

As a college student my major area of study was Asian Civilization, but I went on to study rhetoric with a focus on debate in all its aspects. I am proud to be a professor of debating now at the University of Vermont. Little did I know that I would have this wonderful opportunity to come to a land I loved before I ever visited it and have the opportunity to talk about something I have loved all of my life - the way of the debater.

I recognize that Chinese civilization has a long history of using debate in public policy and public life. The historian Kuan Ch'en noted over 1500 years ago that in China competitive debates were common in a form called "Pure Talk." Here is the description from over fifteen centuries ago:

China had debate before my country ever existed. My country had debate as a part of its public life at the moment of its birth. But, for all its importance debate has not been widely used as an educational tool until recently.

Increasingly, the use of debating to deal with complex ideas and competing advocacy is emerging as a successful educational tool. While long recognized as an important part of government affairs, academic deliberations, negotiations, philosophy and citizenship, in the United States and around the world the use of open debate as an educational and training tool is increasing. On every continent students and teachers are increasingly using debate as a complex form of communication which can train students in critical thinking and creativity in ways which will be important for their success in the information age they will live in for their entire lives.

While I have worked in a number of different countries, and I am a professor of debating at my university, the information I would like to share today comes from my work with a program in American secondary schools and middle schools called the "Urban Debate Leagues." Through a partnership between the Open Society Institute, a part of the Soros Foundation, several American universities, community organizations and local schools this program has established debating programs in 12 major urban areas, always in schools which have been the most disadvantaged and which contain high levels of students from families below the poverty line. Urban Debate Leagues set up debate "teams" (much like sports teams) which engage in contests against other schools. Teachers at these schools have been trained in basic debating skills and then often are allowed to offer a class in areas such as "Debate and Speech" and "Fundamentals of Debate." The students engage in competitive tournament debates against other schools, cities, and states. I have personally worked with the programs in New York City, Providence, Rhode Island, Atlanta, and many others. I would like to share some of my experiences and findings working and teaching in these programs.

POLICY DEBATE

While many different designs for debates are used in these programs, the dominant model is the one utilized in tournament competition. The model is called policy debate and has these components:

• Topic: a statement which forms the subject of the debate. One topic will be used during an entire school year. The topic is usually a broad statement about public policy. Recent examples are: (2000-2001) the United States federal government should significantly increase protection of privacy in one or more of the following areas: employment, medical records, consumer information, search and seizure; (2001-2002) the United States federal government should establish a foreign policy significantly limiting the use of weapons of mass destruction.
• Teams: there are two people on each team, and the teams are designated as either affirmative (in favor of the topic) or negative (opposed to the topic). Teams are expected to debate on different sides of the topic in different debates, usually alternating between affirmative and negative.
• Judges: there are trained people who observe the debate and are empowered to make a decision as to which team did the better job of debating. They try and evaluate quality of analysis and presentation, not deciding the debate based on which side of the topic they personally believe in. Judges will cast ballots for one team or the other as well as award scores for quality of performance.
• Speeches: each team will give four speeches, with each team member speaking twice. Each debater will deliver a constructive speech (to present their basic argument for or against the topic) which is eight minutes long, and each debater will deliver a rebuttal speech (to defend their arguments and attack those of the other team) which is five minutes long.
• Cross examination: each debater is asked a series of questions for three minutes by the opposing team after they give their constructive speech. A series of questions will be asked in an attempt to gain information and reveal weaknesses in the arguments of the person who has just spoken.
• Preparation time: each team has a total of eight minutes of preparation time to use before their speeches during the entire debate.
• Tournaments: many teams from many schools will come together to debate each other on a specific day or days. Between three and six debates will take place in three different divisions - beginner, intermediate and experienced. Awards will be given to the teams and individuals who win the most ballots and gain the highest scores from the judges in each division.

DEBATE AS CRITICAL ADVOCACY

Debate is "critical advocacy." It is advocacy in that the debater must advocate, propose, and defend ideas. It is critical because the debater must not ignore the advocacy of others, but must engage them and use the tools of critical thinking to evaluate the ideas of others. This process of critical advocacy has been shown to involve the students in important behaviors and skills which we should cultivate in our citizens.

• Students will research about the issues of the topic they are debating, learn about them, think about what they will propose, what they stand for, and they must research and learn about the arguments of their opponents,
• Students will communicate and advocate. They will take their ideas and express them to others, in public, for all to see and hear. A good debater must be a good speaker and know how to reach an audience.
• Students will listen to what others have to say, and listen with understanding, not just dismiss disagreement. They must understand the arguments of their opponents in order to properly answer those arguments.
• Students will respond to the conflicting ideas of others, not in an attack mode, but in a mode of truth seeking to try and persuade the judges to give them the ballot.
• Students will learn how others make decisions. Judges will give decisions, but the students learn that each of us must judge. We must always, in debate and in life, vote for the best argument and best idea, not just for our argument and our idea.

Debate as a critical skill is more important now because we live in an age of information, where information is power, and debate is all about how to turn information into power.

• Debaters learn to look at information and separate out the good from the bad, the relevant from the irrelevant.
• Debaters learn how to get information, organize it, and organize it for a purpose. What good is information if it drowns you? It is only useful when you can harness it to a purpose.

BENEFITS FROM DEBATE INVOLVEMENT

Debaters have been proven to become leaders and successful professionals. Countless American corporate executives, influential lawyers, wealthy entrepreneurs and elected officials credit their debate experience in school with making them successful. The anecdotal evidence is overwhelming and suggests some of the following benefits.

• Debaters become better critical thinkers and communicators. People begin to see them in a different way.
• Debaters improve their social interactions. Debaters are not argumentative with their family and friends, but oddly enough, more understanding.
• Debaters improve their personal expression. There seems to be something in us as human beings which wants to express ourselves. Their voices are heard.
• Debaters are more often seen as leaders. Studies in America show that those who communicate often and well, and give a balance of positive and negative comments, are seen as leaders. Leadership is given, not taken. Debaters are more likely to be given leadership.
• Debaters tend to become citizens in the real sense of the word -- informed, active, participating, a force to be harnessed for the betterment of all.

Other studies have provided support for these conclusions. A study of cadets at the United States Military Academy at West Point revealed that cadets with debate training tended to be promoted twice as fast as their non-debating classmates after they became military officers.

SPECIFIC FINDINGS FROM THE URBAN DEBATE LEAGUE EXPERIENCE

The Open Society Institute funded a major evaluation study of the Urban Debate League program in New York City after it had been in operation for three years. Their findings clearly indicated that the students had benefited immensely from these new skills.

• The academic performance of students increased after they became involved with competitive debating. This was especially true for students who did not have good academic records before they began debating. Students were much more likely to go on to a university after debating.
• The ability to solve problems improved after they became involved with competitive debating. They used communication far more often to solve problems, and tended to use violence and coercion less.
• The creativity of the students improved after they became involved with competitive debating. They were more able to "think on their feet" and to generate ideas and arguments spontaneously.
• The social skills of the students improved after they became involved with competitive debating. They reported that they made friends easier and felt more comfortable with new people.
• The self-concept of the students improved after they became involved with competitive debating. They felt proud of their abilities to debate in public, and it gave them additional confidence.

Debating activities have been shown to improve academic performance in the areas this seminar has targeted -- critical thinking and creativity.

I want to finish my discussion with a story of one student I worked with in New York City. She lives in a very poor neighborhood, where crime and drug use are common problems.

As early as age four, "CR" looked after her siblings while her mother peddled drugs, initially to support her growing family but later as a means of feeding her own addiction. The drug usage rendered her incapable of holding a job to support her six children, so she married a working man who despised "CR" and her siblings. Fed up with the hardship of her home life, especially with the stepfather's abuse, "CR" decided to use her debate skills and take matters into her own hands. She managed to navigate the legal system in New York to secure financial custody of her siblings. Now her mother can no longer spend the family's food money on drugs. "CR" is only 16, but has already had the responsibilities of adulthood thrust upon her. She says participation in the debate program has virtually saved her life.

Not every student is in as difficult a situation as this young woman, but for all of our students, debating can give them a new and different way to learn skills which are as old as human civilization, and which are more important today than ever in our history.

In September my book, entitled Many Sides: Debate as an educational tool, will be published by the International Debate Education Association. Please contact me later this year if you would like to receive a copy.

I know that four students from China will be attending the World Debate Institute which I direct this summer. I look forward to hosting them with the hospitality you have shown me. If we can be as good a host as China has been, then I know they will have a very good experience.

Thank you for your kind attention.