Envision Debate

Empowering Students with the Untapped Potential of Debating

The world is in a critical-thinking crisis. Students are unable to develop their own unique perspectives, society embraces their echo chambers, and we have difficulty engaging in civic discussions. Envision Debate resolves this and more, by creating free access to debate workshops, lobbying for debate-led legislation, fostering discussion hubs, and integrating debate in rural education.

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Overview

Information on this page is provided by the innovator and has not been evaluated by HundrED.

Web presence

2019

Established

3.15K

Children

6

Countries

Target group

Students lower

Updated

October 2024

Education works best when it is a flipped classroom that allows students to feed off the knowledge of others. I hope to see a more flourishing education where students can formulate their perspectives instead of relying on others to create them (depolarizing society). Debate allows students to become more ready for the future workforce by developing research, competitiveness, and empathy skills.

About the innovation

Why did you create this innovation?

I have done debate for over 7 years and have seen the tremendous value it has given me. It has deshelled my timidity, boosted my confidence in myself, opened my eyes to real-world problems, and introduced me to a close-knit community of supporters. I wanted to spread this joy of debating to others, which led me to Envision Debate, where I hope everyone can feel these same benefits.

What does your innovation look like in practice?

First, Envision hosts free debate workshops to compete with costly $60/hour debate lessons. We work in conjunction with schools to host in-class debate activities or after-school programs and host our own independent bimonthly evening classes. We target schools in rural areas and have worked with students who may have behavioral challenges. Second, Envision hosts debate tournaments (both in-person and online) for students to compete in, which was initiated during the COVID pandemic. It allowed students one of the only early platforms to engage in debate safely. Recently, this has developed into an extensive collaboration with Emory University (to host debate workshops with their college students) and the University of North Georgia (to host a state-wide competition). Third, Envision integrates debate within the school curriculum. We work closely with the UN and the Jamaican Ministry of Education to train teachers and provide concrete resources for them to create debate-led classrooms.

How has it been spreading?

Word of mouth has been important in raising awareness. Students who have been involved in any of our programs share it with other students. Envision's partnerships also serve a huge role in its proliferation. We leverage our partnerships with universities, non-profits, student-led organizations, government agencies, and community leaders to harness greater interest in what we do. We have also hosted public events that are advertised for anyone to join regardless of debate experience (including classes and tournaments). Additionally, school districts are always eager about debating and encourage other neighboring schools to give the activity a try for their students. We also host various fundraising initiatives for different causes (including childhood cancer awareness) to garner traction.

If I want to try it, what should I do?

Whether it's our online bimonthly classes or the workshops that we host, you can engage in our activities and see the excitement of debate for yourself. If you aren't interested in classes, we host seasonal 3-day camps for students who want to get a sample of what debate might look like. Our hope is you can try debate out in schools as we push for debate legislation and Title IV-A funding.

Implementation steps

Step 1: Determine Debate's Fit with Your Classroom

When Envision works with teachers, the first step we ask is to isolate a unit that best serves good discussion amongst students. Examples we've used include debates about innate goodness with the Lord of the Flies or the extent to which violence is justified in a revolution. Regardless, it is important to first find a unit that works and allows for the most fruitful discussion. This may especially be helpful right before a test, essay, and other projects.

Step 2: Know Your Students

Are most of your students talkative and want to have a discussion? Are they mostly eager to talk? If that is the case, we can set up debate workshops with fewer coaches that involve larger activities involving larger groups of students debating each other. However, most classes have students who are too shy to speak or may be hesitant to be involved. Then, the classroom would be set up into a particular table arrangement with a group of 5 (4 debaters and 1 judge).

Step 3: Decide on an Activity

Debate is a flexible activity and can work based on the constraints you as the teacher may deem necessary. If you are in the middle of a Julius Caesar play or a book with especially vivid characters, character debates may be suitable. Each student will debate a relevant them by embodying the traits of a particular character in a story. Maybe you need students to write an essay so you host a debate over several texts connected by a theme as a comprehensive brainstorming session for students.

Step 4: Watch it Happen! We'll do the rest.

See how excited your students will be about these debate activities. Current ELA classrooms may use discussion-style classrooms, but these largely aren't effective. They're dominated by a few students, are designed as grades rather than true nuanced discourse, and are disconnected (there is no true engagement with student ideas, with needless agreement and recitation of ideas typed up weeks ago). You'll see how much more students understand this content and how much more excited they are.