How do we get there?
A question often asked when we take our family trips, typically proposed by our youngest of children. “When are we leaving….how far away….are we stopping anywhere…how long?” All top the list of favorite questions to ask. The root of the conversation is the core understanding of how. The response is founded in the knowledge that someone has done the work to show us the path.
The map…
Road maps provide us the opportunity to not have to spend time in the work of figuring out. But instead to enjoy the time of actual doing. There is a skill set of learning as we move, establishing a foundation, easily. We do not always need to pave the road ourselves.
I love sourcebooks for that reason. They provide a simple road map. It carries the heavy weight of the work so that the skill can be learned and practiced. As a coach, my goal for my students for the first year is to leave the round without crying. I want them to feel a level of success. They accomplish this by getting into the motion of practicing the skill of debating and completing a debate. Enter the sourcebook.
What I find to be evident in my young debators is that they get caught in the mud of finding the right word, definition, value…..that one perfectly worded question that will stump their opponent and catapult them to winning nationals. They miss the understanding that debate is a conversational skill that is impacted by a foundational knowledge of how to do it.
Debates are won in refutation.
Not in the constructive.
So, I begin the student here.
The arguments that are accomplished in the limited prep portion and communicated the best are the ones that win at the end of the round.
I contend that this is where the most value is in starting the learning process for new debators. This is where the biggest growth is found. Sourcebooks provide a simple tool that allows the younger students to execute the skill of presentation and refutation
Sourcebooks, like any map, are a tool that is used as the skill is practiced. The more one is practiced, the less the tool is needed. They provide the foundational ideas, research, and constructive argumentation that point a new debator in the direction to begin. Students do not have to reinvent the wheel. Coaches already have a path. It is provided. It frees everyone to start the practice of presentation and refutation with a basis of understanding and foundation already in place.
In the club setting, I encourage new families to use sourcebooks. As a guide, they give the parents at home an easy-to-follow example of how to teach the building of a case by providing the model of what a case looks like for this resolution. It frees the parent from learning the intricacies of case writing before they teach the novice student execution. It allows the parent to be focused on where the beginning student should focus their time.
As the student advances, so does the need for ideas beyond the use of a sourcebook or source bookcases. However, it is still helpful to reference. After all, what gets you there, keeps you there. Advanced students do not linger long in a sourcebook. They simply act as a starting point for thought and can clear up the initial learning curve of introducing the advanced student into the resolution; a launching point to make sure that they are heading in the right direction.
No matter the age or experience level, sourcebooks offer tremendous value. From giving a first-year debator the ability to practice without struggling through learning how to write a case to an advanced debator looking to start tackling this year’s resolution. From the parent-teacher helping their child learn a new skill to well-versed families finding support and fostering conversations around the dinner table. Sourcebooks offer a value for the student, parent and coaches that should be utilized as tools for both foundational and support of any debate curriculum.
–Richard Green is the LD Coach for Guardian Club in TN. He independently wrote this article and submitted it. If you have an article you would like to see or have an opinion you would like to share, contact heather@lastingimpact.info.
If you are looking for a Sourcebook – you don’t need to look far (see links below). Lasting Impact! has made quality sourcebooks for a number of years! Clubs and Coaches, families, and of course students use them! Some use them to wrap their brains around the concepts and ideas, some as a launching point, some use them all season long. Hundreds of hours have spent researching the resolutions, so that you can map out your journey!
NCFCA LD SOURCEBOOK – https://lastingimpact.info/product/book10418/
NCFCA TP SOURCEBOOK – https://lastingimpact.info/product/book10442/