The Art of Advocacy Speech and Debate Program
The Art of Advocacy is a 9 week speech and debate course. This course was developed in collaboration with All About Achieving Learning Centers and administered by The George Washington University Director of Debate Paul S. Hayes to teach communication, leadership, and critical thinking skills to students in grades 5-9. Students may participate in the course either online or in-person at an All About Achieving Learning Centers.
"Learning through play" is a powerful educational method that engages and motivates students while helping them to develop social and cognitive skills, mature emotionally, and gain the self-confidence to engage new experiences and environments. The Art of Advocacy makes learning fun by organizing lessons into a series of interactive online speech-and-debate competitions. Each week students will receive one-on-one instruction and coaching from assigned mentors as well as video lectures on key concepts and assignments. At the conclusion of each competition winners and top performing students will be selected and announced from among the students "opting-in" to competitive assessment. (Or students may opt-out of competitive assessment.)
During the course students will prepare for and participate in three Art of Advocacy speech-and-debate competitions via written and video online submissions. To participate online all that is required is an email account and the ability to record and post videos using a laptop or phone camera.
Over the 9 week course the Art of Advocacy will include:
An advocacy competition that will challenge students to analyze informational materials, assess the reliability of the sources presented in the materials, and develop and express their own opinion on a selected topic. Students will receive one-on-one written feedback on their written first draft, oral first draft, and final oral submissions for this competition.
An original oratory competition that will challenge students to research and develop speeches on a topic of their own choosing. Students will receive one-on-one written feedback on their initial research, written first draft, and final oral submissions for this competition.
A competitive debate between students on an assigned topic that challenges students to research and prepare speeches responding to the research and arguments of another student. Students will receive one-on-one feedback on their draft argument briefs and debate performances.
A weekly video series introducing weekly assignments and teaching key concepts and techniques. Each student will be able to contact their mentor by email with questions regarding the videos and will receive feedback from their mentors on written and video assignments designed to ensure students are following and mastering key concepts from the videos.
All About Achieving Art of Advocacy was developed by The George Washington University Director of Debate Paul S. Hayes. Paul will also serve as the master-teacher for the course, which will include the training and supervision of the one-on-one student mentors (all of whom will have undergraduate degrees and significant teaching and/or speech-and-debate experience). A former national championship collegiate debater and coach, Paul is an international thought-leader in speech and debate education who has developed speech-and-debate programming for national and international organizations including NASA, the Embassy of France, and the Smithsonian Institute.
