NOF Explainer: World Schools Debate
Guest Post written by Alex Lee (2022 NSDA Champion - World Schools Debate)
World Schools Debate Event - NOF World Schools
World Schools Debate is the official international style of debate that nearly every country participates in. It features a vast diversity of motions, emphasizes logical reasoning and argumentation, develops public speaking skills, and fosters intellectual and competitive discussions. The event involves teams composed of up to 5 competitors, of which 3 can debate in any given round.
National Online Forensics is proud to introduce NOF World Schools this year. We wanted to inform debaters and coaches of the unique rules of our event which may differ from other forms of World Schools sponsored by other organizations. We also wanted to encourage other tournaments to offer NOF World Schools and promote participation in this phenomenal format.
You can read our full event description and rules in our bylaws. Here are the six most important characteristics of World Schools that debaters should be aware of:
1. International Nature
Due to World Schools Debate being the only international form of debate, with all kinds of countries troughout the world from Bangladesh to Canada competing at tournaments, there is a heavy emphasis on the usage of global argumentation and examples. The motions are never merely US- or even Western-centric, with issues spanning across poverty in developing nations, regional conflicts or tensions, as well as worldwide trade and intercontinental trade. Teams and debaters may be of any nationality, which adds a cultural diversity aspect to the competition.
2. Topic Diversity
NOF World Schools boasts a variety of immensely diverse motions. Whereas traditional debate formats in the United States typically involve domestic policy issues or international relations, World Schools Debate could not be more different. In addition to policy-based motions involving the economy, government, military, and more, this format allows students to debate morality or values-based motions, such as whether or not true love exists, what the moral nature of criminality is, or why eating meat is principally wrong. Furthermore, World Schools motions are often wonderfully creative and innovative: topics can ask whether one would choose to live in a given fantastical world teeming with mystical creatures, the benefits and harms of the “good versus evil” narrative in children’s entertainment, as well as the viability of religions that preach self-determinism. Debaters will face a different motion every single round, and are thus able to explore a wide array of ideas and arguments.
3. Style of Argumentation
While other forms of debate heavily emphasize reading and citing pieces of evidence or “cards,” World Schools Debate values logical reasoning, general argumentation, and well-constructed warranting. NOF World Schools judges will evaluate the weight of an argument based on how convincing the rationale of the argument is throughout the course of the round. Students will learn how to prove their claims by analyzing incentive structures, intuitive tendencies, and logical process chains. As in most debate formats, World Schools involves a Proposition (affirmative) side that will construct a persuasive case with the methods described above, as well as an Opposition (negative) side that will call into question the assumptions and reasonings of the Proposition.
NOF World Schools judges will also take into consideration students’ speaking styles and team strategies—that is, how consistent debaters are in their argumentation down the bench.
4. Points of Information
World Schools Debate features Points of Information (POIs) which may be offered by any speaking member of the team during any speech given by the opposing side. Please note that in the 8 minutes of a typical World Schools speech, the first and last minute are known as “protected time,” meaning no POIs can be offered. Points of Information can be phrased as questions that the speaker must answer or a simple statement of fact that must also be addressed. These brief interruptions may not last more than 15 seconds, and a team should not offer two POIs within 15 seconds of each other. Whether or not to take a point is up to the discretion of the current speaker, as is the method (verbal, visual, chat, etc.) by which they would prefer to receive points.
Bottom Line
National Online Forensics offers many different speech and debate events focusing on various areas of communication for students to practice and master. Our goal with sponsoring NOF World Schools is to afford students yet one more way to improve their debating skills. We hope you will register for the event and enjoy competing in it this season. Please review the full event description in our bylaws.