Developing public communication skills: Speech and debate team

Developing public communication skills: Speech and debate team

Author: Ethical Schools November 8, 2023 Duration: 34:16

We speak with Denver English teacher and speech/debate coach Anna Steed about the benefits of speech and debate competition. Students acquire critical communication skills and self-confidence; students of color and low-income students can become more comfortable in majority-white, middle-class environments similar to those they may encounter in college. For many students who have challenging home lives, speech and debate opens up worlds of possibility.

Overview

00:00-00:14 Intros

00:14-01:08 Why the speech and debate program started at Anna Steed’s school

01:08-02:17 How Anna Steed became involved

02:17-03:08 How the speech and debate program developed into a team

03:08-04:13 What speech and debate is

04:13-05:06 How students became involved

05:06-14:04 Program Oral Interpretation

14:04-15:20 Impact on measured academic performance

15:20-17:42 Equity; students’ comfort level around more privileged students

17:42-21:40 Speech and debate during the pandemic

21:40-21:53 Impact on students’ ambitions

21:53-26:08 First steps to start a speech and debate program

26:08-28:10 Need for judges

28:10-29:36 Need to give English credit for speech and debate

29:36-30:15 Training for judges

30:15- Outro


Conversations about education often focus on test scores and curriculum, but there’s a deeper layer that truly shapes a student’s experience. Ethical Schools digs into that layer, exploring what it means to build a learning community grounded in integrity and care. Each week, hosts Amy and Jon sit down with educators and innovators who are actively reimagining schools. You’ll hear specific, grounded discussions about the practical work of creating environments where every student feels safe and respected. The dialogue frequently addresses how to support young people dealing with trauma, moving beyond theory to share actionable strategies that teachers are using right now. More than just problem-solving, this podcast highlights how to empower students themselves to become advocates and changemakers in their own communities. It’s a series that connects philosophy with daily practice, looking at the social and cultural structures within schools through a lens of ethics. For anyone invested in the future of education-whether you’re a teacher, administrator, or simply a concerned community member-this podcast offers a thoughtful and necessary perspective on the foundational values that make education meaningful.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 240

Ethical Schools
Podcast Episodes
Students doing original research: Project-based learning in Ohio [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 56:47
We speak with middle school teachers, Debbie Holecko and Claudia Bestor, and their former student, Rafel Alshakergi, about a student-led research project that led to ethical civic engagement. Rafel explains how the exper…
Abolitionist education: Creating liberatory spaces (Part Two) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 35:30
We continue our conversation with Dr. Edwin Mayorga of Swarthmore College. We discuss the corporatization of schools that reduces students to their test scores. Dr. Mayorga encourages educators to center joy and healing.…
Abolitionist education: Creating liberatory spaces (Part One) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:30
We speak with Swarthmore’s Dr. Edwin Mayorga, who explains how abolitionist classrooms and schools create “freedom as a place” in contrast to racial capitalism. Teachers are the lead inquirers and try to “move at the spe…
BIPOC and undocumented: A trauma-filled intersection [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 33:10
Dr. Christiana Best, who spent thirty years in the New York City child welfare system before becoming a full-time academic, discusses her personal experience of being left behind in Granada while her mother settled in th…
The impact of deportation policies on Latinx students’ mental health [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 28:45
Dr. Randy Capps, Director of Research for U.S. Programs at the Migration Policy Institute, surveyed Latinx high school students to see how fear of deportation – of their parents, relatives, friends, or themselves – impac…
Empowering school counselors to support struggling students [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:30
Dr. Mandy Savitz-Romer of Harvard Graduate School of Education sees counselors as schools’ academic conscience, the hub for providing holistic support to students. To be effective, they need a seat at the leadership tabl…
Holistic history: The African diaspora [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 39:45
Dr. Kim Butler, who leads Rutgers’s Africana Studies program, says that while we usually teach history and social studies in discreet, testable units, events are complex and interconnected. Slavery throughout the America…
Students leading change: Inclusiveness at an elite school [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 49:12
Stacey Cervellino Thorp and Naima Moffett-Warden teach drama at Manhattan’s famed LaGuardia High School, and Abigail Rivera is a senior in the drama studio. Although all LaGuardia students are extraordinarily talented, t…
Teaching economics as political and ethical choices [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 37:00
We welcome back Lev Moscow of the Beacon School to discuss his approach to teaching political economy, which actually applies to any social science. It’s not primarily about the numbers but about the human choices behind…