The development of high school student debating in Nova Scotia

Abstract

Nova Scotia has a long tradition in debating but little effort has been made to preserve the story of this activity for the future; this study is an attempt to alleviate that lapse in our educational records. It is designed for the educator who is interested in speech development and written with the hope that those who read it will glimpse something of the fibre of the debating customs in this local instance. A brief historical sketch, tracing debating from the mid-eighteenth century in England and France to the colleges of North America and, in the early twentieth century, to the schools of Nova Scotia, places the present debate structure in historical perspective. Personal accounts gleaned from the memories of former debaters and coaches, and records from newspaper accounts and yearbook stories are used to describe the early years of debating. The major portion of the study concentrates on the establishment and growth of the Nova Scotia Student Debating Association and the contributions this association is making to our educational system. The scope of interest of the Nova Scotia Student Debating Association embraces debating and allied activities including such events as oratorical contests, model parliaments and debate camps. The study endeavors to describe the development of these activities in the context of the present association. Guides to debating techniques of various styles are included in the appendix so that prospective debaters, coaches and other interested readers will have readily available rules and models. The compilation of this material allows the reader to perceive in the concrete some of the variations in debating style and content which have developed in the span of the past century in Nova Scotia.