Competition, Community, and Educational Growth: Contemporary Perspectives on Competitive Speech and Debate

Competition, Community, and Educational Growth: Contemporary Perspectives on Competitive Speech and Debate is an up-to-date text providing informed academic thought concerning the impact of forensics. Its primary focus is to demonstrate how the forensic activity allows students to actively engage and learn outside the classroom. Specifically, Competition, Community, and Educational Growth focuses on how students educationally grow through the activity. The book frames methods and pedagogy as best practices to provide educational growth for students and explicitly connect learning outcomes for students. Coming from the perspective of higher educational instructors, the book provides insight beyond the high school experience. Competition, Community, and Educational Growth examines contemporary perspectives on competitive speech and debate theory, experience, and methods of instruction.

About the Author :
Kristopher Copeland (Ph.D., University of Arkansas) is Executive Dean of Liberal Arts at North Lake College. His most recent publication explores the educational benefits of forensics, which is in the journal Speaker & Gavel. Garret L. Castleberry (Ph.D., University of Oklahoma) serves as Associate Professor and Program Director of Communication, Media, and Ethics for the College of Adult and Graduate Studies at Mid-America Christian University. His scholarly writings are featured across academic journals such as Cultural Studies - Critical Methodologies and the International Journal of Qualitative Research, as well as numerous edited anthologies and digital media publications.

Review :
"Competition, Community, and Educational Growth includes voices from all corners of the intercollegiate forensics world. The contributors range from veterans with decades of experience to some of the most respected younger coaches in the field. This book avoids the 'regional ontology' that many forensics collections often express and shows that we all have a lot to learn from each other regardless of our particular format or circuit. The introduction promises contemporary methodological approaches and the following chapters deliver on that promise. The result is a set of fresh perspectives that should speak to newer coaches who are trained in these methods, to veteran coaches who are looking for new ways to consider their pedagogy, and to students looking to gain deeper insights or perhaps transition into coaching. The timely focus on identity is directly conversant with current competitive practice and will be a valuable contribution to the conversation occurring throughout the forensics community. This book will serve the needs of new coaches as well as veterans."--David Worth, Director of Forensics and Senior Lecturer, Rice University; National Tournament Director for the National Parliamentary Debate Association "This is perhaps the most comprehensive collection of scholarship about intercollegiate forensic competition I have seen in my 30 years in forensics. The chapters come from a very diverse set of authors who each bring a unique insight to critically important aspects of competitive speech and debate. Whether you are a newcomer to the world of forensics or one of the old buffaloes of the activity, you will find information and ideas that will change the way you see and enact this activity."--Todd Holm, Editor of Speaker & Gavel; Communication Program Coordinator, Marine Corps University