Speech & Debate, or My 2nd Job

It's been far too long, and I wholly blame Speech & Debate for taking up all of my time. Our first tournament is in about two weeks, and it's been a whirlwind of trying to get everyone prepared, register folks, get ISBNs, and somehow nail down transportation for 40 kids halfway across the country (along with Bulgaria's law that charter buses cannot transport students in the dark).

So with that said, I wanted to include in this post some information about what the Speech & Debate team actually IS because before I got here, I had a really bad idea about it all. I thought of it as a "debate" team when in reality, debate is only 1 out of 5 events.

I found out that I'd be the head coach of this team when I was accepted for Fulbright. It was not forced upon me, but rather presented by my amazing predecessor as "Here's something I did that worked well; if you want to continue it, I can help." I happily accepted once I learned that events were in English and not Bulgarian. I'd be a useless coach if events were in Bulgarian.

The team is part of the BEST Foundation (Bulgarian English Speech & Debate Tournaments) which was founded by fellow Fulbrighters, including my predecessor. The organization is an NGO which hosts regional and national tournaments, as well as a US Qualifying tournament which is held here in Blagoevgrad next spring. Nearly all of the the ETAs with Fulbright have inherited a BEST team, so we are all in the same boat. However, my team is HUGE and has a record of success so it feels like I'm trying to jump onto a moving train.

For simplicity, I'll outline the 5 events below:

1. Original Oratory. This is the standard "speech" event in which the students gives an original, memorized speech about an issue of importance to him/her. I've heard oratories on topics from racism to bad role models to the status of Bulgaria as a "modern colony." Oratories are up to 10 minutes long and, as mentioned, are memorized. Imagine memorizing and performing a speech in a foreign language in school. These kids are outstanding.

2. Duo Interpretation. In duo, the two students perform a scene out of a published book, play, poem, etc. As with oratory the work is memorized except the students are not writing the work themselves, hence the term "interpretation." Students "cut" a longer piece of work into a 10 minute performance. For instance, I have two students who are performing "West Side Story" in 10 minutes. Think of it as the "highlight" version of the story. One of the coolest rules is that students are not allowed to look at each other. It makes for some pretty amazing acting. My students are far better actors/actresses than I ever was.

3/4. Prose/Poetry. I'm including these events together because they are so similar. In each case, students take a written piece of prose or poetry and read it aloud. It sounds easy (just reading something out loud), but most of the work comes in adding appropriate gestures, changes in tone of voice/intonation, and appropriate or dramatic pauses. These are some of the hardest things to learn how to do in a foreign language, so it's amazing that these students can do so.

5. Debate. Debate is still the most foreign concept for me, but I'm catching on. Each debate team is composed of 3 members. There are 4 speeches given for each team. Each team is either the government (proposition) or the opposition. For our fall tournament, the debate topics are: Ahmed Mohamed's scholarship, counter-immigration measures, and outsourcing in Bulgaria. Before the tournament, students do not know which side they will be on, so they have to research from both sides. I think that's where a lot of the real learning occurs: trying to formulate arguments on a side that you may not necessarily agree with. There's also an impromptu debate topic that is introduced at the tournament itself.

So far, I've been overwhelmed by the amount of logistics it takes to get a team to a tournament (blue ink only for this form, the 3 names not 2 names on this sheet, the ISBN on this form, etc.) but the student leaders have been amazing. Viktor, Lollie, Yoana, Kari: shout out to you guys! You've made my life a lot easier.

As I said before, our first tournament is in about 2.5 weeks (Nov 15-16) in Stara Zagora. I will be sure to keep everyone posted on how we do. Fingers crossed :D

American vs. Bulgarian Education

It has been far too long since I've posted on here, but life finally started to get busy (which is a good thing!). I've now been in Bulgaria for 5 weeks, but it feels like a year. Time has seemed to move slower since being here, likely because little things are much more difficult than they were back in the U.S. Going to the grocery store is an experience in and of itself.

Despite the difficulties involved in adapting to a culture and life which has to be the diametric opposite of Las Vegas, I think I've finally started to find my metaphorical rhythm. Or at least as much of a rhythm as one can find while living so far from home.

In this post I wanted to go a little bit into the differences I've seen between the education systems in Bulgaria and the U.S. I've been in Bulgaria for only a short amount of time, and my 2 years teaching in the U.S. hardly qualifies me to speak on the subject, but I do have a few observations.

The first and most general observation is that education in Bulgaria seems to fit into the "teacher-centered" category which was so widely-derided in the U.S. Using the term "student-centered" in my papers at UNLV was a given; a student-led classroom was the holy-grail. Here in Bulgaria, however, that's not the case. The teacher is seen as the center of the classroom. Dictations and grammar exercises are common. While I would have been quick to say "That won't work" (given what I'd been taught), the students here are really, really smart. Their English is outstanding. (Disclaimer: My kids are in a foreign language school, so what I say may not ring true for all of Bulgaria).

I think that in some ways, the method of education here better suits the introvert. In the U.S., I often thought that the pedagogical methods were suited towards the extrovert: sitting students in groups and emphasizing collaboration. I do understand the benefits of collaboration and peer-work, but I also remember being a student myself and enjoying when I got to sit down with a bunch of work and figure it out on my own. Group work was always a nightmare for me.

I wish there were an educational system that catered to both types of personalities. Some students learn best in groups, talking with their peers. Others learn best by sitting down with a textbook or listening to a lecture. I think that the proverbial pedagogical pendulum swings too far in both directions.

Another observation from Bulgaria is that the students are extraordinarily respectful of their teachers. It is standard for the students to stand up when their teacher enters the classroom. I have been caught off guard by this a few times. I walk into the room and am wondering why all the students are standing up, looking at me, until I remember to tell them that they may be seated.

I've also found that students here listen to every word I say. If I write a term on the board, they immediately write it in their notebooks. If I ask them to bring something to class the next day, they do so. As I mentioned above, this may be a school-specific thing, but it's still unusual to me.

Other minor differences include that the students stay in the same room; teachers rotate. This has been really hard for me, as I enjoy having my own "space." Classroom management was easier when the students were entering "my" room. It was much easier to organize my stuff when I had my own room. I long for the days when I had a separate bookshelf for each class. Now all I have is a small drawer in the teacher's lounge.

Overall, I cannot make a sweeping generalization about the Bulgarian education system (nor can I make one about the American system). I can only make observations about what I've seen in both. It is a totally different world. I look forward to learning more about the ways they are different and the same.

Now, I should get back to lesson planning...

Езикова гимназия "Акад. Людмил Стоянов"