Games and truths: learning to construct social problems in high school debate.
Although social constructionists have taken the process by which people learn to present social problems for granted, these skills are acquired in the course of socialization. Through high school debate, adolescents acquire techniques for making arguments, using evidence, and presenting claims to m...
| Published in: | Sociological Quarterly Vol. 41; no. 1; pp. 103 - 124 |
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| Format: | Article |
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Wiley-Blackwell
Winter 2000
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=513050701&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 513050701 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00380253 SQR jtl: Sociological Quarterly issn: 00380253 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Winter 2000 vid: 41 iid: 1 pid: 480 pub: Wiley-Blackwell artinfo: ui: 513050701 10.1111/j.1533-8525.2000.tb02368.x ppf: 103 ppct: 21 formats: tig: atl: Games and truths: learning to construct social problems in high school debate. aug: au: Fine, Gary Alan su: Socialization Social problems Social constructionism Debate Psychology of high school students sug: subj: Socialization Social problems Social constructionism Debate Psychology of high school students ab: Although social constructionists have taken the process by which people learn to present social problems for granted, these skills are acquired in the course of socialization. Through high school debate, adolescents acquire techniques for making arguments, using evidence, and presenting claims to multiple audiences. In the process, they learn that taking a public position does not necessarily require a deeply held commitment. This model resonates with the institutional structure of politics and law in the United States in which adversaries battle each other in a rule-governed “game,” a contest ultimately evaluated by judges assumed to be impartial. To understand the process by which adolescents gain the skills to construct social problems I conducted an ethnographic study of debate teams at two high schools. The ability to take both sides of an argument, express ideas with which one does not personally agree, and present powerful, if questionable, evidence, constrained by time, teaches teenagers how to engage in social problem discourse and provides a training ground for moral entrepreneurs. Reprinted by permission of the publisher. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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