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The Development of the Chinese Debate Team

June 21, 2022

The Establishment of the Chinese Debate Team

To strengthen the mutual learning and cultural integration of the two divisions within Shanghai High School (SHS), that being Shanghai High School (Local Division) and Shanghai High School International Division (SHSID), the two cooperated and jointly organized the first bilingual debate competition in 2017. In that bilingual debate competition, students used Chinese and English to express their views and exchange ideas and thoughts. Since then, the bilingual debate competition has become an annual fixture. The bilingual debate competition gained the extensive attention of teachers and students at school and also went sort of viral on local social media.

In order to improve students' Chinese ability and provide a platform for students who are interested in Chinese debate, the Chinese department established the Chinese debate team in 2018.

SHSID tries its best to develop students' understanding and recognition of Chinese culture. For example, the school holds MIX Day, Chinese Subject Day, a "Story China" activity, a Chinese writing competition, and a Chinese-language magazine. Thanks to these efforts, SHSID students' interests in Chinese language, culture, and debating in the language have dramatically increased.

The Chinese Debate Team Has Achieved Results

In the past two years, the Chinese Debate Team has won a number of great awards. In addition to the team awards such as winning and being crowned the Champions of the 2021 Chinese Debate World Cup - Shanghai Regionals, the Champions of the 2022 Zongheng International U19, placing second at the 2022 Zongheng Ying Division, placing second at the 2021 Zongheng International U19, and making it to the quarterfinals of the 2021 World Cup Finals, they also won many individual awards such as the Best Debater in the whole course and Excellent Debater in the whole course.

When asked why they were willing to put all their energy into debate competitions, even sacrificing their own entertainment and leisure time, members all said it was their desire to explore the truth through debate and their love for the team. In the Chinese debate team family, members help each other and grow from one competition to the next .

Elizabeth, Captain of the Class of 2024, said that she had underestimated the significance of being team captain. It's not only about leading a discussion or winning a competition. It's more about allowing everyone to enjoy the team, to feel engaged with the team spirit -- to feel that they are needed and that every one of them together makes up the meaning of the Chinese Debate Team.

Vincent, Captain of the Class of 2025, said that he gradually realized that he had been perceiving Chinese debate incorrectly. From studying recordings of the seniors, he had anticipated that they would have sacrificed some of their speech time and even crossed off some of the content they had wanted to talk about to help their teammates set up the debate. It is this kind of cooperation that transformed them from four individuals into a team. Thus, with this in mind, he tried adjusting his style. He listened more carefully to his teammates and modified his speech to suit the team. He chose to believe in his teammates’ understanding of the topics, even when he did not fully agree.

He decided to aim for the collective improvement of the team rather than piling up his individual awards. He realized that Chinese debate is not the playground for an individual, but that it concerns itself with the glory of the team.

The Chinese Debate Team Is Always on the Road

Moreover, at the time when summer vacation is about to begin, more grand competitions and team activities crowd their sights. As they always do, the members of the Chinese Debate team will confront new challenges with passion and motivation, aiming to spread the charm of Chinese debate to more places in the world.

As they have faced for many years the worries and excitement of entering a brand-new world, perhaps they are to remember that distant afternoon when they took each other to discover realms of thought that one could not have approached alone. In the new semester, we all hope for another sail to steer this ship to yet another great adventure for our school’s top-notch debaters.

(Written/Pictures by The Chinese Debate Team Student Members Reviewed by Qian Zuo）