Does focus on competition undermine the benefits of debating? Association between students’ goal orientations and competence-development in context of high school debate

Debate clubs are a popular extracurricular activity among Croatian high school students, as debate is thought to develop various key competencies. However, there is an ongoing debate about whether an emphasis on competition undermines these benefits. To examine this, we grounded our study in goal orientation theory. We surveyed 175 high school debaters (73.1% girls), representing most competitive debaters in Croatia. Students assessed the development of 16 competencies through debating and reported their goal orientations. We explored the relationships between four goal orientations and competence-development. Results demonstrated that most competencies were positively associated with mastery-approach goals. In contrast, performance goals generally did not significantly predict competence-development and were negatively linked to tolerance and bearing with defeat. Mastery-avoidance and performance-avoidance goals showed no significant relationships with competencies. These findings partly support the view that focusing on learning, rather than competition, leads to better student outcomes. However, they also highlight the complexity of these dynamics, as not all mastery goals have positive association to competence development and goal orientations are interrelated. The study also offered important insights for debate coaches and practitioners.