Debate and Curriculum for Excellence

Curriculum for Excellence has created a unified set of purposes and principles for the whole curriculum in Scotland. Curriculum for Excellence states that the aims of education in Scotland are to enable young people to become: successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens, and effective contributors.

Successful learners

Debating motivates students to research and discuss issues of social, political, economic and cultural importance. Students are required to think creatively and independently, to make reasoned evaluations, and to apply critical thinking in new contexts. It is also a powerful way to hone analytical abilities.

It nurtures research and enquiry skills and encourages students to use technology to help research an issue and construct a line of argument. Debating also helps children build effective communication skills: not only (the ability) to speak in front of a group of people in a structured and persuasive fashion, but to think on one’s feet and react to points, questions and objections as they are raised.

Responsible citizens

Debate encourages responsible citizenship as it emphasises the need to see both sides of an issue, which helps build a respect for other people’s points of view and beliefs. Debaters will often have to speak in favour of something that they do not personally agree with - this promotes understanding and respect. As well as this, debating societies perform a key role in the school’s social and cultural life, and debaters often get involved with many other school projects.

With such an emphasis on researching issues and current affairs, debating promotes a knowledge and understanding of Scotland and its place in the wider world. It helps young people evaluate major issues such as advances in the technological and scientific communities and helps pupils develop views on complex issues.

Confident individuals

Debating helps young people to become confident individuals by assisting them to communicate their ideas in a clear, logical and constructive way. The earlier young people speak in public, the more comfortable they will be speaking in public. Debating is a very structured way of giving young people a way to be heard and allows them to articulate and advocate their own beliefs with clarity and passion.

Pupils who debate tend to be better communicators. Debating makes people aware of the type of audience they are speaking to, and also helps pupils to rank and aggregate arguments.

Effective contributors

Debating enables students to become effective contributors through partnership, teamwork, self-reliance, clear-thinking and problem solving. In short-preparation debates, speakers need to think quickly on their feet. In all debates, it is important to be resilient - to advance a case whilst dealing with questions from an opposing team. Debating promotes working in partnership and teams: in the classroom, debaters need to work in partnership and in extra-curricular debating, debaters have to work in teams.

Debating in Schools case study - St Maurice's High School

An ESU workshop for staff and students at St Maurice's High School enabled students to enter a number of competitions. Teachers say this has enhanced students' ability to communicate, and increased their confidence.

Debating in Schools case study - St Thomas Aquinas

The debating society at St Thomas Aquinas School is supported enthusiastically by students, parents and staff. The key is enjoyment but the school community also regularly celebrates its success.