Brainstorming

Introduction

A good first step when you know what a class will be debating about is to 'brainstorm' about the topic.

The aim of brainstorming is to help a debate team construct their arguments.

Learning objectives

To improve critical thinking skills
To build an awareness of structure
To encourage quick thinking skills
To encourage listening skills
To help identify a large number of arguments and to rank their importance

What happens during brainstorming?

The best way to brainstorm is for one person to take notes and everyone else to announce things they know about the subject.

This can be done in a classroom, in a society meeting or between team mates – the procedure is the same for each. In the classroom, brainstorming can be done in two groups – so the entire class can be involved in providing arguments for the debate.

Get everyone involved

Brainstorming is a great way of involving pupils who may find debating difficult – as they can make a direct contribution to the debate without necessarily having to make an extended speech in public. This sort of involvement can help them build confidence and self-esteem.

Look at both sides

When brainstorming, teams should not restrict themselves to the side of the debate they are involved with – it is useful to come up with arguments for both sides of the debate. It is always good to have an idea about the sort of arguments the other side of the debate will make – it will help in the quality of your Points of Information and rebuttal techniques.

Exercise – brainstorming

Motion

‘This house would abolish school uniform’

What to do

The person taking notes should divide their page/flipchart sheet in half and head one column ‘In favour’ or ‘Pros’ and the other ‘Against’ or ‘Cons’. (An alternative is to create a mind map of arguments in favour and arguments against the motion.)

Ask the rest of the group to think of as many arguments as they can for and against the argument – it doesn’t matter if the argument seems weak, as sometimes seemingly weak arguments can, with a bit of thought, be made stronger.

Once the initial brainstorm has been done, group the arguments together (see Grouping arguments). Once the arguments are grouped together, give each member of the group an ‘argument group’ to look into in greater depth.

Things to bear in mind

This is a brainstorming session so at this stage it is counter-productive to weed out ‘weak arguments’. It makes more sense to evaluate the arguments after the initial brainstorming session.

Often the first arguments that a group thinks up will help stimulate further questions about what the debate is really about. For example, a group is preparing for ‘This house would stop experimenting on animals'. Does this mean all experimentation on animals? Or does it mean banning experimenting on animals for cosmetic goods but allowing animal testing to continue for medicines?

Make sure everyone has the opportunity to contribute. Do this either by asking pupils to raise their hands before contributing or by going around the class in turn.

Possible answers to exercise

This document contains some ideas that a group of pupils might have come up with, given 15 minutes to come up with arguments for and against the motion ‘This house would abolish school uniform.'

Possible answers to 'Brainstorming' exercise for debating (31 KB)

Teacher notes

How to assess progress:

How does each pupil contribute to the brainstorming session?
Were the pupils confident speaking in front of their peers?
If asked why brainstorming was important, could they explain why?

The next step is for the team to prioritise and group these arguments.