Introduction to 'how-to' guides in debating
There are a number of techniques that can help pupils prepare for a debate and add to the quality of the speeches.
In the classroom
When a motion is announced to a classroom or to a society, it's useful to look at these techniques in the following order. They will help to improve debating skills and introduce debating to pupils who have not tried it yet.
If the pupils are familiar with the concepts involved in debating, then helping them to prepare should be more straightforward.
- Brainstorming
- Grouping arguments
- Structuring a speech
- Making arguments REAL (containing Reason/s, Example/s, Analysis, Link/s)
These techniques are useful both in classroom debating and in extra-curricular debating. This in-depth breakdown may be particularly useful for classroom debating as many of the pupils involved in classroom debating will have had little or no contact with debating before.
Be prepared
The first time you hold a classroom debate, one lesson can be put aside to introduce the concepts of debating and preparing for the debate by working through these sections. The debate itself can take place at the following lesson.
Get everyone involved
It is important to remember that classroom debating can involve every person in the class by involving pupils as judges, reporters and floor debaters.
In between the preparation lesson and the debate itself, many of the class will have homework to do (see Whole-class debates). As speakers become more experienced, they will become much quicker at the processes.
Also in this section
There are also brief guides covering other aspects of debating:
Debating case study - Castle Douglas High School
Teachers and students at Castle Douglas High School set up a debating society, and found that debating increased students' awareness of current affairs and improved their ability to express their thoughts clearly in writing.
Word file: Debating case study - Castle Douglas High School (37 KB)