Teaching Debate in Chile

Introduction

Teaching Debate in Chile

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By the end of November, my class of twenty-five 6th grade boys had finished their textbook and taken their final exams for the 2008 school year. Every student had passed and would be going on to 7th grade. But there were still three more weeks of school to go! What was I going to do in the final three weeks?

The purpose of this article is to share with colleagues how I used debates with my students during those three weeks.

Why did I decide to use debates?

There were two reasons I decided to use debates. First, I had used various forms of debate in the past as a classroom speaking activity. One of my favourites is the “Balloon Debate”.

In this activity, a group of four to eight students is formed. Each student chooses to be a famous person who is in a balloon that is rapidly losing altitude. The group can only be saved if one person sacrifices themself by jumping overboard. To decide who must jump, each student must give reasons why they should stay in the balloon.

The teacher and/or the class (by voting) then decides who has made the least persuasive argument. That person must jump. This process continues until there is only one person left in the balloon, who lands safely, winning the debate.

My second, and most important, reason for using debates with my class of sixth graders was because of a movie I saw, “The Great Debaters” (2007). It was directed by Denzel Washington. In it Denzel also plays the role of Melvin Tollson, coach of the undefeated Wiley College Debate Team of 1935.

The movie is based on a true story, the 1934 Wiley College Debate Team. They defeated the National Champion Stanford Debating Team. In the movie, Wiley College Debates Harvard in a thrilling challenge debate that was broadcast on radio.

If you like debating, that movie is a must see!

Let me describe the simple yet powerful scene that made me think to myself, “Even my sixth-graders can understand that”. Denzel is explaining his philosophy about debating. The room is full of nervous students who are trying out for the debate team:

Denzel: “Debate is combat. Your weapons are words. In a debate there is a “resolution”. One team, called the “affirmative team”, argues for the resolution. The other team, called the “negative team”, argues against the resolution.”

When I heard that, I knew that was “all” my students needed to get started debating.

For the full article, click here: http://ihjournal.com/debating-in-the-efl-classroom