Resolved: Classroom Debates are Vital to Education

I sat back in wonder and watched as the student walked through the info graphic she had drawn on the whiteboard defending her teams side in the classroom debate. There was logic, critical thought, refutation, and an easy to follow line of reasoning. 

All because I gave the class the challenge to debate two sides of an argument in History class. 

Now, I teach Debate, but I've used classroom debates to challenge students to think deeper than regurgitation and be prepared to take a stand in my History classes. I know some teachers get a little nervous and squirmy when you mention debate, because it has the potential to go off the tracks and get into controversial subjects. This is true, but I also believe it has the power, even with those risks, to be a powerful tool in the educator's arsenal. 

Debate Teaches Listening Skills

You've got to listen to your opponent's views carefully to understand where they are coming from. Students who engage in classroom debates critically analyze the arguments made in an effort to answer the questions they raise. Students must listen for nuance and shades of ambiguity. All this leads to the next critical skill. 

Debate Teaches Organized Thought

If you are going to make a case, it's got to make sense. And step one is to organize an argument that is easy to follow. Now, the student in the opening illustration had her whiteboard, but that was just an image of the organization she and her team used to craft a compelling argument. They answered the points of their opponent clinically, and then made their own points clearly. These skills are handy to have in debate- but also important for communication skills throughout life. 

Debate Teaches Communication Skills

Not only do students need organized thought, they need to be able to speak. 

To people. 

In this age of Twitter and texting, face-to-face communication can get left behind. Students need to be able to give literal "voice" to their ideas. Debate allows students to find their voice and develop confidence. It can also give them an interest in addressing other issues close to their heart. 

Debate Teaches Responsible Discourse

Students are going to find issues to be passionate about. Students are then going to argue those points. A look at Twitter or comment sections on the internet reveals the sad state of rational debate. Name calling and hollow, evidence-lacking claims are the norm. 

This is not debate, they are temper tantrums. 

As educators who encourage classroom debate, we have the opportunity- and the responsibility- to help students learn the way to argue with passion and courtesy. We are able to give students the freedom to speak their minds in a safe place where we can guide them to better ways to share their hearts. We are able to step in if the debate gets a little too heated or personal and remind students that we can disagree and still get along. Our students have strong convictions, and a passion to defend them- but they need to know HOW. 

Getting Started

It's not tough to get students to debate. A discussion of character's action in a Lit class, questions over ethics in Science, actions from the past in History, or current events related to subject matter. You can divide students up (I like to have students argue the opposite opinion of the one they actually hold because it stretches them.), you can let them choose, or you can simply put a list of topics on the board and work through them. You just moderate and watch out for tangents. 

At the end of the day, like all strategies we use, sometimes it flops. So you learn from it, along with your students. 

But other times you get brilliance on a whiteboard. 

And that is why it's worth it.