Debate is a pretty scary word to students who already find it difficult just to put up their hand for a question. Unsurprisingly, educators and students have very strong opinions on debate and whether or not its presence should increase or decrease in the school system. Within the supporters of debate there are certain factions. Some believe it should only exist in the higher grades where students are less afraid of speaking and stating their opinions, others argue that debate is most beneficial if used throughout the grades, starting young.
In both cases, I think it depends on class environment. If you have a classroom environment where students feel that they can state their opinions respectfully without fear, there are strategies you can use to introduce constructive conversing and arguing to young students. This article is from a blog called Cult of Pedagogy written by a teacher who taught elementary for over a decade and now teachers Teachers Education courses. She lists several ways she got her students talking, and under each strategy she includes a list of variations to accommodate different learners and classrooms:
Classroom Discussion Strategies
Going off a discussion I had with my peers about their experiences with debate in the classroom, I have compiled a list of challenges and misconceptions that come with debate, and how they can be avoided.
1) The POP POP
There is always one or two kids in the class who always have something to say about everything. They are the first to speak and their word is law. They might have very good, constructive ideas, or in the case of Magnitude from Community, (pictured below) have nothing of substance to say but speak with such confidence that no one ever challenges them. Often times with debates, the students are tempted to allow this student to speak for the whole team. An organized and structured debate format would help with this problem. Keeping the students used to the statement, response, statement response format, even introducing a rule where the same person can't speak more than once, or keeping the responses timed.
2. Point of View
An interesting tactic that I have seen used in the classroom is picking a topic that is relevant and of particular interest to the students (perhaps pitting various forms of social media against each other or two popular bands etc.) and then, before beginning the debate, send pieces of paper around and get everyone to write down which side they are on. Then gather up all of the papers and place everyone on the opposite side of the choice they made. The students may be reluctant at first, but I have seen this work quite well, once they get into the debate they want to win so badly that they start thinking of arguments to make that go completely against their own personal opinions. This is a great way to get students thinking about an issue from a different point of view.
3. The Screamer
Since mainstream media, especially recently, really hasn't been providing students with good examples of real debating, many students may believe that to debate means to state your opinion over and over until things get ugly. With younger students, you might get responses like "well that's stupid" or "if you think that then you're dumb" and the like. They resort to name calling and immaturity when faced with a point they can't or don't know how to refute. With older students it manifests itself in almost exactly the same way, speaking over each other, scoffing, etc. The insults are just often more intellectual. Though not always. But debating is equal parts listening and speaking. Students should be taught from a young age how to respond respectfully to someone they disagree with, and introducing debate can be a great way for students to learn that. You could start with a list of phrases to use when you disagree: "I respect your argument, but have you thought of this..." or even highlighting where you agree before going into how you differ: "I agree that... but I feel that..." and then have the student go from there.
At the end of the day, I'm not sure how well debate would work in every classroom. The teacher needs to know their students and gauge whether they would benefit from a formal debate structure or if they would be better suited to a debate-like game like the ones listed in the Cult of Pedagogy article above. I do, however, truly believe that there needs to be more of an emphasis on Oral Communication in the classroom than what exists now. Maybe this means debate, maybe this means more presentations, whatever shape it takes, students need more opportunities to exercise their communication skills from a young age.
No comments:
Post a Comment