SCHOOLS DEBATING – AN INTRODUCTION

THBT parents should be able to vote by proxy for their children

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 MOTIONS

R1: This house believes that important decisions about children’s health should
be made by medical professionals and not by their parents.

R2: This house would prohibit the media reporting stories that intrude on the
private lives of public figures.

R3: This house supports greater US military presence in East Asia.

R4: This house would allow prisoners to choose death over life sentence.

R5: This house would cease the exploitation of resources in the Arctic region.

R6: This house would require government schools to teach religious studies.

R7: This house supports sovereign debt default as a legitimate economic

strategy for countries.

R8: This house would require university students to work in their country of
origin for a number of years after graduation.
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 THE DEBATE LAYOUT

Debating Society Germany e.V.

 SPEAKER ROLES

Debating Society Germany e.V.

 ADJUDICATION

STYLE (40%)
CONTENT (40%)
STRATEGY (20%)

Debating Society Germany e.V.

 Judging style

•Did the speaker have a convincing and

persuasive appearance?
•Did the debater make appropriate use
of the palm cards or sheets (did they
present the argument or read out the
argument?)
•Did I like to listen to him/her?
•Was I able to follow?
•Did the speaker make it easy to follow
(with sign-posting, clear voice, gestures
and facial expressions, adequate speed
and use of vocabulary)?
•Did the speaker deal with POIs in a
polite but persuasive manner?
Debating Society Germany e.V.
 Judging content
•Was the line of argumentation logical, coherent and consistent?
•Have the arguments of the opponent been clashed sufficiently?
•Were the arguments convincing, relevant, strong or weak?
•Were the arguments substantiated or mere statements?
•Have the arguments been supported by examples?
•Were the examples factually true?

Debating Society Germany e.V.

 Judging strategy

•Was the most important argument brought forward/clashed first?

•Has the opponent engaged with rebuttal from the beginning or late?
•Have the speaker roles been distributed evenly or were they carried
by an indivudual?
•Has the speaker stayed within time limitations?
•Has the speaker offered/accepted enough POIs?
•Were the POIs of good quality?

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 SKILLS TRAINED THROUGH DEBATING

Method skills Intercultural skills

 Doing research  Promoting cultural understanding

 Reduce material in Europe and the world
 Structuralise  Freedom of expression and
 Giving presentations exchange
 Improve rhethoric skills  Tolerance
 Self-confidence through presenter  Diplomatic skills
skills  Pleasant appearance
 Team work  Rhetoric etiquette
 Communicative skills

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 REGIONAL IMPACT

Exchange achieved by teams debating from different

• school classes
• schools
• schools representing regions
• regional mixed teams
• national teams

Schools draw attention to themselves through

• public debates
• teams debating in other regions or abroad
• local press apprearance
• create reputation in the debating community

Debating Society Germany e.V.

PRACTICES

Debating Society Germany e.V.

 Practice 1

IF I RULED THE WORLD

„My name is X, and if I ruled the world, I‘d…“

Practice 2

The WHY game

One person is standing in front of the audience and makes his first statement, for
example: „I believe we should close all zoos“. The audience asks „WHY?“. The
speaker has to answer the question, until this answer is faced with the next
question: „WHY?“. There are as many questions as the speaker can answer.

Debating Society Germany e.V.

 Practice 3

MAD DISCUSSION

Pairs of speakers receive a random word each. To determine a winner of the

following debate between the two, one must be more convincing than the other
on why his word has had a more important impact on the world.

Practice 4

REBUTTAL PRACTICE
Get into four groups of approx. 6 people.
One person gives a 2-3 minute speech on

- making teacher evaluation compulsory

- introducing school uniforms
- making debating compulsory in schools
After the speech, 4 members are asked to give one line of attack per person. The
fifth person sums up all the points as part of a rebuttal speech.
Debating Society Germany e.V.
 Practice 5

ALLEY DEBATE

Group 1: You have found a purse full of money. Side PROP would like to give it to
the police, whereas side OPP wants to keep it. Exchange one argument per
person.

Group 2: Your child wants more allowance. Side PROP supports the idea,
whereas side OPP has to contradict. Exchange one argument per person.

Debating Society Germany e.V.

Argument structure (ARE/SEE models)

According to the ARE procedure students will learn to

understand the significance of backing up an argument.
ARE stands for Argument , Reason for that argument and
Example. SEE stands for Statement, Explanation, Example
and essentially means the same thing, but is just called
differently.

Examples are also known as evidence.

Take the motion "THBT smoking should be banned from

public places".
Debating Society Germany e.V.
One argument could be:
"Passive smoking is a threat to public health"

One reason why you choose this argument could be:

"Because smoking is allowed in public places, virtually everybody could be a
victim of passive smoking. Studies show that one's health is at risk if exposed to
cigarette fumes on a repeated basis. This harm could weigh heavily on a society if
there is no stopping this condition. Health risks such as circulatory problems and
lung diseases could be avoided as well as people becoming ill early and drop out
of the workforce or even die younger than the average citizen."

Examples to prove this are:

"Young school kids going to school through train stations, every person
commuting to work for that matter could be affected."
"Waitresses working in restaurants and bars aren't protected from exposure."
"The city/country of X has seen an increase of lung-related diseases in the period
from Y to Z that can be related to second-hand smoking"
"Component X in cigarettes causes reaction Y in the body, which could ultimately
lead to condition Z and possibly death."
Debating Society Germany e.V.
 Practice 6

FOUR-STEP REFUTAION
Use the following phrases:

They say...
We disagree...
because... (insert refutation)
therefore…

Debating Society Germany e.V.

 Angela Merkel is from East Germany and therefore unfit to govern all of Germany.

If the US economy is not doing well, Barack Obama is the only one to blame.

If immigrant families are not happy in their host country, they should go back to where they come from.

Economic experts say that the economic situation will improve next year. They must be right.

McDonald's is the most popular restaurant in the world. It must be the best food.

The only way to improve the educational system is to spend more money on it.

North and South Korea should reunify. It worked for Germany.

The EU is the world’s best democracy, so others should copy the EU’s form of government.

Mister Y, the baseball star, says, "Smokies are the least harmful of all cigarettes."

Freedom of speech is more important than security from terrorism.

Public nudity at beaches is obscene and dangerous

All over the world we must guarantee equal rights for women.

Economic growth should always be pursued as a goal.

Freedom of the press is more important that the privacy of government officials.