{"id":3415,"date":"2015-03-04T19:25:58","date_gmt":"2015-03-04T19:25:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.classtools.net\/blog\/?p=3415"},"modified":"2016-07-15T11:46:11","modified_gmt":"2016-07-15T11:46:11","slug":"ditch-debates-adopt-arbitration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.classtools.net\/blog\/ditch-debates-adopt-arbitration\/","title":{"rendered":"Ditch Debates, Adopt Arbitration!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Overview: The classic ‘group debate’ format<\/h2>\n
\"Year<\/a>

Year 13 “arbitration team” breaking down the issue ‘To what extent was the CIA responsible for the overthrow of Salvador Allende in Chile?’<\/p><\/div>\n

Classroom debates can be an\u00a0effective\u00a0way of getting students to think about the pros and cons of different viewpoints (“Was Hitler a planner or a gambler in foreign affairs?”, “Henry VIII: Hero or Villain?”). The standard way I do this is to divide the class into two teams (the ‘prosecution’ and the ‘defence’). Each member of each team\u00a0gathers evidence for one side of the argument, then converts this into\u00a0a question for their opponents (“Is it not true that…which is illustrated\u00a0by the fact that…”). The best questions are then allocated to members of the opposing team at the end of the lesson, with homework time being set aside for them to formulate their rebuttals (based usually on the fact that the evidence behind the question is either incomplete and \/ or unreliable). The debate then takes place in a subsequent lesson, with the teacher acting as a chairperson and everybody busy taking notes as the debate unfolds.<\/p>\n

Problems of the ‘group debate’ approach<\/h2>\n

Thee sorts of debates outline above are rigorous, engaging and thorough. But they have their problems.<\/p>\n