Choices and responsibility increased with age. They took more control of their lives. Choices became more consequential and so it was important for them to learn how to be more thoughtful in their decision making process. How the hell do you teach that?!! How do you know if they are being thoughtful in their decisions?!
I come from a big family that was politically active. The dinner table saw many lively discussions about an upcoming election, civil rights or whether the voting age should be changed to 18. But my parents always encouraged us to be logical, persuasive and, if possible, provide supporting evidence for our arguments.
And because of those amazing political discussions I decided that I too could teach my children to logically and persuasively make an argument which would then make them more thoughtful in their decision making. At least that was my hope
I'm not sure if I ever said to them, "Here are the Guidelines." Most likely it was a hit and miss approach -- feedback on how they should have made their case. The Guidelines were in my head......
- State your case clearly.
- Try to anticipate what the arguments would be against it.
- Be logical in your reasons for doing it. Explain the benefits.
Picture if you will, me standing in front of the kitchen sink. My son comes up behind me and holds my shoulders so I'll stay facing away from him. He asks, "What's the worst thing I could do?" I'm pretty sure most mothers with a teenage son would have responded the same way I did, "Get a girl pregnant." My head was ready to explode!! He then turns me around and shows/tells me that he got his nose pierced. My relief trumped my pathetically feeble protest. Three weeks later the parent/child equilibrium was restored when he had nose cartilage repair and the piercing closed due to lack of use.
I believe that our children learn more by our examples than our words. From a not-so-positive situation I got to show my son how to argue persuasively. His junior year he was expelled for the last half of the school year -- I did say that it was not-so-positive didn't I? He was allowed to do Independent Study during this time -- working from home except for weekly appointments with his IS (Independent Studies) teacher.
On his first day we met with his IS teacher. She gave him his textbooks and a copy of the assignments. The assignments were to be turned in every Friday. Quizzes were also given at this time.
At this juncture I should mention that since 1st grade my son's teacher have complained that he completes his classwork too quickly, gets bored and then disrupts the people around him. Giving him more challenging work was not their answer to this problem. This was cause for much frustration in our family.
Because of his history of accelerated learning I asked the IS teacher if there would be a problem with him completing the assignments ahead of time. The conversation went something like this:
Me: Will there be a problem with him completing multiple assignments within the week?
Teacher: We like the students to stick to the assignment schedule.
Me: Why?
Teacher: We have the curriculum broken up into chunks that are manageable.
Me: Is there a drawback to him managing larger chunks?
Teacher: We like to have the students stay on the schedule we have set up for them.
Me: Why?
Teacher: It makes it easier to manage.
Me: Easier to manage for who?
Teacher: No response
Me: You have students at all different levels and studying different subjects, correct?
Teacher: Yes
Me: So how would accelerated learning make things unmanageable?
Teacher: We need to stay with the schedule.
At this point I knew I was dealing with someone who was being illogical as well as thinking more about what worked for HER versus what worked best for my son......the student.
Me: Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't the objective to have him complete the assigned work?
Teacher: Yes.
Me: So if he completes all the assignments and passes all the tests then the objective has been met.
She must have decided that further arguing would be futile so she agreed with the accelerated schedule.
I'm not sure if logic and persuasion ruled the moment or if the teacher just wanted to get me out of there. But to this day my son still recalls this particular debate and believes that logic and perseverance won him the right to learn at his own pace. BTW, he completed all assignments in half the time and aced every one of his tests!
Before writing this post I did a little research into debate classes offered in high school. I was happy to see that debate classes are making somewhat of a resurgence in our public schools!
Debating teaches so much more than just learning to argue your point. As Betty Maddox, a former debate coach and now a consultant with the Atlanta Public Schools said, ".....debate has a surprisingly wide academic reach. Students who are disengaged in a traditional classroom setting gravitate to debate. The excitement of debate tournaments ignites their intellectual curiosity. Once their mind catches fire, the curiosity spreads to other areas of their life. They begin to ask critically-informed questions about their history textbooks, their neighborhoods, and the nightly news. I've seen the Reading Scores of students who join debate jump two or three grade levels in a single semester."
Before writing this post I did a little research into debate classes offered in high school. I was happy to see that debate classes are making somewhat of a resurgence in our public schools!
Debating teaches so much more than just learning to argue your point. As Betty Maddox, a former debate coach and now a consultant with the Atlanta Public Schools said, ".....debate has a surprisingly wide academic reach. Students who are disengaged in a traditional classroom setting gravitate to debate. The excitement of debate tournaments ignites their intellectual curiosity. Once their mind catches fire, the curiosity spreads to other areas of their life. They begin to ask critically-informed questions about their history textbooks, their neighborhoods, and the nightly news. I've seen the Reading Scores of students who join debate jump two or three grade levels in a single semester."
One needs to know how to research information, speak succinctly, take notes, evaluate information, and provide supporting evidence . And it doesn't have to be taught in its purest form. It's component parts can be incorporated into Language Arts, History, Civics, Media and even Math (what good debater doesn't like using statistical references!).
And as a recruiter and manager I can tell you that communicating effectively and being able to give a persuasive argument are skills that I see sorely lacking in many new college grads but are skills they need in order to be successful in the workplace.
Below are a list of sites that I hope you will find useful on designing debate curriculum for your middle and high school class. And, just as an aside........ I would be thrilled to see Teacher Education programs include topics such as Teaching Debating Skills to Middle and High School Students. Someday!
- Teaching Argumentation & Debate: An Educator's Activity Manual
- NAUDL - National Association for Urban Debate Leagues
- Middle School Debate Program
- Teaching Debate - Kate Schuster
- Public Debate Program
- Resources for Classroom Debates - Education World
- Bright Hub Education
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