Debating at Paddington Academy: Students Teach Students

On Wednesday the 19th of May, year 10 students Mona Abdi, Tsegab Getachew and I taught Ms Christy’s year 8 English class how to debate. An important part of the lesson was giving students the chance to make their own presentations on different political parties’ immigration policies. We simply provided some background information on various parties and a copy of their immigration policy, and were amazed at how mature Year 8 students at PA were when it came to such a controversial issue. Groups were challenged with taking on the role of either: UKIP, Conservatives, Labour, BNP or the Liberal Democrats. The students were great at remaining calm while the audience shouted their own points of view, if they did not agree with what was being said. Everyone was given the opportunity to think critically and this exercise gave students the opportunity to be prepared with their own counter rebuttals. The overwhelming trait that students felt they had gained was ‘feeling confident’ when ‘speaking in public’ while others benefited from the chance to improve their ‘listening skills’. The students were also being assessed for speaking and listening by Ms Christy and teams were awarded certificates in different categories. Realising the benefits of learning from your peers, we will continue to encourage debating skills in our community, so watch this space!