Discussions and debates

Discussions and debates are a good way of getting students involved in class projects and assignments. In our institute, we encourage a good discussion or debate amongst students so that they are able to reason out their point of view on a topic. This ability to reason has to be properly nourished in students as it is something they will find very useful in all walks of life.

As they progress in school, their writing assignments revolve around topics that have moral, social or psychological underlining. A prompt like, ‘Lying is bad, we all know that. Imagine somebody invented a device that can tell when a person a lying. Do you think it will benefit society or lead to much more chaos and confusion as people will have the means to spot a lie immediately?’ Such a prompt is guaranteed to get students discussing in class. They can later use their points to write down an argumentative essay on the same.

Through various prompts, children are encouraged to speak freely on a given topic and make an effective case either for or against a topic. Discussions and debates are a good way to break the ‘writing-reading’ monotony of English lessons.  Through this exercise, children are able to make-up their own minds on an issue. Several of these issues force them to delve deep into human behaviors and their own psyche which can indicate how they think, what they hear and what is influencing them. These in class activities can also teach them how to be respectful of others’ opinions while not necessarily wavering in their own. A mediator, who is the teacher, makes sure that the debates are healthy, informative and that the students learn important points from them at the end of the day,  

Debates and Discussions are a good way of introducing the kids to the world of argumentative and persuasive writing. Some children find it difficult to write these types of essays as they don’t partake in much critical thinking. Having debates in class helps them think logically, critically, gives them the ability to defend their point of view leading them to become more confident individuals.