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Teaching Resources: In the Classroom

Teachers trained by IDEA have used debate to teach a wide range of subjects, from foreign languages, history, and literature, to social sciences, natural sciences, and mathematics. Because debate teaches students to evaluate evidence, to form their own opinions based on research rather than knee-jerk reactions, and to present their views clearly and persuasively, it imparts skills that are useful in virtually any field of study. Because students work together in teams to prepare their arguments, debate teaches the virtues of cooperation and, once the debate itself begins, friendly competition. Most importantly, debate gives students a sense of purpose to their learning and an occasion to put their knowledge into action.

Goals of Using Debate in the Classroom:

Formats for Classroom Debating

Classroom debates can be completely flexible to fit teachers' needs and lesson plans, remember, there is no right or wrong way to have a debate. Where there is space to think critically and argue about ideas, good things will happen. Beyond the basic goals of the debate (to have fun, to actualize knowledge, to explore speaking in public), the only constraints are the amount of time and interest the teacher has.

Deciding what format of debate is right for your situation requires you to do some preparation. You need to determine what your goals are for the classroom, what kind of constraints you might have that would limit the kinds of activities you can do, and what kinds of debate formats will fit in with your educational goals. Navigating these questions can provide you with the best kinds of debates for your specific educational requirements.

The most important factor when preparing to do a debate in class is to keep in mind the teaching goals that you have. If you wanted to use a debate to warm up a classroom, you would want to have a format that ensured that everyone had an opportunity or a requirement to speak. If you wanted to use a debate as a final project where students were required to prove their mastery of a subject in a clash of ideas, then a formal debate whose ground rules were clearly established would give the participants enough time and opportunity to prepare. Be assured that there is a debate format that can supplement your educational goals and provide a way to involve and excite students.

In addition to adapting the formats discussed on our website, following are some suggested formats for classroom debate.

Public Forum

Public forum debates mimic traditional assemblies of people gathered to discuss a controversy. In this debate, no one is required to speak or participate if they choose not to. Instead, a moderator introduces a particular topic and asks for participants. Volunteers choose to speak on the issue and make points to the general body. Often a particular question is presented that is voted on at the end of the session by the participants.

Public forum debates represent a great opportunity to encourage discussion and break the ice in a classroom. Because no one is required to speak, participants' anxiety is usually low and allows for a free-flowing discussion that encourages creativity and natural speaking skills. It can also be instructive as a tool for analyzing arguments and fallacies. Public forum debates represent a great way to discuss topics that are close to your students' hearts.

Public forum debates are limited. Because no preparation is required, public forum debates seldom bring new knowledge to the participants. This limitation can often be resolved by informing the students about an upcoming debate and assigning them research assignments. Occasionally, talkative students monopolize the space for discussion.

Preparation for a public forum debate can be as simple as explaining the activity to the students. But it can become much more involved, with some time for research. You may want to type up the format and speaking times for your students. If you are using a group of students that you donít know well, you may want to provide nametags to allow you to keep a list of speaking volunteers. You may also want to prompt a few students to start the conversation.

If you are going to use a public forum debate, you should consider the setup requirement. Public forum debate requires a moderator (often the teacher) who identifies students to speak. Sometimes making a list of students who volunteer and adding their names to the list as the debate progresses can do this most effectively. You will want to carefully explain the goals and format for the event. The important things for you to consider are how long speakers get to speak (one to three minutes is suggested) and if participants get to question the speakers when they are done.

Spontaneous Argumentation (SPAR)

SPAR debating has been popularized by John Meany of the Claremont Colleges, but has found its way into a number of college classrooms at top American universities. SPAR debating consists of two debaters drawing a topic for debate out of a hat and then, with a few minutes of preparation, engaging in a quick debate on the subject.

SPAR debating is an enjoyable, exciting, and confidence-building activity. It is an excellent way to reduce speaker anxiety and ensure that students feel at home in your classroom. Because the debate is quick and the audience gets to participate, it is usually a big hit with students. SPAR debates are also excellent tools to get students to practice speaking skills (organization, word choice, metaphors, and logic).

The creativity and excitement of your students limit SPAR debates, so they sometimes fall flat. The debates do not include any research and they can occasionally become more humorous than educational. If you expose students to your expectations and help to guide them, these limitations can be minimized.

In order to use the SPAR debate format, you will need to make a list of topics that you are sure anyone could debate about without any preparation. Seemingly simple topics like crushed ice is better than ice cubes have been very successful. The topics can vary dramatically, and fit well with any classroom subject. You need to brainstorm a number of topics that seem appropriate for your students and the subject that you are teaching.

Affirmative speaker - 1 minute
Negative speaker asks questions of the first affirmative speaker - 1 minute
Negative speaker - 1 minute
Affirmative speaker asks questions of the first negative speaker - 1 minute
Audience questions and comments - 5 minutes

There is no reason that you cannot adapt the format to fit your needs. If you would like to eliminate the audience questions or the questions that the debaters ask of each other, feel free. You should be able to time the debates so that your whole class will fit into the time period you have available. You may wish to frame the SPAR debates with a discussion of what you expect in terms of your students' speaking style. Remind them that they are not held responsible for the contents of their argument, but they should be organized, give previews of their major arguments, and have solid arguments.

Setting up a SPAR debate is easy. Either write the format for the debate on the board or, once you are in the classroom, ask for a pair of volunteers to debate. Have the volunteers come up and draw a topic out of the hat. We sometimes allow them each to draw a topic and then pick the topic that they want to debate. If you do this, be sure to account for the adjusted number of topics when you are preparing. Send the students out of the class for a few minutes to prepare. Immediately repeat the process with another two students, so that there are two sets of students who are preparing at the same time. When you call in the first set of debaters, send out another pair so that the students are staggered and there is never a need to wait for debaters to get ready. After each student you should provide a little bit of commentary about their performance and connect the debate to the larger classroom issues.

Role-playing debates

Role-playing debates are persuasive speaking events where a historical or fictitious event is used to establish the framework of the debate. Students may be asked to play the roles of particular characters or interests, or they might be allowed to simply be participants in a particular scene. Blending theater with debate, these events are both fun and rewarding.

One of the most valuable things about role-playing debates is that they allow students to step away from the anxiety of playing themselves in a debate and give them a role to play. This role can reduce anxiety about debating and clarify what a person's arguments should be. Role-playing debates also encourage imagination and work extremely well with younger students. Role-playing debates are extremely easy to integrate into any classroom because all you need is a controversy and a willingness to try a debate.

Role-playing debates require a significant amount of preparation on the part of the instructor. Because the scene needs to be understood by the participants, it helps if everyone has researched the subject beforehand and the stakes of the debate are understood. The instructor must not only provide the scene, but also establish the opinions of many of the participants. Fortunately, this scene is usually the subject of a lesson the instructor was already going to prepare.

Role-playing debates require that an instructor find a controversy that has good arguments on both sides. Questions of history are particularly fruitful in this regard. One good example includes recreating great trials (or imagining new trials - like putting Truman up on war crimes charges for dropping atomic bombs on Japan). Another example would be a contemporary debate about the preservation of old growth forests, with the debaters playing the roles of lumber company executive, conservationist, government official, citizen, local business person, etc. Contentious issues in virtually any classroom subject can point to exciting role-playing opportunities. The format for the role-play will vary with the exercise. If there is a trial, then perhaps the teacher could be the judge, providing each side with opportunity to speak. If the role-play is a meeting, then the teacher could be a person with a proposal that sparks dialogue and discussion.

Role-playing requires that students be given their roles and the situation of the debate, as well as the clearly defined parameters of what they are supposed to do. The day of the role-play the students should be able to adopt their characters and not have to worry about what they are doing, only about persuading their fellow students.

Materials on this page have been excerpted from Many Sides : Debate Across the Curriculum by Alfred Snider and Maxwell Schnurer.

See iDebate Press for information on how you can order this book.