Sunday, January 24, 2016
Reflections On Debate
The Sparta vs. Athens debate was a great first experience in the realm of formal debate. I think that having a debate is an excellent way to learn about something, because it forces you to research both sides of an issue, which merits deeper understanding, and it gives you more motivation to learn. I always thought of debating as being something that would come naturally when you argue a point, but being in a formal debate, I learned that there is so much more to it, and it does not come naturally. It was a great experience having to think on your feet in order to produce arguments and counter arguments on the fly- while in front of many important people. This being our first time, I think we had a lot of room for improvement, but that will come naturally with practice, and I think this was a great first experience overall.
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ReplyDeleteWe will experiment with different debate structures and topics. "Scripting" the rebuttals ahead of time can be counter-productive and hinder attentive listening to the other side during the debate. While it is important to anticipate the other side of the question ahead of time, it is more important to take notes on the given argument during the debate. This contributed to the fact that the arguments were not fully addressed in the rebuttals. As I mentioned in our de-brief, the terms and parameters of the debate and the arguments should have been more fully and precisely stated. HOWEVER for the first time, (and in front of an audience!!) you all did very well. Your confidence, poise and delivery was outstanding during this debate, Jonny. We may also do some impromptu debates in the classroom in the next few weeks :-).
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