Utilizing Debates in the Classroom

Utilizing Debates in the Classroom


When you hear the word debate, one would usually think of politics or an argument. But, if done correctly, a debate can be a great method to use when teaching Social Studies in your classroom. As long as you and your student have an understanding that it stays positive and polite, a debate can be a great way for students of any age to learn and see different point of views. It is also a realistic strategy used in many different real world situations. Debates give students a chance to speak up and fight for what they think is right in an appropriate and knowledge filled way. When myself and a few peers presented a current event to the rest of our class, we had them do a debate. We split the class into two groups, one promoting what was being taught and one that was against it. We picked the groups, but in some cases, you can allow your students to pick what side they want to be on: students like having a say in what they are doing in the classroom. The debate was a quick 5 minutes but the participants were able to bring up amazing points for their side in such a short time.

Using the debate methods in an elementary school classroom would obviously need more time. You could even give your students multiple days to prepare for the debate allowing much time for the students to do research on their side, in turn getting them to become more knowledgeable on their own. Debates can be done with just about any topic and economics can relate to just about anything, therefore incorporating a debate into your economics lesson can really open your students mind to the idea of how economics can affect them personally, even though they probably don't even have much money of their own yet. A debate is something that is different than other methods of teaching because it forces the students to take over with the teacher there to guide them if needed. Students enjoy the idea of getting to take over their own learning. Therefore, using a debate for a difficult topic like economics is great!

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