Melton Secondary College

Free Debate trainer Anthony Kung conducted 4 sessions of debating training for 16 Year 10 students at Melton Secondary College.

The students who participated were reserved at first but seemed to revel in the opportunity to express and discuss opinions. The practice debate about the ethics of animal testing showcased a range of views and honed their ability to refine an argument, while the forum about bushfire policy highlighted their improved knowledge of current affairs and government policies.

The improvements in engagement and confidence were obvious!

Free Debate thanks Margaret Canaway at Melton SC for the opportunity to work with the students.

St Albans Secondary College

Free Debate trainer Anthony Kung conducted debating training for some year 8 and 9 students at St Albans Secondary College.

After outlining the fundamentals of argument, persuasion and presentation the students put their skills to excellent use in the DAV Schools Debating Competition. They displayed improved argument formulation, greater confidence and a real enthusiasm for debating!

Free Debate thanks Fiona Taylor for her eagerness and for allowing Free Debate to facilitate this introduction to debating.

Western Chances Young Western Leaders Summit 2009

Free Debate trainers Kim Little, Ajay Kevat, Lucia Pietropaoli, Amit Golder and Lynne Featonby conducted a lengthy session as part of the Western Chances Young Western Leaders Summit.

After an introduction to the basics of persuasion and public speaking the students were split into small groups and asked to prepare and present a speech on a topic of their choice.

The diversity of topics was impressive and the participants displayed real passion for their subjects. They learned and spoke with enthusiasm and the feedback from the students suggested that the interactive session was as rewarding for them as it was for the trainers.

Free Debate thanks Helen Worladge and Zion Abatayo for organising an excellent event and inviting Free Debate to participate.

Western Chances Update

"I really don't want to speak in front of the group. I wanted to do public speaking training, but I didn't realise it would involve actual public speaking"

Free Debate and Western Chances have been working together since 2006 to deliver high quality communications training to youth in Victoria's western suburbs. And yes the person quoted above did have to talk in front of the group. And yes, she did a very good job, in spite of her fear.

Last year Free Debate implemented a successful pilot programme at Bayside College – featured in The Bridge newsletter in September '06 – which has resulted in Bayside's increased involvement in the mainstream debating competition run by the Debater's Association of Victoria. Free Debate's four week program focused on basic debating training and research skills and each participant was awarded a certificate by Terry Bracks.

Since then Free Debate has expanded its programme to include a "train the trainer" course for teachers with the aim of fostering a debating culture within schools. In 2007 participating schools to date include Kurungang Secondary College, Copperfield College, Kealba College and Bayside Secondary College. More are expected by the end of the year.

As the number of schools involved has increased, Free Debate has broadened the programme's structure to include general presentation and leadership skills as well as formal debating skills. Student leaders as well as debating teams can now learn how to structure, deliver and time a speech, as well as how to use body language, props and microphones. These more general sessions have allowed the students to discuss issues that matter to them (granting an immigration visa to rapper Snoop Dogg was a particularly hot topic in the early sessions) while also having to take up positions contrary to their own.

Free Debate is especially grateful for the hard work of Helen Worladge, Executive Director, Western Chances, who has brokered the relationship with Free Debate and has provided constant support as well as introducing Free Debate to other members of the Western Chances network.

Bahr El Ghazal Debating Programme

Free Debate is running a debating programme with the Bahr El Ghazal Community Development Association.

So far it's been a phenomenally fun and successful project. We're working with a group of about twenty lively and enthusiastic Sudanese men who are chomping at the bit to debate competitively.

The first week was an information session. Last Sunday was the second of our weekly sessions where we covered speaker roles and the difference between arguments and assertions. We followed the 'basic training' up with a series of 'lightning singles' debates - which the group took to with great passion and humour.

Next week is an 'advanced training' session, where we'll go into a bit more detail about definitions, models and case construction, and then break up into teams and prepare for a practice debate. The practice debate will be on the topic we'll use for the first round of the competition (beginning the next week) so in effect it's a 'full dress rehearsal' for the competition.

The competition will run for three weeks and will be a round robin tournament where all four teams get to debate each other. I'm hoping that the teams will form a close bond with their coach and do additional work between the formal sessions to prepare for the rounds.

All sessions and rounds are run on Sundays, 2-4pm and if you're interested in being involved please contact us.

Free Debate thanks:

• Helen from Western Chances;
• Maureen Ryan of Victoria University for her help with the venue; and
  
• Lucia, Tom McCarthy, Duncan Kauffman, Matty K, Rollie and Kim.
  

Bayside Secondary School Pilot

With support from Western Chances, Free Debate has started a pilot debating programme at Bayside Secondary School. Western Chances is a not-for-profit organisation who provide assistance to students from disadvantaged backgrounds in the Western suburbs of Melbourne and we look forward to working more closely with Western Chances in the future.

The first phase of the programme was completed in July and involved a month-long series of workshops with a group of teachers who will hopefullybecome the core of the school’s debating programme. The seminars included exhibition debates and the creation of lots of training materials (which will be available from this site soon).

The second phase will begin soon and will involves a series of coaching sessions with students from both the junior and senior school.

Please contact us if you have an interest in helping out.