Just a quick update on Week 3 of Free Debate's programme with the Bahr El Ghazal Community Development Association.
We have now divided the group into four teams with a dedicated coach for each team. (The teams are all fiercely competitive and I look forward to seeing my boys wipe the floor with Duncan's team in the first round!)
Next week is Round One of the competition and the topic (selected in consultation with the participants) is "That new migrants wishing to become citizens should be required to pass a language and values test". Given that all the debaters are new migrants, it should be an interesting clash!
If anyone is interested in sitting in on next Sunday's debates (and the training and adjudication that will follow) please contact us. The venue is Victoria University (Footscray Campus, Ballarat Road, Building 'P' at the rear of the campus, across from the sports field) from 2-4pm.
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
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:
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.
Monday, April 16, 2007
Free Debate Enabling Day
Free Debate's inaugural Enabling day (held on March 3rd) was all about providing our members with the know-how to put together and deliver Free Debate programs.
Kim kicked off proceedings with 'How to Present';
Tim followed up with 'How to Debate';
Bek facilitated a discussion on 'How to Organise' (put together by Bek and Kylie); and
Rob rounded off the day with the innovative and informative 'How to PowerPoint'.
For those on the receiving end, there was a lot to absorb. But our participants proved themselves highly capable when we set them the task of putting together a hypothetical Free Debate program plan. The results were thoughtful, comprehensive plans that would each be a fantastic starting point for a program.
A big thankyou to those who put so much effort into preparing the presentations, and to all participants for your engagement and feedback. We hope to run a similar training day again soon - we'll keep you posted!
Kim kicked off proceedings with 'How to Present';
Tim followed up with 'How to Debate';
Bek facilitated a discussion on 'How to Organise' (put together by Bek and Kylie); and
Rob rounded off the day with the innovative and informative 'How to PowerPoint'.
For those on the receiving end, there was a lot to absorb. But our participants proved themselves highly capable when we set them the task of putting together a hypothetical Free Debate program plan. The results were thoughtful, comprehensive plans that would each be a fantastic starting point for a program.
A big thankyou to those who put so much effort into preparing the presentations, and to all participants for your engagement and feedback. We hope to run a similar training day again soon - we'll keep you posted!
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Building Bridges
Building Bridges is an initiative of Vic Health seeking to promote intercultural understanding as a mechanism to reduce discrimination. For this project, CMYI has bought together young women from diverse backgrounds to organise a women's event, called Ee-Ha-Yeah, involving a variety of cultural exhibits and activities.
The Free Debate team of Lucia, Mat, Rebekah and Roland designed a training course aimed at improving the confidence and presentation skills of the participants, in the context of organising a major event. Our course emphasised practical exercises and was adapted to take account of the culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds of the participants.
The feedback from the group was quite positive and Free Debate is keen to collaborate with CMYI in future initiatives.
Our thanks go to Rachel Murray of CMYI for organising Free Debate's participation in the programme, and to the participants for their time, efforts and the multicultural feast provided to the trainers.
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
2006 Pre-Australs ESL Results
We're pleased to announce that Keio University (Masako, Keiko and Rie) were the winners of the 2006 Pre-Australs ESL Invitational. The winning team was assisted by Tim Sonnreich.
Equal best speakers were Melanie (University of Indonesia) and Masako (Keio University).
Equal best speakers were Melanie (University of Indonesia) and Masako (Keio University).
Monday, July 31, 2006
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.
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
AMES Footscray Revisited
Free Debate conducted a second series of debating seminars for the Adult Migrant Education Service (AMES) evening classes in Footscray. Nicole Lynch, Cassie McGannon and Rob Koh led the 90 minute sessions covering speaking skills and argument formulation.
The AMES students debated a range of topics including drugs, gambling and the role of government.
Free Debate also conducted a one-off class for the AMES Footscray day class. Lucia Pietropaoli and Liz Sheargold were warmly received by the AMES advanced class, and gave a 2-hour seminar on public speakingtechniques, argument and rebuttal.
The AMES students debated a range of topics including drugs, gambling and the role of government.
Free Debate also conducted a one-off class for the AMES Footscray day class. Lucia Pietropaoli and Liz Sheargold were warmly received by the AMES advanced class, and gave a 2-hour seminar on public speakingtechniques, argument and rebuttal.
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