Oxford Style International Debates Erasmus Project

Project Title

Oxford Style International Debates

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : School Exchange Partnerships

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2018

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Cultural heritage/European Year of Cultural Heritage; Social dialogue; Teaching and learning of foreign languages

Project Summary

Thanks to the Erasmus project, young people had the opportunity to develop their skills and competences such as conducting informed discussions, formulating logical arguments and reasoning, as well as improving their ability to search and select appropriate sources to support their opinions. They met students of the same age from other countries and confronted their opinions on various current issues facing Europe.

The idea for this project was born two years ago. We noticed that our pupils had problems with conducting substantive discussions, formulating logical arguments and calming down their emotions while speaking. Moreover, they lacked skills of using and finding reliable sources.

At the same time, we wanted to combine this project with one of our priorities, which is effective foreign language learning. Oxford-style debates in English seemed to us to be helpful in the effort to fast-track to English fluency. Since we had been successfully running an international Oxford debate project since January 2017 with partners from Italy, Spain, and later also Germany and Croatia as an online project (since September 2017 on the eTwninning platform), we decided that it was a logical consequence to continue this as a face to face experience with the same reliable partners. The idea was to meet and showcase their skills in front of a larger international audience. In addition, participating in foreign partner schools allowed our students to become familiar with the European cultural heritage of Oxford-style debate. At the same time our participants had the opportunity to learn about the culture of the country and region where the debate took place.
Our plan was to organize meetings in each participating school with teams consisting of 5 students and 2 teachers. During each visit there were also debates with the participation of the audience. The topics of the debates were chosen and voted by the students beforehand using the tricider application.
During each visit 14-16 debates took place with the participation of students. The role of chairman of the jury was each time performed by one of the teachers, 2 others acted as judges. During the debates of national teams, we also made sure that the judges were teachers from a country not participating in the debate, in order to maintain maximum impartiality. The task of the judges was to individually evaluate the teams and the speakers with the help of the previously prepared evaluation sheets. After the first mobility with the participation of students we modified the evaluation sheet on the basis of the newly acquired experience. Each time, the debaters received feedback highlighting the aspects they should improve and master. In the breaks between the meetings, the teachers worked with their groups on eliminating the mistakes and correcting the deficits that the previous debates had shown. On the last day of the meetings we organized demonstration debates in teams of mixed nationalities, with the participation of the best debaters from each team. This allowed the debaters with less experience or skills to learn from their better colleagues.

We found that the opportunity for face-to-face meetings allowed us to improve our rhetoric and public speaking skills, as well as the art of persuasion, necessary in an Oxford debate. Since all the debates were held in English, students participating in the debates improved their language skills. We also observed a huge increase in motivation to learn the language among the participants. Our debaters also learned how important the stage of preparing an argument is and improved their research skills. The students had an opportunity, often for the first time in their lives, to test themselves as speakers in front of an international audience and to reflect on the problems of the modern world, often confronting their own point of view with a diametrically different one. Our students learned the crucial skill of focusing on the substance of the debate rather than their emotions. The Oxford-style debate taught them critical thinking, tolerance, and respect for differing points of view.
In between the meetings there were other activities such as surveys to measure the level of competences of the pupils involved, presentations and quizzes to broaden their knowledge about the countries and cities involved and their cultural heritage. We carried out various dissemination activities such as exhibitions, live broadcasts, invited some local authorities and mass media. Based on our experiences partner schools introduced debate as a method of conducting lessons in different subjects, not only humanities.

We believe that our Erasmus project gave young people the opportunity to develop skills and competences such as substantive discussion in a foreign language (English), formulating logical arguments, respecting cultural differences and cultivating the values of European cultural heritage.

Project Website

http://twinspace.etwinning.net/46793/pages/page/519263

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 90601 Eur

Project Coordinator

Zespol Szkol Da Vinci & Country: PL

Project Partners

• COLEGIO LA PURISIMA CMT
• Max Eyth Schule Alsfeld
• ISTITUTO TECNICO STATALE LUIGI CASALE
• Escola Secundária José Saramago-Mafra