【講師コラム】デイジー講師　No.17～Evaluation on Englishbuds Debating～

Facilitating the debate classes for participants of all skill levels in Englishbuds has been very fun and fulfilling as a teacher. I beam with pride and joy as I have personally witnessed how the students have improved a lot and gained more confidence in communicating and speaking up their sentiments about various topics ranging from academic issues, current events to simple/interesting motions. Debating has proven to be a very valuable activity for the participants. Our aim is to not only to teach useful skills for their academic pursuits but also to impart practical and important life lessons in general.  

All the debaters from all the different levels of our debating class were able to build their confidence speaking in public and expressing their ideas eloquently.  Such ability to comfortably speak in front of others is very useful in so many areas of life, from interviews to school presentations to discussions in seminars. Based on my observation, debaters from our Friendly Debates, Intermediate and Advanced debates are becoming more and more comfortable in expressing their thoughts and opinions. Of course, the benefits of debating are not only limited to the skills built while students are speaking, their preparation of their respective speeches also develops critical thinking and research skills, as well. 

Our debating practice in Englishbuds hones and builds the ability of the debaters to see both sides of issues.  Debaters flex their analytical muscles, learning to find the weak points in opponent’s arguments.  They have honed and improve their skills in explaining their own ideas and assess different viewpoints.  Throughout the semester, I am truly impressed with every participant’s to respond with well organized arguments and in time-sensitive situations.  These skills can truly be very helpful to the participants in all aspects of their lives.

I am proud to see their improvements in terms of their ability to persuade, present their ideas clearly, and to connect with an audience. I feel very happy to get excellent feedback and remarks from the judges. Kiddie, Gretchen and Anthony are very impressed to see how the participants from various levels give their best in every session. For this upcoming semester, we would also like to introduce Ms. Jam. She will join us as judge in some of the debating levels particularly the Friendly debates and Elementary debating for young learners. She had an experience in actual debating while she was still a student at an international school. She is passionate about teaching young kids and is very enthusiastic in class. She was also able to observe and join some of the lessons during the first semester. With said experience, she is very eager to see more amazing performances from our young debaters in the next semester.

Most important of all, I am very happy to see that the participants are enjoying the debate process. It may be a challenge but overall debating is actually fun! Debate makes learning an interesting game. It builds the participant’s critical thinking and speaking skills without it ever feeling like work.   Finally, throughout the months of lessons and friendly competitions among students, debate classes built lifelong friendships and community while teaching teamwork as well. I am definitely looking forward to another semester of fun and exciting debate classes with new sets of participants, reshuffled debate members, interesting topics and generally a positive outlook. See you all again soon 😊