We at ESU Scotland were very excited at being given the opportunity to host the last World Members’ Conference in Edinburgh in September 2008. Over 250 delegates from 31 countries attended.
› ESU World 2008 |
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Debate develops the powers of argument, increases understanding of key
issues, boosts critical thinking and promotes engagement with society.
Students who take part in debating show stronger communication skills,
raised self-esteem, and are better at working in teams. Debating
squarely addresses the individual motivations and abilities highlighted
by A Curriculum For Excellence.
Debate has been shown to have a direct positive effect on literacy
standards and behaviour in schools.
As the primary provider of training and competitions to Scottish
schools in the areas of public speaking and debate, ESU Scotland has
developed an innovative and enjoyable way of spreading the benefits of
debate to schools and pupils that have not traditionally had access to
these activities. The programme builds on the ESU’s
experience south of the border in running the London Debates Challenge.
Built around a series of full-day workshops for pupils and teachers,
the programme is designed to be enjoyable as well as educational. A
pilot project was run with North Lanarkshire Council from January to
March 2005, with generous financial assistance from the Scottish
Government and ASDA plc. The pilot was an outstanding success, and
received universally enthusiastic feedback from staff and pupils alike.
Further projects were run in autumn 2005 with schools from North
Lanarkshire and the City of Aberdeen, again with great success, and
with Stirling and West Lothian councils in the first half of 2006.
In the winter of 2006, we worked with East Renfrewshire Council. In the
spring of 2007, we changed the format slightly to run 8 public speaking
workshops at schools across the country as part of our European
Parliament Project.
Since the publication of ESU Scotland’s Debating In Schools materials there has been an upsurge in interest in the Outreach
Projects. Throughout the Spring of 2008, we ran a major project with
Falkirk Council.
This project was a landmark for ESU Scotland as we completed two phases
with Falkirk Council – a ‘traditional’
project working with Secondary School Pupils and our first ever Primary
Schools Project.
The report of the Primary Schools Project is available for download
here.
With the second phase of the LTS Debating In Schools Materials agreed,
we are looking forward to spreading the opportunity to take part in
debating to every young Scot. We believe that regardless of academic
ability or social background that all young people can benefit from
debating.
In late 2008, we were delighted to hear that The Robertson Trust have agreed to sponsor our Outreach Work for three years.
This is a massive boost for ESU Scotland and one that should lead to hundreds of pupils given the chance to debate for the
first time.
If you are interested in hearing more about Debates Outreach Projects,
please contact Jack Donaldson.
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