It was a great pleasure to meet the latest members of the International Socratic Club from Wunderpark International School. The group spoke with tremendous enthusiasm and showed significant aptitude for public speaking and debating. We are excited about the prospect for this term!
After the introductions, we began with a focus on presentation skills, from body language, to conclusions, and the group picked out their favourite/most important points.
We then turned to our topic of the week, and technology.
The Motion: ‘This House thinks we depend too much on technology’
The group voted (and this is anonymous to avoid peer pressure):
Y: 83%
N: 17%
We then split into breakout rooms as proposition and opposition. We were hugely impressed with the points raised on both sides of the argument: from the interconnectedness of the planet, the benefits of zoom education, keeping in touch with relatives, health, the financial attraction and disadvantages such as scams, crime and protecting vulnerable people and gaining or losing key skills from board games such as chess, to letter writing and spoken communication.
In the second vote the motion was carried:
Y: 86%
N: 14%
Both sides quickly learnt that whilst the proposition had the easier arguments, the real test of debating is in the way you present and how you argue/speak. We were also delighted that some of group switched voting sides having heard a very persuasive point from another student. This is a great sign of ‘active listening’ – a key skill we will be working further on. The other key skill of the session was how to begin to build a summary or conclusion. Again, this will be part of our learning throughout the term.
We much look forward to next Saturday!
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