Oxford Debate
On Friday, the 5th of February, another Oxford debate took place in our school. As always, the language of the debate was English. This time the topic was really difficult and demanding; students had to prepare for a long time and gather a lot of information about modern history. Of course, they succeeded! Every speech, supervised by Mr Marek Dykier, was prepared conscientiously and so the linguistic and factual level of the debate was very high. Masters of the debate, students Tracy Kostyra and Kamila Sawicka, were also absolutely professional, introducing a few innovations to the polished-up formula of the debate, including the technical ones, such as making use of the new smartboard or the freshly installed wireless sound system.
The topic of the meeting was the dilemma which 20th century totalitarian rulers, Stalin or Hitler, deserves to be called the worst dictator of all times. Two teams entered the debate: 0 DP class (lead by Karolina Sobieraj) and 1 DP class (their leader was Julia Stebel). After the fierce and close-fought battle, the representation of 0 DP class won by only one point, which happened for the very first time in the eight-year history of the school debates. However, Patrycja Badora-Smoleń and Michael Grynkiewicz, members of the 1 DP team, were awarded the best-speaker title. The small difference between the score caused a lot of emotions among the jury and the audience. Discussions concerning the debate could be heard a long time after it finished. Oxford debates are a great trademark of our school. They show how to use the knowledge gathered during IB studies in practice. Moreover, the level presented by 0 DP students shows best how much knowledge one can gather over a short period of time.
No exam can show the real skills in a given subject or the linguistic skills presented by IB students as precisely as a debate since its course is completely unpredictable. That is why teachers are so proud of students who participate in debates; moreover, teachers have an opportunity to notice the students' weaknesses, as well as to note which topics still require development and improvement. As far as students are concerned, debates allow them to test their knowledge in practice, improve the teamwork and public speaking skills, especially taking into account the fact that speeches are delivered in a foreign language. Thus, students actually have an opportunity to learn more about themselves. There are multiple benefits resulting from participating in debates: students become more self-confident, overcome the fear of speaking in public and using foreign languages; they can also confirm their skills and knowledge. It will certainly help them in their future private, academic and professional life. Another debate will be held in March. We are going to host guests from Mickiewicz High School in Katowice. Please feel invited.
BACK
