One of the most important elements of the QatarDebate program is the series of debating coaching workshops which provide training in debating, judging and coaching debate.
Since September 2007, QatarDebate coaches have worked with over 3000 different students, teachers and faculty drawn from 30 different schools and universities in Qatar. From 2009 we will be expanding the program to more schools in Qatar and across the Gulf region as well as launching a program to coach debating in Arabic.
Find out more about:
Coaching & Judging Materials
Workshops
Certification
Forthcoming Workshops
In an effort to better meet the needs of students and teachers, QatarDebates is proud to present its new workshop menu. Workshops are offered at your convenience. Teachers may sign up by contacting us at qatardebate@qf.org.qa. Be sure to include the following information: name of workshop, number of participants, preferred date and time, and your contact details, including your school or university. Occasionally, drop-in sessions will be offered for any student to attend. Please see the QatarDebate Events Calendar for details of QatarDebate's forthcoming monthly debating workshops and drop-in sessions during 2009.
For all of these workshops, the longer the workshop and the smaller the group, the more practice and feedback students get.
General Workshops- Non-Debaters will enjoy as well as debaters
Public Speaking- How to Give A Good Speech- A step by step guide for organizing your thoughts, arguments, and main points so that the audience can clearly follow your ideas. All ability ranges, especially good for beginners. This is good for all students, not just debaters. 1 ½ - 3 hours. 8 – 60 students.
Stage Fright- Activities that help students gain confidence in their public speaking skills so they can give class presentations better, easily meet people they don’t know, and participate in conversations with strangers. Learn to speak loudly enough for the audience to hear, express and control emotions when speaking, and keep track of the time while speaking. 1-3 hours, 10-60 students.
Research: How to Do It Well- First, discuss different sources of information and their reliability. Then, there is no need to read every word in an article or book. Learn how to skim and scan for useful information. This workshop can be geared towards classroom projects like papers and presentations or it can be directed at debaters researching both sides of a topic. 1 ½ - 3 hours. 4-60 students. If the workshop is more than 1 ½ hours, computers with Internet access are quite helpful.
Debate Workshops for All Levels (even non-debaters)
Argumentation- How to Build Strong Arguments- All ability ranges, especially beginners and any debater who has trouble either filling their time or explaining arguments well enough for judges to understand. 1 ½ - 3 hours, 4 – 60 students (depending on how many QD coaches are available because 60 students needs more than one coach in order to practice and get feedback). This workshop is good for non-debaters as well because it helps with persuasive writing and speaking skills.
Debate Workshops for Students Who Have Debate Experience- Students must have attended the Argumentation workshop
Building a Proposition Case- Students must have attended the Argumentation workshop. Using a three-step method, students learn how to form a strong argument. Students can be beginners with minimal competitive debate experience or intermediate debaters who have trouble structuring their debates. 1 ½ - 3 hours, 4-60 students.
Opposition- This is only for students who have participated in the Building a Proposition Case workshop and still have their notes OR attended a debate competition and have their notes from a proposition case they argued at the tournament. Great for any debater who has trouble refuting arguments. 1 ½ - 3 hours, 4-60 students
Advance Workshops for Competitive Debaters
Advanced Argumentation- How to Develop Stronger Arguments- Only for students who either debate competitively (meaning they have already been to a competition) or successfully completed the Argumentation Workshop. This will confuse and frustrate any students who have not done so. This is especially helpful for students who cannot fill their speaking time during a debate. 1 ½ - 3 hours, 4-20 students.
Prep for an Impromptu Debate- This is for students who will be attending tournaments with impromptu motions. It is not for beginning debate students! (Unless it will be their first tournament and there are impromptu topics, but it should not be the first workshop they attend.) This is not a skill most people will ever need in their lives, unless they are competitive debaters. 1 ½ - 3 hours, 4-40 students
Motion Analysis- Different motions require different approaches to build a strong case. This short lecture (no exercises after) helps debaters understand what to look for in a debate, based on the wording of the motion. 1 hour, 4-40 students.
Teachers and Coaches
Debate Activities for Coaches and Teachers- Presentation on either debate lesson plans for the classroom and/or activities to improve debate skills, like one minute speeches to develop an argument and how to answer questions (or points of information) during a speech. This is only for teachers and coaches, not students. 1-2 hours, 2-40 teachers.
Your Choice
Your Choice, If there is a topic that you would like to see presented in a workshop that is not listed here, please contact us and we will create a program that meets your needs.
Previous Workshops
Since September 2008 QatarDebate has been a Center of the Education Division of Qatar Foundation, and as such we have run a program of bi-monthly workshops where 10 experienced international coaches come to Doha to provide debating workshops for a period of 10 - 14 days. These workshops have run in September 2008, November 2008 and January 2009, and will continue as part of QatarDebate's normal operations. Prior to September 2008 QatarDebate ran a number of significant ad hoc workshops for schools and universities which first introduced competitive debating to Qatar:
Sept 2007 - QatarDebate organised its inaugaural workshops. 2 weeks of introductory workshops in 17 different schools and universities in Qatar, focussing on introducing students and teachers to the concept and skills of competitive debating.
Nov 2007 - 3 QatarDebate coaches ran a week of workshops in November, working with over 200 students, some of whom had participated in the September workshops, some of whom were completely new to debating.
Dec 2007 - The first QatarDebate 'Debate Academy'. Over 10 days, 6 QatarDebate coaches worked with over 300 students, staff and faculty from 22 different schools and universities. The workshops included more advanced debating skills for students as well as workshops for staff and faculty in judging and coaching debates.
March 2008 - 6 QatarDebate coaches ran introductory workshops for 4 more schools in Qatar, refresher workshops for schools and universities who had already formed debating societies, and the inaugural National Schools' and National Universities' competitions.
Certification
QatarDebate offers those who complete workshops certification in debating, coaching and judging skills. Certificates are issued directly to the institutions of those who have completed the workshop courses. Schools and universities then distribute the certificates to their students, staff and faculty. Currently, the levels of certification are as follows:
QatarDebate Level 1 (Beginner) Course in Debating- recieved after attending one of the General workshops and the Argumentation workshop.
QatarDebate Level 2 (Intermediate) Course in Debating- recieved after attending both Building a Proposition Case and Opposition workshops.
QatarDebate Level 3 Course in Debating- participate in a debate tournament as a debater.
QatarDebate Debate Judging Course
QatarDebate Debate Coaching Course
Certificates can be obtained by institutions by calling the QatarDebate office. See the 'Contact Us' page for more details.
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