Facilitator guide: Debate Practice

Preparation and participation

Select low-stakes motions with genuine reasons on both sides. Offer speaking, written, chair, timekeeper, listener, note-catcher, and observer roles. Adjust vocabulary, preparation time, speaking duration, interruption level, and team size without assigning roles by age.

Facilitation sequence

Set motion and consent boundaries; alternate proposition and opposition; require each response to name the point answered; close; invite learner-first reflection; collect evidence-bounded observations; choose one change; repeat briefly.

Safety and accessibility

Avoid motions that force disclosure or debate a participant’s identity, rights, or lived experience. No recording is required. A transcript-only tool cannot assess pace, pauses, volume, expression, or perceived confidence. Do not grade accent, personality, emotion, or charisma.

Debrief and evidence of learning

Ask: Which point did you answer? What did you change after listening? Which observation was grounded in actual words or audible cues? A listener may describe what clarified or shifted their thinking; do not announce a winner without an agreed evidence-based format.

Timing and materials

Allow 35–50 minutes. Use motion cards, role cards, a visible timer, and optional notebooks.

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Source: labs/debate-practice/facilitator-guide.md