The Debating School network will expand to 38 schools from the new academic year, welcoming nine new members: Hiiu School, Kohtla-Järve Upper Secondary School, Narva Estonian Upper Secondary School, Pärnu Joint Gymnasium, Rapla Vesiroosi School, Rocca al Mare School, Tallinn Secondary School of Science, Tallinn City Centre Basic School, and Turba School.
Sirje Toomla, Head of Rocca al Mare School, explains that the school sees the development of critical thinking and functional reading skills as a strategic priority.
“Discussion and argumentation create opportunities to make meaningful use of knowledge gathered through artificial intelligence, while also empowering students to think independently. Oral and interactive discussion furthermore develops the thinking and communication skills that are essential for life,” Toomla emphasises.
Irene Käosaar, Principal of Narva Estonian Upper Secondary School, says that joining the Debating School programme is particularly important at a time when people are spending increasing amounts of time interacting with artificial intelligence, making argumentation and critical thinking skills even more valuable.
“Artificial intelligence can do almost everything for us, except think on our behalf, make sense of future perspectives, distinguish between sound and unsound ideas, and communicate those ideas in ways that are sensitive to context and grounded in a human perspective. I believe that joining the programme will bring us even greater insight and enthusiasm in supporting our young people,” Käosaar adds.
Debating School is an educational initiative developed by the President Kaljulaid Foundation and the Estonian Debating Society, centred on teaching methods based on argumentation and discussion. The programme is supported by Skaala and the Heateo Haridusfond.
Learn more about the initiative on the Debating School website.