Grant
The main goal of the project is to develop the skills of free and independent citizens in students, on the one hand, by engaging them in educational debates and developing a network of debate clubs, and on the other, through the professional development of local teachers. The project includes training of school teachers and students with the help of one of the most successful international educational tools of formal education, formal debate techniques.
The project is targeting to develop different skills and habits in the new generation, such as: constructive discussion, reasoning, material exploration, orating, teamwork, time management, respecting opponents and etc., which are useful to anyone in any activity.
Grant objectives and working directions
- Opening / strengthening debate clubs in different regions of Georgia
- Training teachers and school students debate techniques
- Participation of debate club members in local and international debate tournaments and forums
- Teaching public speaking to school students and conducting regional and national competitions in this area
- Creating and implementing a special curriculum for university students
- Organizing special research to assess informal debate and impact on the educational process
Schedule of project’s main activities
- Training for teachers -24 February
- Opening debate clubs – 20 March
- Introducing curriculum to universities – 27 March
- Public debates – 15 May
- Debate tournaments – 15 July
- Project closure – 15 August
Grantee
The “Georgian Institute for Debate and Education” was founded in 2009. Its founders and board members have been teaching formal debates in and around Georgia since 1998, have experience in training and judging on international tournaments, and have created debate instruction manuals. The organization is a member of the “International Debate Education Association” (IDEA) and its core mission is to promote the development of the knowledge and skills needed for reasoning in both youth and adults, through the teaching of educational / formal debates.
The educational projects of the “Georgian Institute for Debate and Education” are in line with the national goals of general education and are based on a constructivist personality-based educational concept that aims to improve the quality of education and availability of access to high-quality education.
Project Donors and Partners are: Unicef, USAID, Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Georgia, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, Committee on European Integration, INFORMATION CENTER ON NATO AND EU, Public Institution Educational Debate Centre in Lithuania, Ilia State University Samtskhe-Javakheti State University, Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University.