Ateneo debate education
What a tiring weekend.
Arnold and I invited and the rest of the josenian debatista invited the ateneo debate society, currently the top 5 in worlds universities debate championship, to give us debate education. And we were given the top debaters from the org: Sharmila Parmanand and Charisse Borromeo, the reigning National Debate Champions and the Asian Universities Debate champions.
Do we have manuals? No, because the ADS is updating their debate modules and training debate videos and will be sending them over to those instutions who have attended the Josenian Debatista-organized 2nd Cebu Debate Education last weekend (August 26-27). We were not disappointed because the seminar-workshop was packed with more than what manuals can give.
While written materials provide solid, hardly concrete, discussion, sharms and chars have done good work in instructing major and specific details and gave finality on unanswered questions about the debate format; which we think are more than what manuals can give best.
So, manuals? No pieces of paper ever substitute to international debate champions.
Besides, Josenian Debatista has experiences in national debate championship (last year) and that explains why we can cover better adjudication. Imagine being grilled for seven rounds (for the first time in our lives! and to our shock!). Manila-based debate orgs have a decade and more years of experience. We were novice of all novices and that explains why we deserve the benefit of consideration. And we listened intently, and earnestly, the adjudications given to our rounds (which we did a sloppy job and badly at that). Experience is the best teacher and we don’t think adjudicators in the nationals are sloppy adjudicators either.
So no regrets whatsoever, because we got to have the chance to disseminate what the new debate format is, with or without the manual, for the rest of Cebu-based instutions as immediately as possible (the ORG has been established JUNE of this school year and we have organized three big CEBU debate education programs before the end of the month of AUGUST), unlike what other universities and institutions who waited for years before deciding to conduct debate education for other institutions (which would provide them better ammunitions to bully and pounce fledgling institutions, which had been proved otherwise in most cases).
A tiring weekend that was. But let charisse and sharmila discuss about debate (and talk about junkfoods, people power, aborigines’ land domains, and parental consent and abortion in just one day) and it was all worth it.
I don’t mind if there is a semblance of ATENEO influence over us. We don’t mind. We are even proud of it. At least we got the best of the nation and we were able to strike a tie-up with them. At least we imitate the best (and by the way, imitation is the best resort of beginners, the way babies imitate their mother’s actions). At least we know we are on the right track.
Till the next blog and the next free time.
GO et! Although it was a stab at the back, but all worthwhile..You need no manual to be a good debater (although not in the whole Phil.) but at least in Visayas. I’ll cut one of my fingers if a debate org will give you a manual and video for free,(unless you joined their seminar of course). Perhaps you can ask a Dumageute-based school, i tell you it was still no avail. hehehehehe
Arnold said this on August 28, 2006 at 7:16 am
hehehe.. karon pa ko ani dah..
Jun said this on February 25, 2007 at 8:03 pm