Building Confidence through Debating

Watching the news on television last week has been a debilitating affair. I found myself switching from the emotional exhausting events in South Africa where there has been ongoing protesting about gender-based violence (shouldn’t this sanitized version rather read ‘Rape’ and ‘Murder’?) to the UK where the squirming of the British Prime Minister to avoid constitutional requirements, makes for riveting viewing.

All these scenes made me think back to the Springfield debates I have attended this term. The cut-throat and deadly serious debating styles of both our senior and junior teams also made equally absorbing viewing as their senior political counterparts. Yet, in contrast, our girls never lost their dignity. In spite of interruptions and points of order, they always maintained their composure. Throughout all school debates I watched, shone a gravitas and a respect for the opposition. The fact that our junior team went on to win the Rotary competition– which was fully deserved in my unbiased opinion – was a credit to their preparation and their unflappable equanimity under pressure. Debating has taught them the valuable lessons that this good preparation enhances their knowledge and their arguments.

Nothing could be more different to the scenes we have seen on television of our own parliament in action where debating seems to equate with shouting at members of different parties; to the British Parliament this week, where the image is etched in my mind of the Leader of the House, Jacob Rees Mogg, reclining over three seats assuming a pose of insulting indifferent boredom while other speakers had their say; to President Trump eviscerating anyone who has the temerity to hold a different view.

‘Raise your argument, not your voice,’ said a poster at UCT a few years back - trying to make a point to demonstrating students. Our debating girls understood this. The girls in their dignified silent vigil on Waterloo Green last week understood this.

My only problem with debating is that there has to be a winner. That is not a good life lesson for our girls. We have to teach them that sorting out their concerns is about listening to others and discussing issues. Often in life there is not a ‘winner‘ and compromises have to be made if we are to move forward. Unfortunately, role-models in politics today on the world stage leave much to be desired for our children.

The lesson for us as teachers is that we have to use the classroom and our portfolio system as places where our girls can voice a point of view without fear of being shouted down. For parents, the same has to happen around the dinner table – another safe place for discussions to take place. By the way, how is it going with those discussion topics sent out in those glass jars?

In a few weeks time, another cohort of Springfield girls go into society. If they are to make a meaningful contribution, I suggest that they switch off the parliamentary debates on television and definitely ignore social media on their cell phones. They won’t gain much intellectual value from these sources.

Keith Richardson

Headmaster

Guitar Concert

A guitar concert will be held in the Annex on Thursday 12 September, from 18h00 to 20h00. All welcome.

The music Annex was transformed into a world of chaos and pollution. We scattered litter across the floor and turned on a heater to simulate our current earth pollution and rising temperatures. The students were divided into debating groups consisting of farmers, fishers and miners and had to argue for or against sustainability. This became very heated because many of the girls were passionate about this topic and presented the pro’s and cons with objective, scientific facts. After this, the students were required to walk around the space and search for objects that they thought would contribute to an ethical and more sustainable lifestyle. They picked up recycling bins, bicycle helmets, keep-cups, eco -bricks and so much more. These items were then taken into a “new world” which was clean, filled with plants and fresh air and lit up with solar-jar lights. Here our very creative students wrote clever Haiku’s in which they expressed what they love about planet Earth and how they vowed to change their own behaviours in order to preserve the planet.

This cross -curricular lesson was received with a lot of enthusiasm because the students could display their geographical knowledge by getting into ‘roles of experts. ‘They enjoyed the theatrical elements paired with the knowledge that they had come across in geo. I hope that in future we can devise more lessons like this, because people tend to learn best when ‘doing.’ I am very grateful that I got to learn and teach at Springfield and will remember my time here fondly.

Yours Katharina Berner