Through all the years of youth work, we have faced many obstacles and challenges that had to be solved by discussions. Moreover, there were many cases when we confronted those who challenged us in a formal, organized dialogue – a debate. However, through all these years of changes, we have never had a debate training program in our youth center. Finally, things have changed!
The last weekend of September, two of our youth workers – Magdalena Manevska and Viktorija Manevska – attended “Training for trainers for debating,” provided by our partner organization whose work focuses on debate and debating – “Youth Educational Forum” in Skopje. Present for the course were future trainers from Gevgelija, Delcevo, Kratovo, Skopje and Kumanovo.
What the future trainers mostly focused on were the ways to present the principles of debating in front of a group willing to learn: Carl Popper Debate; making Debate Policies; and the process of the final judging. A session for explaining the rules of judging was especially stressed because it is an area in which the participants had less experience.
Also, a live debate by experienced debaters from YEF was presented in front of the new trainers where they made the final decision as judges.
The purpose of the training was in preparation of the Debate workshops for high-school youth, which start next weekend in the MultiКулти Youth Center and will be facilitated by the trainers who participated in the training on 29/30 September.