Young Thinkers Workshop (11-14 Years)
Next available dates will be Autumn 2013.
Debate Chamber’s Young Thinkers Workshop is a day-long course which will enable students aged 11-14 to learn skills of argumentation and debate, develop and defend their own ideas and study important moral problems and independently evaluate competing answers to ethical scenarios.
Throughout this interactive day, students will take part in skills sessions to improve their argumentation and analysis as well as having the opportunity to try out these new skills in a friendly environment where they will find both encouragement and constructive criticism from tutors and classmates. Everyone will have the chance to take part in debates and discussions, on questions such as ‘Do animals have rights?’, ‘Is it okay to steal if you are poor and hungry and trying to feed your family?’, classic ethical dilemmas like ‘Can it ever be acceptable to torture or kill one person if it saves many other lives?’, and contemporary political questions like ‘Should prisoners have the right to vote?’. The skills learnt are useful for not only public speaking and debating, but encourage logical and critical thinking skills which are useful across the school curriculum.
The Workshop Schedule
10.30 – 11.45: Build your own Island Society
Students are introduced to the principles of political philosophy through a ‘desert island’ scenario, in which they must form a new community and make key decisions about how the rules and norms which should govern it. After coming up with laws and values for their island, the students will be presented with a series of challenging political dilemmas to encourage them to think about the strength and flexibility of their island’s constitution.
11.45 – 12.30: Making Moral Decisions
Should we look at the consequences of our decisions? Or is it our internal motives which matter the most? Should we think about our duties? Students will engage with some fascinating ethical thought experiments to help them to understand the different schools of thought in moral philosophy.
12.30 – 13.30 – Lunch
13.30 – 15.00: The Ethics of Science and Medicine
Students will take part in an interactive role play exercise in which they, as teams, will be responsible for choosing which medical and scientific research projects should be allocated funding. Student will have to build a case for their chosen projects, justifying their decisions with reference to moral principles and theories.
15.00 – 16.30: Harry Potter and Personal Identity
In the final session of the day, we will be looking the challeging topic of personal identity. This area of philosophy explores questions such as ‘What is it that makes me the person I am?’ and ‘What makes me the same person I was yesterday?’ Drawing on the world of Harry Potter for inspiration, considering apparition, memory charms, floo powder and horcruxes, we will explore the core issues of personal identity with some fun and accessible thought experiments and case studies.
Debate Chamber Young Thinkers courses are for students aged 11-14.
BOOK A PLACE
The fee for the Young Thinkers is £90 per student. The course will run from 10.30 to 4.30. Places will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. To book a place please email info@debatechamber.com, call 0845 519 4827 or use the form below.
Debate Chamber offers a limited number of full and partial bursaries for students who would otherwise have difficulty attending. If you would like to apply for a bursary please do not complete the form below, instead complete the Bursary Application Form here.
If you are a teacher interested in holding a Philosophy or Young Thinkers event at your school please click here.