Debating
Balgowlah Boys has a strong a tradition of Debating; we have had teams in the Premier's Debating challenge for at least the last 9 years. We also have the ‘Great Debate' each year in front of the whole school assembly by boys from Year 10. Balgowlah Boys encourages students to get involved in inter-school and intra-school debating as it hones not only analytical skills but creates confidence and self-esteem.
When boys display an interest in debating they seldom understand its format and structure but they do have one essential character trait necessary to debating, courage. Standing in front of a room full of people and argue your point suggest, resilience, fortitude and resolve.
Ultimately Debating is not a forum for asserting absolute truths, but rather a means of making and evaluating arguments that allows debaters to better understand their own and others' positions. This sense of a shared journey toward the truth brings debaters closer together, even when they represent opposing sides of an issue or come from vastly differentcultures or social classes. In so doing, debate fosters both the essential democratic values of free and open discussion along with higher order thinking and analytical skills.