Our main goal was to develop an accessible and high-quality debate curriculum that helps students improve their oracy, critical thinking, and citizenship skills. We aimed to create materials that teachers can use independently, making debate education available to all students, regardless of their school’s resources. Additionally, we wanted to foster an inclusive debate culture by ensuring the curriculum is suitable for all educational levels. By working with a panel of teachers, we ensured the material aligns with classroom needs and national curricula. Finally, we aimed to promote knowledge exchange between teachers in the Netherlands and Flanders and provide a long-term, sustainable resource that supports debate education beyond the project’s duration.
We applied for this project to make debate education more accessible and inclusive in the Netherlands and Flanders. Many teachers expressed interest in using debate in their classrooms to develop students’ speaking, reasoning, and citizenship skills but lacked the knowledge and materials to do so. Existing debate education was often limited to extracurricular activities or specific schools with more resources. By creating a free, structured debate curriculum, we aimed to provide all teachers with the tools they need to integrate debate into their lessons, regardless of their school’s background or budget. This project addresses the need for structured materials that align with Dutch and Flemish curricula and can be used independently by teachers of all experience levels.