Latest posts on the blog
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Supporting Responsible Debate Across the Public Sector
After a recent webinar with Education Scotland, the Centre for Responsible Debate would like to host similar sessions throughout the public sector.
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School Workshops (25/26 Series)
Over the 25/26 school year, the Centre for Responsible Debate’s high school workshops engaged with more than 100 pupils about the nature of debate and how to find common purpose even when we disagree.
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School Workshop (Pilot)
In December, I had the privilege of visiting Adam Law’s classroom in a local high school to see some of our learning resources in action, and to pilot a new workshop format for high school students.
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Freedom of Speech in UK Higher Education
An Analysis of Current Practice in the Sector and its Interaction with the Changing Law. You can download our report here, for free. Just put your email address in and we will send it to you.
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Launch of Learning Resources
Discussion of controversial issues often fails to yield a resolution, and it can also leave people feeling divided and angry or hurt over what the other people have said. It doesn’t help that media coverage of public debates often highlights the contributions that are most rage-inducing, funny, or extreme. But discussing controversial issues doesn’t have…
In August 2024, we co-hosted an event with the Scottish Parliament’s Festival of Politics, chaired by Ben Macpherson MSP and with panellists Alice König, Quintin Oliver, John Sturrock and Vitalii Diakov. Reflecting on the Scottish Parliament’s 25 years of political debate, this panel discussion considered what we need to change about our current habits of discussion and debate so that we are better able to address the challenges that face us, locally and globally.
YAS Report on Responsible Debate
We edited a report for the Young Academy of Scotland on Responsible Debate: Discussing Contentious Issues with Common Purpose. This included theoretical discussion of the role of responsible debate in democratic decision making, articles on applications of these ideas to twelve different areas of public life, exercises for the classroom, boardroom, and living room, and a call to future steps.