Primary School Debating - Good for you, your kids, your kid's school and ... your employer

I reckon coaching primary school debating is a great way for more corporate parents (dads in particular) to get involved in their kids school.

 
This is my third year of debating coaching and I've got to say I've had a great time and met some amazing individuals - nearly all of them under the age of eleven.

Speaking from experience, as a senior executive working full time I found it difficult to work out how I could interface with my son's school in a meaningful way, so I largely outsourced it to my wife. Don't get me wrong, I fully understood the concept and the benefits of having parents help out at schools (especially dads), but the idea of helping with reading groups or tuck shop frankly just didn't appeal to my ego.

But about 3 years ago my son decided he wanted to try out for the school debating team. With some encouragement (read manipulation) from my wife, I found myself volunteered to coach a bunch of five nine and ten year olds. To my surprise I realised my general corporate communication and facilitation skills were just as applicable in training my new debating team.

1. Most corporate jobs require you to clearly communicate a persuasive message every day, be it in front of a PowerPoint slide, defending/enlarging your budget, or convincing a prospective new manager that you are ready for that next role. Effective communication and persuasion are everyday corporate skills, so too in school debating.
2. Debating is not a mysterious art, it is a highly structured and rule based process. So once you've read the debating "how to guide", you're good to go.
3. Facilitating a group of pre teens is easier than chairing a corporate meeting. In this case, you are the wise elder with the loud voice and the bag of lollies to encourage compliance (if only your work meetings were like this!)

I expect the main objection corporate parents have is that they don't have the time available (I know that was part of the problem for me). Well it is true that coaching a school debating team does take time. On the plus side, the actual debates are generally held out of school & working hours and the dates are generally known weeks in advance so scheduling these should not be a problem. However, committing to a weekly practice session will be the most difficult to schedule. But before you throw your hands up and say you can't afford the time out of your diary, let me just give you a brief sample of the guilt trip I could lay on you…

• It's great for your relationship with your kids. It gives them a perspective on you as an individual not just as their parent, it's an opportunity for you to teach them a life skill, and by meeting and getting to know their school peers it gives you a better context for understanding where your child is at.
• It's great for your kid's school. Having professional volunteers (especially male ones) on the ground delivering a learning experience is gold for your child's school. You become a role model for why learning and attending school is important.
• Finally debating’s great for your kids. Debating at primary level helps them start to form ideas of their own, appreciate both sides of an argument, and become adept at thinking on their feet, all of which builds confidence and aids their intellectual development.

So let’s face it, when the payoff is that good, YOU CAN SPARE THE TIME.
Yes, scheduling and logistics will be a challenge but you're a grown up executive, you're supposed to be good at this stuff.

So here's the pitch. I want to see more corporate parents (especially dads) get involved in their local school and debating is a great entry point. But am I stopping there? No. I'd like to see HR and training functions within corporates encourage/formalise/legitimise this as a personal and leadership development opportunity. Coaching a school debating team has benefits for you, the individual, your family and your community. You don't get much more development pay off than that.

It's worth the effort!