In September 2022 WeWorld launched the educational debate contest "EXPONI LE TUE IDEE!" - Edition 2022/2023, to actively involve young high school students in a national debate competition.  

EXPONI is an educational contest based on the model of debate, which has the objective of making youth and their social environment protagonists of global challenges. The students read, study and learn new subjects and later they defend a position to develop critical thinking. The model created by WeWorld puts the students at the center of it, they cooperate and work in teams of students. Inclusion and participation are the foundation of this model that sees, as its objective, the development of a participated exercise of citizenship and democracy.  

The debates are specifically meant to: 

  1. Inform, raise awareness among students, parents, and teachers; 
  2. Disseminate and share knowledge concerning global issues; 
  3. Develop cross-cutting skills (also useful when entering the professional world) and promote the active participation in public life as well as virtuous behaviors. 

The contest is shaped as a debate in which two teams confront each other by arguing and supporting with appropriate research, evidence, and documents the position for or against a given topic. The team is supported by one or more teachers responsible for the activity in the school who help them prepare and who maintain contact with WeWorld. 

The themes chosen, global and very topical (climate change, sustainability, migration, civic sense, economy, rights and development, economic and political civil rights, environmental issues, etc.) and the methodology of the debate favour an openness to central issues in the contemporary world. 

The methodology of the debate aims to make schools and territories protagonists of the international debate on current issues as a participatory exercise of democracy and citizenship and represents an added value and an innovation because it allows, for the students, the development of skills and knowledge often neglected, due to lack of time and resources, in traditional didactic programs (speaking in public, critical thinking, debate). No less important, this methodology favors the development of the ability to collaborate with peers, to compete to learn rather than to win, and to respect shared rules in a democratic environment. 

Each team that debates has six components: a captain, two speakers and three "critical auditors", whose job is to help the fellows during the debate. 

The evaluation of the debates, made by qualified judges, trained and well prepared, refers to both:  

  • The argumentative capacity: the clarity in the exposition, the architecture adopted in the arguments and against arguments, logical rigor and consequentiality, the proper use of the sources, the ability to deepen, the ability to lead the listener in a logical and credible path;  
  • The oratory style: the ability to overcome the opposition by convincing the listener, adequate use of non-verbal communication, ability to keep awake attention, respect for the public and for the adversary. 

The 2022/2023 edition, organized thanks to the YOULEAD project funded by EACEA, was attended by 10 high schools, 546 students with the role of speakers, 103 teachers, 257 young people who attended the debates as an audience and over 25 expert judges appointed by WeWorld to evaluate the debates. 

For more information about the Youlead project clic here.