Fund a teacher and support more than 250 students

Debate is a tool designed to teach skills that are related to correct investigation, rendering informed judgements and critical thinking. At CasaSito, teachers learns how tofind common ways of thinking, recognizing assumptions and fallacies and responding to them appropriately.         

In 2022, 11 teachers from 9 public and private from three different departments of Guatemala have joined CasaSito’s Teacher Development Program. During these last months, the teachers have experienced a great empowerment throughout the training process, where they have given voice to their thoughts. Despite being teachers, the fear of speaking among equals still exists. In addition, they have strengthened their responsible and empathetic listening skills, the ability to formulate solid arguments through the various investigations they carry out on topics of interest, their critical thinking, analysis, and synthesis, and resolution capacity of both personal and social conflicts.

As part of the program, the participating teachers initiated the second phase of the training with 178 students. They taught them about the importance of reliable and safe information sources, and how to investigate. The students learned to defend their ways of thinking with arguments, modulate their voice, how to listen effectively, be more tolerant, respectful and empathetic, and to seek solutions through assertive dialogue and responsible listening. During the classroom debates, they learned about the thoughts and views of their peers and how to fearlessly speak out their opinion.

It is expected that the program will culminate with a final Debate Festival of all participating schools on the 15th of October.

This year 11 teachers from 9 different public and private schools and four departments of Guatemala, have joined the Teacher Development Program. As a pilot project, three teachers from the rural area of Guatemala were included in the program who assist the classes online. Despite the distance and sometimes weak internet signal, they were able to successfully participate in the program and achieve the empathy of their classmates. 

Between January and May, the teachers attended 14 theoretical and 4 practical sessions where they were trained in public speaking, maintaining eye contact with their peers, body posture and the ability to persuade under solid and well-supported arguments. On the 7^thof May, a semifinal and final debate between the participants will be held at CasaSito’s offices in Antigua. 

The empowerment of the teachers throughout this process has been tremendous! They have strengthened their responsible and empathetic listening skills, the ability to formulate solid arguments through the various investigations they carry out on certain topics of interest, strengthening critical thinking, analysis, synthesis, and resolution capacity of both personal and social conflicts. And they have finally given voice to their thoughts and lost the fear of speaking among equals.

In the coming four months, the teachers will implement a debate club within their classrooms. It is estimated that at least 110 students from both urban and rural areas will participate in the activities. The teachers will be accompanied and supported during the process of implementation. The Program will culminate with a final debate festival focused on the topic of non-violent communication between the participating schools, in October.