Inaugural Series, held March - May 2022
Schools conducted their own dialogue events on
WHAT'S
WRONG
WITH
TIKTOK?!
The Dialogues @ School program was launched in 2022 to tackle polarisation at its roots by teaching students life-long skills of discourse, critical thinking, and mutual respect. Students across our 13 pilot schools engaged in thoughtful and expressive discussion on the topic: what’s wrong with TikTok? Themes and highlights of these productive discussions were presented in our Voice of Youth Report to the Speaker of Queensland’s Legislative Assembly on August 11th 2022.
8
Weeks
13
Schools
1
Topic
65
Speakers
BENEFITS TO SCHOOLS
Dialogues @ School
teachers’ and principals’ belief in the value of dialogue in education and as a civic necessity
a tool to revive public speaking as a recognised school strength
extra public speaking opportunities for non-debaters (and debaters)
providing the opportunity to apply critical thinking skills in structured group discussion
a way of bringing quieter students out of their shell, or non-debaters who have leadership potential
the opportunity to promote the humanities given the numerous programs promoting STEM subjects
a complementary activity for the Theory of Knowledge curriculum in the International Baccalaureate
demonstrate to respective school communities that the school is "up with” important developments
a way of involving students who don’t make the debating teams (e.g. Dialogues Clubs)
a platform to "give students a voice” and make them feel as if they have one
a way of stimulating less worldly or more complacent students to think and talk about "big issues"
a vehicle for introducing younger students to a core social and intellectual activity
a means of involving STEM and creative students in humanities or policy subject matter
a follow-on to attending The Brisbane Dialogues public events (Big Dialogues) and way of connecting to The Brisbane Dialogues content and network
a live event opportunity for technical, business / hospitality and theatre students - event management, hosting/MC'ing, stage production, filming, sound and light
a platform to build school communities, by involving parents and community figures