A Report on the ESU/Siah Vasig Summer Debating Workshop At the Hartman Institute, Jerusalem 30th June – 5th July 2002 Alexander Deane BA (Hons) Cantab, MA Overview The format of this tour has had to change in recent times, and may therefore differ from the experience I will describe in this report. In 2002, the tour consisted of teaching and coaching at one venue, Jerusalem – tours in previous years have taken in Tel Aviv and elsewhere, and may do so again. The Israel tour is run by Siah Vasig, the Israel Debating Society. ESU debaters are selected by Dartmouth House in order to aid them in their summer scheme. We were hosted by two host families – a non-religious family over the two Shabbat periods, and an orthodox family during the coaching week. This format seems set to continue. The primary responsibility of the tour is teaching at the Siah Vasig workshop at the Hartman Institute, from 9 until 3 from Monday to Friday. Our workshop, the largest thus far, had 60 pupils ranging from 12 to 18 years of age. There is little meeting and greeting of dignitaries as with some other tours. Debating, Teaching and Coaching This is almost solely a teaching tour. Whilst one will take part in one or perhaps two demonstration debates, there is no competitive element to debating here. The student group is broken down into beginners and advanced classes. However, whilst some ‘advanced’ debaters will be extremely experienced – for instance, past members of the Israel schools team – others may be in the class simply because they attended the workshop once before. A wide range of ability therefore exists in both groups and classes need to be tailored accordingly. The standard of English is variable, though tending towards good, with over half being fluent. Teaching in Israel was very different to any other teaching I’ve done. Students are schooled in a socratic style of question and answer. They find it natural therefore to talk over you, talk whilst you’re teaching, interrupt. Running from refreshing to infuriating, this was a surprise; I was probably less patient than I should have been. Whilst one can certainly lower this to a manageable level, it will never go away – it seems to be part of the package one takes on with these exciting, tremendously eloquent, naturally argumentative students. The workshops are run along world schools style. Teaching focusses a great deal on teaching the basics of debating and how to fit into the rules of this particular style, given that many of the participants will never have debated before. World Schools experience would therefore be very useful for this tour. Safety This will, naturally, vary from year to year. That this year’s tour was foreshortened was due partially to safety fears. The organisers of this tour are remarkably security conscious. Even in this time of renewed trouble, I didn’t feel endangered in Jerusalem, and it is certainly possible to enjoy this tour and take few risks. Social Opportunities and Culture Jerusalem is surprisingly easy to ‘do’. In our free evenings and the weekend, We managed to see the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Western Wall, the Garden Tomb, Yad VaShem (the Holocaust Museum), The Tower of David Museum of the History of Jerusalem, the markets etc. Whilst we didn’t see the Church of the Ascension or other more outlying sites, there’s no reason why you couldn’t. The Dome of the Rock was unaccessable to tourists for the first time; this may or may not change in future. Our hosts were massively knowledgeable and informative on the history of Jerusalem.
The extent to which one is willing to go out in the city in the evening will obviously affect social opportunities. We went out often, had a great time, and enjoyed an active city night life. Others may understandably choose not to, but would be missing out. Conclusion This is the most rewarding tour I’ve been on. After three years of schools coaching I thought I was fully equipped for this tour. I am happy to admit that I was not, and that I learned a great deal about coaching from my time in Israel; the intense experience of the demanding week was also tremendously exciting. However, I am happy to deal with the challenge of verbose, forthright children from 9am to 3pm, with everything from the kid that thinks you’re wrong on everything to the kid that wants to complain about the bagels intent on tackling you. That isn’t for everyone. I am very happy for anyone with questions about the tour or our time in Israel to get in touch with me, at yearaway@yahoo.com.au