Debate-based pedagogies for critical literacy and democratic resilience

The International Debate Education Association (IDEA) is a global network of debate organisations with over 20 national members and 800+ youth clubs. We design, implement and evaluate argumentation-driven pedagogies for critical thinking, civic education and literacy in both formal and non-formal settings. We are looking to join a consortium as a partner.

What we offer:

A large, active network of youth clubs, primary and secondary schools across 20+ countries, available as pilot and testing sites for educational interventions, with direct access to motivated youth workers, teachers and adult education providers eager to adopt innovative pedagogical approaches, with a specific focus on improving critical thinking learning outcomes. Proven expertise in curriculum development, training of trainers, and the production of lesson plans, toolkits, e-learning materials and open educational resources. A tested training-of-trainers infrastructure capable of rolling out new approaches at scale across diverse national contexts and adapting them to different age groups, learning environments and cultural settings. Established dissemination channels to bring research findings directly into practitioner use.

What we are looking for:

Research partners with expertise in educational evaluation and assessment, particularly in measuring the impact of pedagogical interventions on critical thinking, literacy and civic competence. Universities or research institutes interested in studying outcomes of debate-based and argumentation-driven learning. Partners working on media literacy, democratic participation or deliberative pedagogy.

We are particularly interested in topics related to digital and media literacy as drivers for democratic and civic resilience, but are open to exploring other relevant calls where our network and expertise can add value.