Imparare a dibattere nella scuola primaria

This article aims to analyze the diffusion of the teaching tool of the Debatefrom primary school to University with the aim of increasing the Global Com-petencies necessary for living as active citizens. In Italy, it was introduced only a few years ago, especially in secondaryschool. Debate consists in a regulated communicative exchange between two op-posing teams (pros and cons), whose aim is to discuss, develop and defendtheir position on a specific topic. This methodology allows to increase stu-dents’ social and civic skills, because it promotes open-mindedness and peercomparison about a topic. Through the exercise of Debate, students from avery early age can acquire in-depth knowledge about a topic, advance theirindividual cognitive development, develop the ability to select the most use-ful information, to support their ideas while respecting the perspectives oftheir peers and to find the best solution to a problem. Introducing Debate as a learning method in primary school could enhancethe development of some widely applicable key competences for lifelonglearning, such as learning to learn, entrepreneurial skills, functional alpha-betic competence, critical thinking and awareness and expression of theircultural identity. Ultimately, it represents a training process for active citizens.It will also be presented a practical application of the methodology for edu-cational purposes, employed during an internship experience in a primaryschool in Campobasso.