Empowering High School learners to Social Action through Lincoln Douglas Debate in Kenya

• In Event: Voice, Agency and Education

Proposal

Peaceful coexistence through logical resolution of conflicts is key to progress in schools if learners are sensitive to human rights and responsibly protest injustices. Learners should be empowered to counter conflicts of diverse nature appropriately for a conducive learning environment to prevail.
Secondary schools in Kenya suffer massive losses to property and lives due to unresolved suppressed conflicts between learners, teachers,administrators within schools. Reports show that over 300 school went on strike between July and September 2008 and almost doubled by 2022. Notably, these protests were violent and destructive; reflecting anger and deep frustrations.
Previous Task Force Reports on school strikes blamed learners’ (Karanja, 2014) ignorance and indifference to social challenges, irrationality; ineffective communication; disrespect and individualism (MoE, 2001, 2008) among others. Thus, strikes recurred despite corrective measures after previous protests implying effective solutions.
Empowering learners for informed protests through different approaches than violent costly strikes is the gap this study aimed to fill through research and debating using Lincoln Douglas Debate (LD) format. LD Debate practiced in high schools in USA emphasizes on logic, ethical and value based arguments after extensive research.
The objectives were to establish learners’ awareness of social challenges; rationality and modes of channeling solutions through LD and assess application of key debated values in life. The study was based on Rational Choice Theory by George Homan (1961) stating that rewards drive behaviour. Empowered learners should make rational value- based decisions beneficial to self and society.
The study used descriptive design. The target population was pioneer LD debtors where a sample of 120 respondents was proportionately drawn from LD clubs from participating schools in Lamu, Mombasa, Nairobi and Nakuru.
Learner were trained on research and debating skills then engaged in organized debates at different levels targeting social challenges affecting humanity. Thereafter, they filled questionnaires to assess the impact of LD on objectives set. Results showed marked improvement in all objectives besides team spirit, confidence, writing and communication skills. The study recommends that LD should be cascaded to more schools and counties in Kenya from the classroom to national levels.Set LD committee to oversee the programme implementation through adequate funding.
Key words
Conflict, protest, just institutions, debate, empowerment, learners

Authors

• ANTONINE AUMA OBIERO, UON

• Joash Abere Migosi, University of Nairobi