Dear all,
Welcome back. We are one week closer to BEO 2020, how exciting!
Before you continue to this week’s Q&A, here is a quick summary of the upcoming deadlines.
BEO Song Contest Lyrics MUST be submitted via the BEO Portal by 16th February.
BEO Drama Script can (optional!) be submitted via the BEO Portal by 16th February.
Student data & photos MUST be submitted via the BEO Portal by 21st February.
BEO Essentials section on the BEO Portal MUST be filled in by 21st February.
While this week’s post may appear to be very brief, I do encourage you to read it carefully as you will find a more detailed guide to the BEO Debate below.
Kamila & the Oxford International team
DEBATE
Question:
My question is concerning Stage 1 of the debate – the presentation of role views which must last between 2 to 5 minutes per team. This, in other debates, was the position statement speech. But when I read Stage 3: Debate cycle it says that it is here that teams give their position statement. I am not really clear as to what they have to talk about during the 2 to 5 minutes in stage 1 and what they have to start saying again in stage 3.
Answer:
First of all, I would suggest not comparing the BEO Debate to any other debate your students/school may have done. We do try to keep the BEO Debate unique and original as not to give a competitive advantage to any schools that may regularly participate in e.g. Model UN Debates, etc.
In stage one, the students get to present the viewpoint of their role but it is important to keep in mind that at this point they may not have heard all the other viewpoints. The stage, therefore, serves as a sort of introduction to the problem debated where everyone gets familiar with each other’s viewpoints.
Stage two is an opportunity to discuss the key issue each role decides to put forward. This may very much be based on the Stage 1 presentation, but it can also be informed by what the students have heard during the Stage 1 presentations from others. Stage three is also much more focused on persuasion and the ability to defend one’s viewpoints as this is the point when other teams will try to convince each other to change their opinion.
Please click here, to access a more detailed guide to the debate.
CREATIVE EVENTS
Question:
As part of the play’s soundtrack, there is a song we’d like to use (played and sung by the students). Can we use this? Or do we have to change the lyrics?
Answer:
No, you do not have to change the lyrics if the song is a part of the BEO Drama Festival. You just need to keep in mind that if the students are going to sing, they are limited with the number of songs and dances in the drama piece as per the written guidelines (page 28).