“A suon di parole” (“Fighting with Words”: The finals hosted in Trento on Friday, June 1

[PRESS RELEASE]

The “A suon di parole” debate tournament comes to the Festival of Economics: the tournament finals will be held on June 1 starting at 3 pm at the School of Law, in the “Discussions” section of the Festival. The 4M class of the “L. da Vinci “High School and 4INC class of the “M. Buonarroti-Pozzo “High School will discuss the topic: The ever-increasing use of robotics and artificial intelligence is a source of expectation and hope or, alternatively, a source of concern and mistrust. During 2018, the participants of the tournament attended events on technological innovation and related issues, taking part in the Smart City Week, in Educa and in the Innovative scenarios for learning project.

For eight years IPRASE, together with the School of Law, the Town of Trento and the Town of Rovereto, has supported and promoted the tournament in which students face each other in oral competitions based on the ability to argue and counter-argue in a controlled manner around civic, social and intercultural issues. In this sense the students “fight each other with words”.

Over the years, the project has involved around 5000 high school students, who have practiced the art of dialectic and controversy, learning their methods, rules and principles that can become part of their education on citizenship. In 2017/2018, the participating schools were 16 and, in addition to the students, more than 200 teachers, judges and tutors were involved. 14 were instead the teams that participated in the foreign language competitions in the English tournament (Wordgames) and in the German Tornament (Wortgewerb) that ended during the Language Festival organized by IPRASE.

The primary goal of the tournament is the promotion of linguistic, logical/argumentative, intercultural and citizenship skills in the field of speech, non-verbal communication and the ability to express oneself in public. In this way, soft skills and life skills such as creativity, communication, listening, initiative, interpersonal skills, resilience, etc are developed.

The tournament is therefore a training program aimed at democratic practice and civil discussion, encouraging the development of social skills, proactive behavior and integration, according to European guidelines. Reports of teachers and students, measured with quantitative and qualitative monitoring, confirm that in this way students strengthen skills useful for life and for their relationship with the labor market and with the local community.

During the finals, Prof. Francesco Profumo, President of Fondazione Bruno Kessler, will discuss with students on technology advances and their consequences on society and on the economy.

Photo by Paolo Pedrotti