Teacher notes — Discussion & Debate
Korea's Dog Meat Ban: A Discussion Lesson Your High Schoolers Actually Have Opinions On
- Assign debate sides at random, not by real opinion — the strongest conversations come from students arguing a side they don't personally hold.
- Don't let the class collapse into "eating dogs is disgusting." Redirect toward the livelihood and timeline questions, which is where the actual policy debate lives.
- If a student has a genuinely emotional reaction (some students have grandparents in the trade), let them speak first before opening the floor.
- Keep the vocabulary board up during the debate — students will reach for "livelihood" and "compensation" far more than you'd expect once they have the words in front of them.