A culture of healthy debate

Tiếng Việt

A culture of healthy debate

RMIT Vietnam UniSTART Learning Skills Program Developer Joshua Reed has contributed to a piece by national daily newspaper Tuoi Tre focused on the culture of healthy public debate in Vietnam.

Asked what it meant and how a culture of healthy debate could be developed in Vietnam, Mr Reed put the emphasis on education.

“The way to develop a healthy culture of debate is to develop a well-educated society,” he said.

“If a society is highly literate, then people are free to do research and read for themselves. If, for example, someone disagrees or doesn’t believe something you say, then you can always suggest they discover it for themselves by reading.

“In a healthy debate, people may disagree, but should also be armed with facts and evidence.”

Referring to his role within Student Academic Success (SAS) of developing curricula embedded with the academic literacies and study skills to ensure the success of students, particularly in their first semester, Mr Reed talked about how students should deal with different opinions.

“In the SAS office of RMIT, we teach students to have a variety of strategies. For example, if a friend or student asks me a question on Facebook, then I might have a lengthy discussion or meet in real life to discuss it.

“We also encourage students to think critically. This is something you are never too young to start.

“Learning to read, encouraging children to be curious, ask questions, learn about things that interest them and share information are all ways that teach young students how to use the right words to resolve disagreements.”

Asked by Tuoi Tre’s reporter to discuss the use of social media as a platform of self expression, Joshua urged caution.

“It’s similar to when younger students offer differing opinions in their writing,” he said.

“My experience has been that while they don’t intend it to sound rude, it can be. Without being able to see the smile, disagreements can easily start.”

Mr Joshua Reed believes the way to develop a healthy culture of debate is to develop a well-educated society.

He also acknowledged social media’s ongoing role in our lives, and explained that students should learn how to apply not only the soft skills they are taught at RMIT Vietnam in this context, but also their ability to think critically.

“Part of the fun of social media is having debates with people who disagree with us, but if one is dealing with an internet troll or bully, it’s best to block that person,” Mr Reed said.

“It’s important that everyone knows how to protect themselves online.”

Going further, he explained the importance of sorting the ‘truth’ from ‘clickbait’.

“There is a lot of debate now around ‘fake news’ and ‘clickbait’,” he said, “and although these things sound like a problem, one positive outcome is that it makes people think before believing everything they read on the internet. We make a point at RMIT of instilling this in our students.”

“Technology is only going to continue to be part of our lives, so at RMIT we take the responsibility seriously to teach students to respect and behave well toward others, whether they are sitting in a chair next to us, or at a computer 10,000km away.”

To read the published version of this story, go to the Tuoi Tre news website.

Story: Jon Aspin

Photo: Stefan Stefancik