Who is behind CTL?

He has been debating and coaching at the Gymnasium Jura Hronca high school in Bratislava since 2013. During his debating career, he won the Slovak championship and represented Slovakia at the world championship. He studied law, political science, and philosophy at the University of Warwick, and subsequently education policy at the University of Cambridge. He has been employed at SDA since 2021. Richard is the founder of OKM, he created the rules and methodological framework of the competition. He currently coordinates the functioning of the whole OKM.

She studied at the 1st Private Gymnasium in Bratislava and is currently studying at Leiden University College in the Netherlands. In 2023, she joined the Student Elections initiative, where she was involved in research, administration, and data management. At CTL, she focuses on methodology and data analysis.

She studied at Andrej Vrábel Gymnasium in Levice, where she re-established and led a debate club. She completed three years of CTL, winning the Slovak championship title in her final year. She is currently studying International Management at Comenius University and interning at the City Hall of Bratislava. As part of CTL, she collaborates on the creation of methodology for secondary schools and helps organize competitions.

He studied at the Školská 7 grammar school in Spišská Nová Ves. He was a two-time finalist in the LKM, where he once took 3rd place. He is currently studying psychology at Comenius University in Bratislava. As part of the CTL, he collaborates on the creation of methodology for secondary schools and helps organize the competition.

He is a former director of SDA and author of the CTL concept. He taught argumentation and debate at Masaryk University and is a lecturer at the Academy of Critical Thinking. He is currently the chairman of the National Expert Commission, which ensures the content quality of the entire competition.

She is a sociologist and researcher who has long been involved in youth research and measuring the impact of youth work. She is particularly interested in civic engagement and the role of young people in civil society. She currently works as an assistant professor at the Faculty of Education at Comenius University in Bratislava.

Jakub is a lecturer and methodologist at the Academy of Critical Thinking and a former methodologist at the Slovak Debate Association. He is dedicated to educating companies and individuals in the areas of critical thinking, communication, argumentation, and negotiation. He is also the author of educational materials and workbooks on critical thinking for elementary and secondary schools.

Mgr. et Mgr. art. Silvester Lavrík
Novelist, publicist, educator

He focuses on the topic of historical and cultural memory, their active and socially responsible involvement in solving today’s challenges, and lifelong learning.

She leads debate clubs at school and participates in debate tournaments with his students as part of the junior and senior debate leagues. She teaches critical thinking and argumentation at the school.

He works at NIVaM, where he focuses on promoting cross-cutting themes – critical thinking, civic and media literacy – in the context of curricular changes in primary education. He gained extensive experience during his many years of work in non-governmental organizations as a lecturer and methodologist in the field of anti-discrimination and civic education.

She became fascinated with the issue of media education and the promotion of critical thinking while studying at the Faculty of Mass Media Communication at UCM in Trnava. As part of her studies, she participated in research on the integration of media education into Slovak schools. She co-founded Mediálna škola, an informal media education project for secondary school students. She coordinates the Mediálna gramotnosť+ platform at the Council for Media Services.

He currently works as a university lecturer at the Faculty of Mass Media Communication at UCM in Trnava. As part of his teaching activities, he teaches subjects related primarily to media and journalism practice, but also argumentation and critical thinking.

Václav has been involved in debating and teaching critical thinking for more than 15 years as a judge and coach. Since 2013, he has been leading the Association of Debate Clubs, the largest Czech debate education organization, and in 2024 he became chairman of the board of the international association IDEA.