Here we reconstruct two experiences of debate in the context of a cooperative education course: one was carried out vertically (second year of primary school and first year of lower secondary school; the other in the third year of an arts high school). Although driven by different motivations and focusing on different topics (politics in one case, values in the other), both experiences aimed to strengthen participatory, cooperative and inclusive teaching, drawing on philosophical texts, tools and methods in the preparatory phase of the debate.