This guest post has been provided by Dr. Eugene Geis and Anthony White, advisors of the John P. Stevens High School Model United Nations program.
J.P. Stevens delegates are taught how to be socially intelligent through Model UN
When I was in my twenties, I realized that I needed to be more confident with and aware of the people I interacted with on a daily basis. I was tired of the feeling of being unsure about myself. I could never tell whether I was respected and liked, especially by the opposite sex either. When I moved home after graduate school, I made a very serious decision to transform these fears into traits of confidence.
I made a conscious effort to make new friends wherever I went. I started conversations with random strangers and learned to have meaningful communication with anyone, anytime. I changed some aspects of my body language and my speaking style, and I discovered that everyone else responded to me more. I could tell that the small, subtle changes I made to my methods of communication had a profound impact on the respect and admiration that people were suddenly showing me.
When I arrived at JP Stevens high school, a fellow alumnus from my own high school had invited me to advise the Model UN program with him. When I chaperoned my first trip to VAMUN, I had an epiphany while witnessing my first committee. Every skill that I learned in my personal transformation was being exercised (most of the time, very poorly) by the students parrying for position within the committee. I started giving advice very quickly because very small changes can make an enormous difference in a delegate’s game.
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Standing out is a challenge
The peak of the Model UN season is approaching and almost every delegate will face the challenge of standing out in a large committee with hundreds of their peers. Large committees can feel daunting, overwhelming, or frustrating for delegates who are unsure how to manage their participation in a large committee. We included several tips on this topic already in the How to Win Awards in Model United Nations guide already but I’ll share five basic tips on how to participate in a large committee below.
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Advisors Bob Timberlake and Wayne Knutson lead Mira Costa, one of the best MUN programs in the country
Mira Costa is one of the best Model UN programs in the country. I know this from my own experience with Mira Costa delegates when I was in high school, but their success speaks for itself. Mira Costa wins Best Delegate and delegation awards at every Model UN conference they attend. Last year, they claimed the #1 spot on Best Delegate’s High School Model UN Rankings. And most impressively, they’re consistent; Mira Costa has been a force to be reckoned with ever since I started doing Model UN over a decade ago.
What is Mira Costa’s secret to success in Model UN?
I blogged Mira Costa’s LAIMUN Conference last weekend, which I viewed as an opportunity to not only broadcast how they put on their own conference, but to understand what makes their program tick. I spoke with several student leaders, including Secretary-General Mackenzie Austin and Under-Secretary-General Michael Powell, and advisors Bob Timberlake and Wayne Knutson. KFC and I also visited Mira Costa High School the other day to observe their Model UN class. And from what I saw, the secret to Mira Costa’s success in Model UN is really no secret at all…
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What does Model UN teach students about the actual UN?
KFC spoke on a panel at McGill SSUNS last week and several Canadian advisors asked him about how to teach the UN’s successes. They always hear about the UN’s failures in the media and they wanted to provide their students with a different perspective.
I actually went through the experience of teaching the UN’s successes and failures several weeks ago with my own students in Orange County. In honor of UN Day, I asked them:
“What has Model UN taught you about the actual UN? In your opinion, what have been the UN’s greatest successes and failures? Do you think the UN matters?”
We had a Socratic discussion, taking turns presenting our opinions and questioning one another. Most of my students believed that the UN is good in principle but bad in practice; they appreciated the UN’s idealism but did not think it made a difference. I then examined their assumptions about the UN, challenging their criticisms with examples of UN achievements, and also questioning whether the UN is as idealistic as they think; I pointed out that the UN is designed to serve the interests of its member states.
I realize now that my students’ beliefs about the UN reflect what the Canadian advisors pointed out to KFC. Drawing from my recent teaching experiences, I’d like to share 3 resources that I believe teachers would find helpful for teaching students about the successes and failures of the United Nations.
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