KP’s Teacher Tales #2: Just call me MUN Mom

My students call me their Model UN Mom. KP the MUN Mom, to be specific. I’m hoping I’m going to get a t-shirt one day. Or, even better, a gavel to use in class. I already have a podium. Oh, the power a gavel would give me.

For all of you who are MUN newbies: Model United Nations is usually an extra-curricular activity. It is typically run in a multi-day conference format. Students learn about current events and the United Nations through roleplaying. Delegates are assigned a committee, and a country or role. They then write a paper regarding their country’s position within the committee and issue they’ve been assigned. During the conference they participate in debate in various forms. The goal is to come up with and pass resolutions to save the world. My students think this is “fun” and “super cool”. If someone asked me to do this kind of activity when I was 15, I would have looked at that person like they had a booger on their face. I was busy doing other stuff to care about things like foreign policy and world relations, you see.

You can understand how this would seem like a daunting experience for an English Language Learner. Four years ago, when I was asked to write and teach a course on MUN to grade 10 and 11 students, I wondered how many ELL’s I would have in the class. In that first year, upon registration, I was surprised (euphemism for terrified) to find out that 90% of the class was comprised of students of varying levels of English language development. Culturally, my class had Chinese, Japanese, Mexican and Canadian students. As this was a course that I had not taught before, I anticipated the many challenges ahead, for both me as a facilitator and for my students as participants. In hindsight I see that having such a culturally diverse class actually mirrored the real UN.

By the end of that first year, I had students successfully writing position papers, standing up and speaking in front of peers from different schools, making connections with students from varying cultures, and participating in metacognitive reflection regarding their learning, both with language and within the function of MUN. I continue to see my students thrive within the format on a daily basis.

Basically, 15 year old me would have been extremely skeptical of the magic of MUN, but 28 year old me thinks it is the cat’s ass (and cats love their asses).

My students are motivated in Model UN class for a few reasons. Typically they participate in at least one MUN conference in the year. Their experience, positive or negative, is largely up to them. I’m available to facilitate and encourage—but I’m not able to actually do anything for them. I see MUN the way I see theatre, I can rehearse the kids as much as possible, but ultimately if they fall flat on their face in front of an audience, there really isn’t anything I can do to save them.

Therefore, they have to speak in class because speaking is a skill they use in a MUN conference. They have to learn how to write position papers and draft resolutions because it is a skill they will use in a MUN conference. They have to learn how to approach their peers and negotiate with varying viewpoints because IT IS A SKILL THEY WILL USE IN A MUN CONFERENCE. You get the idea. The improvements I see in my students, ELL or otherwise, are incredible. Super cool, right?

Here is a (mostly unprompted) quote from one of my past grade 10 students:

The thing that I really want to advocate is that MUN is a wonderful opportunity to know about the things happening in the world, increase your knowledge, communicate and socialize with people you haven’t met before, improve your English skills by negotiating and discussing with other delegates in committees, and make friends.

Anyways, this post is getting a bit long winded, but I wanted to explain what I was doing this past weekend. I was MUN Mom-ing my wee heart out. I think my next KP’s Teacher Tales blog post will be “How to Survive Solo Chaperoning”.

Please ask me any questions you may have!

Photo taken from my hotel room using my iPhone SE and is my submission for the Cityscape photography contest!