When I was a classroom teacher, I spent several years as the Model United Nations coach. Each year, I would work with an eager group of our IB students who wanted the MUN experience that is common in many international schools around the world. We took students to conferences in England, Ireland, France, & Greece, and seeing my students compete and interact with students from some of the top schools around the world was always a highlight. This was before my wife and I had kids of our own, and together we would chaperone the trips. Once our oldest daughter was born, I only traveled with MUN one more time before turning over the assignment to a different teacher, as it became too difficult for me to justify traveling for a week without my wife and newborn.
A few weeks ago, I found myself in a meeting with one of our seniors who was there to tell me about the annual Lincoln MUN and their intent to host a virtual conference this year. Not only were they moving forward with the conference, but it was going to be a special one. This year marks the 25th year that Lincoln has sponsored the conference, which was also the first MUN conference in Costa Rica. Our secretary general asked me to shared some recorded remarks for the opening ceremony, so I eagerly began reviewing the committees and topics and preparing some thoughts for the conference. I shared with both our students and our longtime MUN advisor, Ms. Hutchcroft, that I had spent several years as the MUN sponsor and was a huge fan of the program.
For those who aren’t familiar with Model UN, it is very much like a model congress or mock senate, where students assume the identities of real policymakers and practice the parlimentary procedures of these deliberative bodies. Students are assigned to represent a specific country, and must research selected issues so they can advocate for the interests and positions of their respective country’s when they come to the conference. The program doesn’t water down the issues either. Students eagerly debate and craft resolutions to address real-world issues, whether the topic be nuclear proliferation, genocide in Darfur, or the global response to a worldwide pandemic. It’s as strong a program as I have seen to encourage authentic academic discourse amongst young people, and to give them ownership of the process of learning. It’s a tremendously powerful way to encourage student leadership. Students engage in impromptu speeches, draft policy resolutions, and conduct in the moment research.
Just over a week ago, my now 12 year old daughter informed me that she was getting ready for the Lincoln MUN conference. I was stunned. I had no idea she was interested or had signed up to participate. Honestly, I don’t remember talking much about MUN with our kids, and while I was obviously aware of the upcoming conference, I hadn’t pushed it or even mentioned it to my daughter. So, imagine my surprise when I found myself helping her write her first position paper last week. She proudly told me she was the only 6th grader participating, and had been assigned to represent the United Arab Emirates on the topic of Human Trafficking. Quite the initial foray into MUN.
Watching my daughter this weekend, at home but dressed in her best, was a little surreal for me as a dad. My daughter spent hours engaging with young people from all over Central America and the world, talking about what should be done to address the horrors of human trafficking and the sexual exploitation fo women and children. I heard all the old concepts that I had almost forgotten – preambulatory clauses, operative clauses, mediated caucuses, and the ever important motions to break for lunch. From all appearances, my daughter enjoyed herself. She had a couple of moments of true panic when called on to speak or confronted on a topic, but she pushed through and continued to engage, and most importantly, try again. It was an incredible thing to watch.