Resolved: The initiative "UN Global Classrooms" is beneficial to American students.

In this debate, I affirm the resolution and stand on the PRO defending the initiative as beneficial for American students. Before continuing, I would like to point out the initiative is the establishment of Model United Nations in middle and high schools and colleges across the country, where the United Nations, its goals, and its functions are emulated in a sort of role-playing exercise establised as an extracurricular acitivity. With this said, I move on to the oberservations. Observation 1: The evaluation in this debate is thn focused on Model UN, the extracurricular activity.Observation 2: The burden of proof is shared equally between the PRO and CON considering the positions in this resolution, where the burden of PRO is to prove that this activity is beneficial for American students and my opponent's burden is to prove the exact opposite.Contention 1: The MUN experience provides excellent skills for students therein.Leadership, cooperation, compromise. These are among the skills generally learned through the experience of the initiative proposed by the United Nations for American public schools. These are skills needed in general in the course of every day life and in the future, especially in the acquisition of employment. These merits can move students toward their full potential, and the MUN experience provides this.Subpoint 1a: MUN requires cooperation and coordination.In Model United Nations, each student is a representative for a country and requires research in order to learn about the country and its respective foreign policy. These students congregate in sub-committees and are required to cooperate and compromise therein. "Research concludes that the Model UN environment, as a cooperative learning center, is a valuable education tool. Cooperative learning promotes higher achievement, greater motivation, more positive interpersonal relations among students, more positive attitudes toward the subject area and teacher, greater self esteem and psychological health, more accurate perspectives, and greater social skills. (Johnson and Johnson, 1988) In simulating the actual workings of the UN, the Model UN provides an essential feature of the cooperative learning environment. In preparing to go to a Model UN, each student becomes an “expert” in one aspect of an issue or policy for their delegation. At conference all the “experts” from different delegations gather in a subcommittee to discuss their issue. The “experts” then return to their delegation in a plenary session and teach the others what they have learned. This feature is part of the cooperative learning environment where students working together to accomplish shared goals are given two responsibilities: to learn the assigned materials and make sure that all other members of the group do likewise. (Johnson and Johnson, 1988)"Sub-point 1b: MUN teaches leadership skills.In MUN, students actually lead in delegations and conferences among other students, which is a fertile ground for the development of leadership skills. Ryan, a student of MUN, writes: "What many people don’t realize is that Model UN also teaches business skills – running a conference is like running a small business that involves finding “customers” (delegates), developing a “product” (the conference), and managing peers."Sub-point 1c: MUN aids in research and writing skills.MUN requires extensive research and writing of resolutions in order to be successful at, meaning that students sharpen research and writing skills necessary for potential professions and careers. Contention 2: Students in MUN attain an academic advantage. Not only do students enrich their learning in the experience of researching the current events and cultures of other countries, but the experience provided by the MUN looks great on the repetoir for students striving to enter into good colleges.Sub-point 2a: Students learn about other countries. Research is required on the part of each individual student in order to represent a country in the conference, meaning that during the process. Daniel McIntosh, a professor at Slippery Rock University and the head of its MUN explains: "In short, extensive preparation is required if students are to gain the most from their experience (Hazleton 1986). In the form of a short (2-3 page) position paper, each student in a team is instructed to learn and report about their assigned state, including its relative resources and stated positions on the issues of interest. These position papers are turned in several days before formal negotiations begin, in order to encourage and assess individual effort. The instructor must emphasize that a useful position paper does not simply list military, institutional, or economic assets. Students must be required to put those assets in context. For example, comparing a state’s GDP to that of the US or of the world as a whole has more meaning than a simple number. Rather than merely “cutting and pasting” data from standard reference sources, students are asked to assess their relative capabilities in light of the issues and probable opponents." Brennan substantiates: " A student benefits most from participation in a Model UN Conference when he is able to go to the conference confidant that he has a solid knowledge of the issues that will be discussed. It is important that a student have a solid understanding of her country’s position in these issues as well. If a student comes to a conference lacking these fundamentals she will likely be able to pick up what she has missed along the way at the expense of the real learning experience - multilateral diplomacy in action. Hazleton and Mahurin note “the simulation takes on a different focus for the more prepared students as they are better able to assume their ‘roles’ and actually engage in the ‘practice’ of international diplomacy.” (p. 165) To this end, it is most important that the student be prepared to learn about the workings of diplomacy and the UN by being able to realistically portray their country at conference." Sub-point 2b: MUN aids students into entering into a good college. Upstanding achievement and extensive experience are required in order to enter into an optimal university, and with consideration the many things that are provided by MUN in the realm of experience, MUN aids in reaching such objectives. Students have explained how MUN had helped them enter into upstanding college, including Ryan, "Model United Nations is the reason I got into Yale. I started doing MUN because it was a fun way to study history, but it also developed my communication skills and gave me the confidence to express myself. As I devoted more time to the activity, I gained leadership experience by winning awards, chairing committees, running conferences, and training my club. When I started applying to college, I was able to seek advice from people I’d met through MUN who were attending or had attended competitive colleges." Contention 3: MUN is an excellent social experience. Students also engage with other students who are into the same activity and interests, and they can meet students from other schools or even countries at the university level. http://bestdelegate.com... http://www.amun.org... http://bestdelegate.com... http://www.iecaonline.com... http://isanet.ccit.arizona.edu...