MODEL UNITED NATIONS

We’re very excited that you will be doing Model United Nations for the first time. You are about to embark on a life-changing journey that will help you develop confidence in leading others, a stronger awareness of global issues, and the chance to make new friends from around the world. Model UN is a valuable experience that can help you get into college, find your first job, and become inspired to change the world. And most importantly, M-U-N is F-U-N!

Students will begin to take what they have learned about human rights, the UN and apply it to an issue that is important to them. Students will work together to write a simple UN resolution to address that issue and present it to the class through a model UN activity. The lesson meets NCDPI global education goals such as investigating the world, recognizing perspectives, communicating ideas and taking action.

Note: This lesson was created for  A LEVEL STUDENTS 

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1. First, students are divided into groups of 3 to 5 people.
2. Participants are then assigned a UN Member State. They assume the role of that country’s diplomats and each delegation represents the views of ‘their’ country, reflecting that country’s national interests, rather than their own personal opinions on an issue.
3. The delegates research their country’s position on selected topics, paying particular attention to their country’s perspective on the topics to be discussed at the Model UN.
4. The Model UN agenda: you should choose countries that will be relevant to the issue(s) you have chosen for your event. For example, a resolution on access to water should include countries from sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa, the Middle East, South Asia and Australasia, among others.
5. The countries that you choose should have divergent interests, meaning that they will disagree about the issue under discussion.  Geographical spread: you should aim for a geographically wide range of countries, including at least one country from each continent.
6. The countries that you choose should come from different areas of the continent – for example, if you only choose two African states, do not choose two West African states.  Economic spread: you should aim to include developed and developing countries.
7.  Political spread: you should aim to include countries representing contrasting political and economic systems, including both democracies and dictatorships, as well as pro and anti-Western countries.
8. States in conflict: where states have a major current, or historical, disagreement, you should not include only one of them. For example, if you decide to include India, you should also include Pakistan.
9. ‘Mediator’ states: although you should include states with divergent interests, you should also include some neutral states that can act as catalysts or mediators in order to achieve a consensus acceptable to all. States such as Canada, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway and Finland can play this role.
10. Permanent five: you should include the Permanent Five members of the Security Council (although no country has a veto in the General Assembly) – China, France, the Russian Federation, the UK and USA.
11. EU Council Presidency: you should include the country holding the EU Council Presidency, which can speak on behalf of the whole EU on most General Assembly issues.
12. Don’t forget the ‘little’ states: Model UNs have a tendency to stick to the ‘big’ states, like always using Nigeria, South Africa or Egypt to represent Africa. It can be more interesting and a bit more challenging to use smaller or simply less-well known states that fulfil the same geographic or other criteria

Technological Engagement

Teacher computer/projector to show websites, sample UN resolution, videos and student resolutions, student computers to create/write group resolution (if possible)

Activity One

1. The teacher will watch CNN10 with students to start the class asking them to keep an eye out for stories that have a possible human rights connection.
2. Students will name a couple possible human rights issues from CNN Student News and list those somewhere they can see.

Activity Two

1. The teacher will show students the“How does the United Nations Work?” video.
2. The teacher will inform students that they will be participating in a model UN activity by researching a global issue of interest, creating a simple UN resolution (along with a presentation to go with it, if desired) and presenting it to the class.  
3. In order to do so, students will be getting into small groups of 3-4 and choosing a global human rights issue of interest.
4. Students will spend a day or two gathering new research or information about that issue in order to present relevant and important facts about this issue in their resolution.
5. The teacher will allow students a class period or so to do this.
6.  The teacher will provide some resources that students could possibly use for research such as Google Scholar, SweetSearch, media center databases, news websites, etc.

Activity Three

1. On the second/third day/class period, the teacher will display for students the sample UN resolution.  This may be found on the Model UN website. Teachers may also pull up the website from Best Delegate (How to Write a UN Resolution) with the information and share it with students if desired.  The teacher will explain that though it sounds extremely “wordy” and might seem hard to understand, UN resolutions have 3 basic parts - the header, preambulatory clauses and operative clauses. The header includes who in the UN is being addressed (for these purposes, the General Assembly would work), the topic and sponsors that are submitting the resolution.  
2. The teacher will keep the link to the sample resolution and “how to” website open and show students the Preambulatory and Operative Clauses vocabulary link to help them get started.  The preambulatory clauses share important and relevant background information as well as why the sponsoring group thinks it is important to address.  The operative clauses are what the sponsoring group thinks the UN should do in response to this issue.  Before each piece of background information or suggestion for resolution, students will need to put one of these preambulatory/operative clauses.
3. The teacher will provide for students a simple template that may help them organize their thoughts.  The link to “How to Write a UN Resolution” might help and includes a list of preambulatory clauses and operative clauses that would be useful to pull from as they write.  
4. It may also be helpful to write a sample preambulatory clause and sample operative clause as a class on a topic students choose.  The teacher will go through the process of understanding the country/issue you are advocating for (a choice from the possible human rights issues they noticed in CNN10).  The class will identify a possible solution for the issue and will talk through possible sources they could use to learn more about the issue.  For the sake of time, choose a possible solution students have shared and then model how to structure and reference the lists of clauses.  The teacher will have students help choose specific words and how they would go together to write one simple resolution.  

Activity Four

1. The teacher will allow a day or so for students to write their resolution with their group now that they have seen it modeled for them how to write and use clauses.  The teacher will show students the video of Malala Yousafzai at the UN as a bit of inspiration. Students may also choose as a group to create a presentation to share with their resolution.

Activity Five

1. The teacher will prepare students for the model UN activity by letting students create nameplates for themselves and identifying their group’s “home country” (teacher can decide if these should be actual countries or not if they would want to let students get creative).  On the day of the model UN session, students will place these in front of their seats.  The teacher will arrange tables/desks so students can see each other (horseshoe around the room, semicircle, etc.).
2. The teacher will have an “agenda” set (by the teacher-see feedback/instructional adjustments for suggestions) and identify yourself (the teacher) as the President of the General Assembly.  The teacher will how students the agenda for the meeting (could be via a Word document projected on the screen or a presentation the teacher has created) - welcome (include General Assembly video if desired), purpose of the session (sharing/debating resolutions), group introductions, sharing of resolutions and debate and finally voting on resolutions.
3. Students will read/share their resolutions and presentations (if created).  The teacher will open the floor for questions and discussion on the resolutions if desired.  If possible, the teacher will project resolutions from each group on a board for all to see if students need to look back at it while discussing.
4. After each group has shared and discussed their resolutions, the teacher will help put up each resolution for a vote.  Teach students a phrase if they’d like to be the first to vote in favor such as “The group from (insert country here) favors this resolution and would like to see it pass.” (The group proposing the resolution cannot be the first to put it up for a vote.  As President of the General Assembly, the teacher could ask if any group would like to put in a vote in favor of passing the resolution.)  Another group can then second that vote and the teacher can then ask for overall votes in favor (raising hands would work just fine).
5. At the conclusion of the session, the class will review what resolutions passed and what did not.  

Activity Six

1. In their learning/reflection log, students will complete a reflection on the model UN activity - what they enjoyed, what they learned, what they would do again if they could and any questions they would ask.
2. To wrap up this unit, students will come up with a potential service learning opportunity based on some of the resolutions they discussed.  They should research local and global organizations helping with that issue and come up with a way they could get involved.  These could be shared in a Google Doc with the class.

Feedback/Instructional Adjustments

Require at least one group to have a question for each resolution that is presented.

Suggested agenda:

1. Welcome
2. Purpose for Meeting
3. Introductions for each group
4. Groups share resolutions
5. Questions/debate on resolutions as they are shared
6. Vote on resolutions

Collecting and Documenting Evidence of Learning

Formative Assessments:

1. Group resolution for UN session
2. Participation on UN session
3. Student reflection

Summative Assessments:

1. Written resolution (checklist/rubric)
2. Participation in UN session (checklist/rubric)
3. Learning/reflection log on paper or via computer

Student Self-Reflection and Action Steps

1. Written reflection on UN activity in learning/reflection log

Extended Learning Opportunities

The teacher will coordinate with your History and Sociology teacher to make this unit/activity more interdisciplinary. This teacher could aide students with the research process on their chosen human rights issue. Media and technology teachers can help with creation of the presentation.

Teacher Reflection of Learning

One thing I would have added to this lesson or that could be added would be a peer and self evaluation for students to complete.  This would have given students a chance to reflect a bit more on what they learned themselves but also share some feedback with other students to help them improve.

Model UN events can be used to meet many of the requirements of the National Curriculum for pupils aged up to 16 and of the A Level specifications for pupils aged 16-18.

General requirements of the National Curriculum Planning and participating in Model UN events reflect the general teaching requirements regarding inclusion and use of language, as well as the values, aims and purposes which underpin the National Curriculum.

Aim 1

requires pupils to develop knowledge and understanding of “the local, national, European, Commonwealth and global dimensions of their lives. [The National Curriculum] should encourage pupils to appreciate human aspirations and achievements in aesthetic, scientific, technological and social fields, and prompt a personal response to a range of experiences and ideas.

By providing rich and varied contexts for pupils to acquire, develop and apply a broad range of knowledge, understanding and skills, the curriculum should enable pupils to think creatively and critically, to solve problems and to make a difference for the better. It should give them the opportunity to become creative, innovative, enterprising and capable of leadership to equip them for their future lives as workers and citizens ”.

Aim 2 states:

“The school curriculum should promote pupils' spiritual, moral, social and cultural development and, in particular, develop principles for distinguishing between right and wrong. It should develop their knowledge, understanding and appreciation of their own and different beliefs and cultures, and how these influence individuals and societies.

"The school curriculum should pass on enduring values, develop pupils' integrity and autonomy and help them to be responsible and caring citizens capable of contributing to the development of a just society. It should promote equal opportunities and enable pupils to challenge discrimination and stereotyping. "It should develop their awareness and understanding of, and respect for, the environments in which they live, and secure their commitment to sustainable development at a personal, local, national and global level ”.