Model UN is a great event for students who are interested in public speaking opportunities and international relations. MUN is generally more cooperative than debate in the sense that after MUN conferences, there are rarely more than a few awards and winners decided - generally over 80-90% of student participants have their resolutions passed. Additionally, because of the size of these conferences and the relative lack of teacher oversight and feedback, students may go through an entire weekend without receiving direct feedback on their work.
Debate, on the other hand, has direct feedback after each round both in terms of win/loss and also feedback from judges. Additionally, in debate, students are required to generate their own opinions to support a position, whereas in MUN, students are able to simply repeat arguments that leaders of nations have already made and receive credit for it.
Both are great activities for learning and fun, though we generally feel debate is a stronger tool for public speaking, critical thinking, teamwork, and competitiveness.
Format Description:
Model United Nations (MUN) is a popular competition around the world forthose who are new to public speaking and debate. The competition focuseson U.N. procedure and international relations. The key elements of thecompetitive format are: 1) U.N. simulation, 2) Speeches from the perspectiveof individual countries, 3) Committees, and 4) Caucus.
To learn more about the various elements of Model U.N. please visitwww.unausa.org.
Key Competitions:
There are multiple MUN competitions locally, regionally, and internationally.Currently, LearningLeaders does not provide specific MUN training oraccompany students to MUN competitions. For information about how toparticipate please contact your school’s administration as MUN participationtypically occurs through students’ regular schools.
Eligibility:
Middle school and high school students of all levels are eligible to participatein Model UN.
Competitor Characteristics & Difficulty Level:
In the diverse landscape of competitive debate and public speaking, LearningLeaders considers Model U.N. to be a beginner level competition.Competitors range from 6th grade to 12th grade. We recommend Model U.N.to 6th to 8th grade students in Introduction to Debate and Argument Foundations. HS Students in Introduction to Debate are encouraged but HS students beyond introductory level are encouraged to attend morechallenging competitions. It is often the case that students compete in Model U.N. as part of their high school or middle school team. We support this participation when it does not trade off with more rigorous public speaking and debate activities.
Key Advantages of Participation:
Model U.N. allows students to gain basic comfort in public speaking. The format is less argumentative and more focused on learning about the issues of individual nations and of committee procedure. For more rigorous andeffective training in critical reasoning, spontaneous thinking, and publicspeaking, we recommend events such as Public Forum and parliamentary debate formats.
Training Opportunities:
Attending LL lessons strengthens students' ability to participate in MUN. We do not typically offer special training for Model U.N. events. If a student has a question about how best to represent their “country,” please ask your coach after lesson and you are sure to get some useful insight.