Skills acquired in this course such as communication,
critical thinking, researching information and diplomacy were valuable and will
serve all of us well in any of our post-secondary studies and future
endeavours.
The most important skill I learned was developing the
ability to think about current issues from different perspectives - especially
debating on a side that was against my personal beliefs. This was a challenge
during the corporate globalization debate – it is difficult to take a
pro-business stance when you are an environmentalist/humanitarian at heart.
I will now 1) not be so quick to judge the actions of others
until I obtain more information 2) weigh both sides of an issue or argument and
3) understand that issues are complex and do not always have clean-cut
solutions.
I thoroughly enjoyed participating in the World Issues
Conference held at HSC last fall and hope that this will continue for middle
school students. It is important to engage kids early in global issues and to
have them interact in face-to-face discussions – this is how the skill and art
of diplomacy is learned. It is my hope that younger students will become
interested in Model UN as they begin their high school years.
The speaking/debating components of this course also helped me to grow as a student! I too struggled with debating on a side that conflicted with my beliefs but after completing the experience found it to be really enlightening! Researching the information and diplomacy also helped me a great deal in my membership in our school's MUN club and being able to speak and assert my opinion more confidently really made a difference at the larger conferences.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this post entirely! I think that the world issues conference was positively influential and informative for both the middle school students and grade 12's as it was an engaging and interesting way to learn about global issues. I definitely feel like this course will carry with me throughout my future life as the skills we have learned do not apply to solely one course/purpose. Having the ability to speak publicly and confidently is definitely an essential skill moving forward.
ReplyDelete