Tomorrow is “Verification Day” where you will have a chance to meet all your teachers and go through your grades. A copy of this will be distributed during Flag Cem tomorrow (7:10AM) so stay tuned in case there will be any changes.
Note that students WILL NOT leave their assigned room; we teachers will go to you.
Download: PSHS Sched for March 15 (1-3Y)
Source: CISD
My dear 2012 students, thank you very much for your excellent performances in the first ever Model UN in the PSHS! I deeply appreciate all the hard work you have put into it. At first, I was worried that three days would be too long. I was afraid that by day two, you would just be staring at each other not knowing what to do. Boy, was I wrong!
I consider it a happy problem therefore that on the last day, you guys wanted more time. It shows me that you have really done your research and that you’ve come to appreciate the work we were trying to do. You weren’t cramming at all; I was just expecting three resolutions, but you produced double digit documents. That was a truly wonderful surprise!
How can I not give everyone an ‘A’? 
(I actually will, except for some who could have really put in more work, and some who deserve an ‘A+’.)
In this post, I share some thoughts about the activity now that we’re done with it. I welcome your comments for I would really like to improve on this for the coming years. Kindly leave your name and section when you comment so I know where you’re coming from and I can address your concerns and comments appropriately.
Now, my thoughts. The first five are things I will DEFINITELY implement in the next version of the forum.
1. MORE TIME: 5 DAYS MINIMUM
This is a no-brainer. We need more time. But this is not just about quantity, but of programming. Refer to the next changes for how I intend to make most of five days.
2. ESTABLISH CAUCUSES ON DAY ZERO
The first of five days is actually Day Zero. Even before the forum begins, classes can divide themselves into caucuses on either issues or regions. They can then discuss strategy, appoint a secretary, and nominate a keynote speaker (see next item). Bottom line, this session should make the committee work more efficient since students already know who to go to. We did this to a limited degree in Dahlia (they had an additional session between the end of my lectures and the start of the forum), though the advantage was not clear to me. That could be my fault as well since it was not so clear what we were to do that day after dividing the class into issue areas.
3. KEYNOTE AND SUPPLEMENTAL SPEAKERS
This is one way to limit the amount of speeches we listen to in class. By appointing keynote (1 person) and supplemental (2 to 3) speakers, we can avoid a lengthy speakers’ list. For example, the topic is climate change. Japan can deliver the keynote speech were general principles and objectives are outlined. Then countries such as the Maldives and the Philippines can deliver speeches that support the ideas presented by Japan. Their presentations outline the general direction that the Climate Change caucus wishes for the entire forum to follow.
4. ONE ISSUE/CAUCUS PER DAY
This was done by Ethel Viray, the chairperson of Dahlia. During that one additional day before the forum, she told the class that each day will be devoted to one issue area.I doubted the plan at first since I wasn’t too confident that resolutions will be discussed and passed on each day. But to their credit, the class was more focused in discussing the issues. They were the only ones who had an informal debate where actual questions were raised to the entire body. Making this a practice together with item #3 (above) will improve the forum greatly.
5. BE CLEAR THAT I EXPECT THREE RESOLUTIONS — NO MORE, NO LESS
Students may not agree with this, but I’m thinking of pursuing this. From a teacher’s perspective, it forces students to really interact and compromise. What if, for instance, I will only accept one – and only one – agreement that deals with peace, order and security issues? Students will then try not to be bogged down with bilateral agreements and instead pursue wider ranging agreements.
What worked against us was time. If we had more, I would have asked the different countries to reconcile resolutions that talk about the same thing. When we ended our forum, the classes were practically at the working paper stage where each caucus, informal committee, and even bilateral meet had their own resolutions. Ideally, all resolutions regarding climate change, for instance, would be compiled and compressed into one.
What if the different countries don’t agree with the final resolution? Then that should make the voting more interesting. Then we will certainly see ‘abstain’ and ‘no’ outnumbering ‘yes’. In the future, I will make it a point to devote one session to just passing resolutions.
The next items are other things I am still thinking of to further improve the activity. Perhaps you guys can comment.
6. HONOR BILATERAL AGREEMENTS
I am still thinking of a way to recognize Bilateral Agreements (agreements made by two countries on trade, border conflicts, resource sharing, etc.) since these tend to be very common but don’t really require a General Resolution. One way I’m thinking of now is to task the Secretary-General to keep track of all agreements by requiring the involved parties to submit a one-page summary of their agreement. From my perspective, this is an easy way to monitor the performance of each one of you since coming to simple agreement with another country is the simplest sign that you are participating in the activity.
7. GIVE STUDENTS THE ABILITY TO GENERATE THEIR OWN ‘RANDOM EVENTS’
We really didn’t have time to have random events, and to those sections which had, we didn’t have enough time to take them seriously either. But I’ve thought of a way to make this even more interesting.
While working on their country profile, each student will be required to research one or two events involving their country which required a regional or even global response. For instance, Indonesia can cite the 2004 tsunami and the 2005 Bali bombing. These will be the ‘random events’ which can occur anytime during the summit.
Then I’ll come up with WILD CARDS – actual cards that give you the authority to initiate a random event. I’ll hide these cards throughout the entire campus (and to make things more fun I can give out clues). If you find them, you can then use the card in the forum to start your random event. The Chairman will have to announce it and the class will have to resolve it within a certain amount of time.
This sounds like a fun idea. It introduces a game mechanic to the activity while opening the door to the tragedies and crises that haunt actual, real-world summits. It is not so realistic, but this ca definitely challenge those who tend to plan out everything for everyone. What do you think?
8. PROVIDE AN ACTUAL CRISIS FOR THE CLASS TO SOLVE
While designing the activity, I debated with myself whether I assign each class one crisis they have to resolve. I would have definitely done this if you guys didn’t do your research, but I am glad that I didn’t have to. Very glad. This is my last resort but I am certain that future batches will be challenged to do ever better.
And I’d like to end by sharing some ideas of things I would have really loved to do but are challenging or impossible for some reason or another.
9. EACH SECTION WILL HAVE A SIX-HOUR SESSION FOR THE FORUM PROPER
Just like what other schools abroad do, this would have been most awesome but is logistically impossible to pull off considering the schedule of the second years. My biggest chance would be to schedule a special Saturday per class, but we were having too many Saturday classes to begin with. Using the afternoon of the perio is also off the table. But just imagine how much work you can really get done with so much time. Yes, we caucus in advance. I will also have to train you in the format beforehand and ensure that the Chairpersons know the format inside and out. Maybe some day we’ll get a feel of how this works.
10. HAVE AN ASIAN FORUM – MIDDLE EAST TO EAST ASIA
This will require even more time and training. But what if the Middle East peace problem is just one caucus in the forum? Nice to think about, but again the logistics are against us. Would be awesome though. But for now I’ll stick with my new 4th quarter formula: Win As Much As You Can –> Middle East Peace Summit –> Model East Asian Regional Forum.
11. FOUR SECTIONS = ONE FORUM?
At the earliest stages of designing this activity, I was actually considering this. Instead of working alone, you will be working in pairs. One will be the ambassador, another will be the secretary. The ambassador represents while the secretary manages and gathers information. Hence, we are looking at 60 ambassadors from different Asian countries and observer states and organizations. But thinking about this made my head explode. So much can happen and so much had to be worked out in advance. This idea will always tempt me but I didn’t want to do too much too soon.
FINAL REMARKS
The Model UN is a very diverse format. So much can be done with it and we have just begun to explore what it can do. My students know me as somewhat perfectionist, so rest assured that there are a lot of things I still want to polish, enhance, and improve.
I will be eternally grateful to my 2012 students for being great partners in this grand adventure. This is uncharted ground for me too, but we always have to start somewhere. If this becomes a much better activity next year, it will be because of you guys.
I couldn’t have done this without you and I will incredibly miss you!
Good luck in all of our future endeavors! Until our paths meet again.
P.S. I have already decided to rename it to Model ASEAN for next school year.
