Global Classrooms and the Model UN
For over 60 years, Model UN has thrived in highly selective high schools and colleges - institutions with the resources to match a strong student interest in world affairs. However, prior to Global Classrooms students in economically disadvantaged public schools rarely had the same opportunity to participate.
Created by the United Nations Association to address this challenge, Global Classrooms seeks to engage these middle school and high school students in an exploration of current world issues through interactive simulations and curricular materials that cultivate literacy, life skills and the attitudes necessary for their own active citizenship.
The culmination of Global Classrooms program year is a Model United Nations conference held in each Spring. At this conference students step into shoes of UN Ambassadors and debate a range of issues on the UN agenda with their peers from other area schools.
Houston is one of just 24 major cities around the world where the Global Classrooms approach bridges the gap in the Model UN community between experienced programs and traditionally underserved public schools. Since 2002, Global Classrooms has reached as many as 2500 students and over 40 schools in the HISD and Aldine ISD.
For 2011-2012 we are recruiting schools to participant from a wider pool of schools and districts. These will include Pasadena-ISD, Alief-ISD, North Forest-ISD, and Spring Branch-ISD.
Curriculum & Teacher Support
Global Classrooms is aligned with the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS). It provides middle and high school students with the opportunity to experience a Model UN conference and to become part of the larger national Model UN community.
Global Classrooms offers curriculum units on such topics as Peacekeeping, Sustainable Development and Human Rights. Each comes with a teacher's guide and accompanying student workbooks. In addition to the curriculum, participating teachers receive extensive professional development support to help them integrate the program into classroom learning.
College Exposure
Global Classrooms also provides younger students who may have never considered college, or even visited a campus before, with an opportunity to see and learn more about higher education. Throughout the program high-school and middle school students get to interact with dozens of college students from local schools like the University of Houston.
These college students serve as volunteer coaches, mentors, and committee chairs who role-play the positions of the UN Secretariat during the actual Global Classrooms Model UN Conference held in the Spring. And during the conference, high-school students and their teachers are also given opportunities to tour the campus and learn more about applying for college as well as scholarship and financial-aid opportunities.
