From the Head of School

 A Fine ISA Tradition

The oldest yearbook we have at ISA dates from 1974, two years after the school was founded.  We were a far smaller place, and a lot less went on.  About the only non-sports club we had was the Model United Nations (MUN).

50 years on, we have changed name, site (twice), curriculum, staff and students (many times), but we still have the MUN, a high school club run by Cruz Ordonez.  It really is part of who we are.

For MUN, students become delegates representing countries on an issue of the day.  Last year, I accompanied some of our high school students to a conference where the topic under discussion was whether to impose sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.  Delegates didn’t represent their own opinions, but were assigned countries.  Before the conference they research the country and their likely position on what is to be discussed.

It requires students to think through another perspective, to move themselves to a different starting point on an issue.  By doing this, they naturally become aware of their own assumptions.  Put them in a formal debate with other delegates, and they cannot help but consider a range of perspectives.

MUN is a high school club, one of the oldest at ISA.  But the students that join don’t step into another reality for an hour a week.  Awareness of your own assumptions and considering a range of perspectives is something they regularly do within the curriculum, especially through courses such as Global Perspectives.

Next week, Cruz Ordonez and ISA’s MUN delegates head to St Leonards school in St Andrews for their latest conference. They are representing a 50 year tradition at ISA.