Guest Post: A Personal Reflection on Model UN & Montessori
by Ryan on April 17, 2011
Today guest post is by Camille Moro, a MUNer at Seton Hall University who is also a Montessori alumnus. Camille helped me live blog this weekend’s Montessori MUN conference, and in the article below, she reflects on her experience as a student of Model UN and the Montessori educational philosophy.
今天的客座日志来自卡米尔–摩洛，来自薛顿贺尔大学的一名模联学生，也是蒙台梭利的毕业生。卡米尔帮助我在博客上直播了本周末的蒙台梭利模拟联合国国际青少年峰会，在下面的文章中，她写下了作为一个模联学生的经历以及她理解的蒙台梭利教育理念。
After a childhood of being engulfed by her ideas, both in school as a Montessori student and at home as the daughter of a Montessori teacher, Dr. Maria Montessori has become very special to me. This is how I found myself in New York at MMUN, very excited to see her impact on my favorite activity, Model UN.
在童年期深受蒙台梭利思想影响之后，不管是在校作为一个蒙台梭利学生，还是在家作为一个蒙台梭利教师的女儿，玛利亚–蒙台梭利博士对我都有着特殊的影响。这就是我置身于纽约参加蒙台梭利模拟联合国活动，并见证蒙台梭利博士对模联——我喜欢的活动的影响而激动的原因。
That impact was evident everywhere in the conference, from the country display boards in the hall to the way the students interacted. I know that she would have been proud of the bright, young delegates in attendance.
这种影响在在会议中处处可见，从大厅的展示板到学生交流的方式。我认为她会因有聪明的小代表参会而自豪的。
Click “Learn More” below to read about Camille’s experience!
点击 下面的“了解更多”栏目，阅读关于卡米尔的经历
Dr. Montessori once said, “The prize and punishments are incentives toward unnatural or forced effort, and, therefore we certainly cannot speak of the natural development of the child in connection with them.”
蒙台梭利曾经说过，奖励和惩罚手段对于儿童发展来说就像是施加的非自然或者强迫的刺激。因而我们当然不能用与奖励和惩罚相关的手段来谈及儿童的自然发展。
Staying true to this belief, MMUN did not give awards, which created an entirely different committee atmosphere. No one dominated debate or spoke just for the sake of speaking, making each speech substantial and productive for the committee.
蒙台梭利模联活动不给予奖励，营造了一种完全不同的会议氛围，正是对蒙台梭利教育思想的坚持。蒙台梭利模联会议中没有人主导会议，每一次的发言仅仅是使内容充实，使会议富有成效。
I walked around during unmoderated caucus and for the first time in five years of MUN did not hear a single argument over sponsorship of the working papers. Instead, all of their energy was channeled into the actual content.
在紧张的会议期间，我曾四处走走，这是我参加模联活动五年来的第一次。但从没有听到在草拟工作论文上的哪怕很简短的一次争吵。
The pressure caused by awards was absent, but Dr. Montessori was very much present. In her classrooms, there are no grades, allowing students to learn because they want to.
不采用奖励，就不会产生由于奖励带来的压力，现实中蒙台梭利博士也是这样做的。在她的班级里，没有分数，只有学生根据自己的喜好去学习。
The same thing was true in the conference – the delegates voiced their opinions out of desire to be a part of the debate and the process, not to go home with a gavel. This facilitated true cooperation and true diplomacy.
同样的事情也在会议上真实发生着，即代表们表达各自的观点，都想着能成为讨论和会议进程的一部分，而不是离开家乡的一次旅行。在这儿通过真诚的合作促进了外交政策的形成。
It was definitely not the “unnatural or forced effort” that Dr. Montessori wished to avoid; it was authentic. They got the personal satisfaction of having contributed, which, in her method, is the only reward a person needs.
这是真实可信的，确实不是“非自然的或者强加的努力”，也是蒙台梭利博士希望避免的。通过自己的方式而取得的个人满足感，是一个人真正需要的唯一奖赏。
Young delegates using pictures to communicate ideas for a resolution
小代表们正在用图示的方法交流解决问题的观点
The way the delegates communicated struck me as being different as well. In true Montessori fashion, they spent most of the unmoderated caucuses sitting in a circle on the floor.
代表们沟通的方式如此不同，使我深受影响。以蒙台梭利的方式，在地毯上围坐成一圈开会，成了会议的主要方式，
In the classroom, the circle was where we would go to discuss feelings and concerns. We usually had an object that we would pass around to establish who had speaking privileges at the moment.
在课堂中，随处能围城一圈讨论各种意见和关注点。我们也经常有一个主题，分发给每个人并确定谁有演讲的权利。
I was taken back to those days as I watched a group – completely unprompted by the dais or advisors – gather and decide that the only person talking should be whoever was holding a certain pen.
我回想参加模联的那些日子，一群人完全自发的聚集在讲台或指导教师旁，讨论决定
Taking turns does not always happen during caucusing, but these delegates were genuinely interested in hearing the others’ ideas rather than focusing on what they themselves were going to say next.
在会议期间并不总是按照次序发言的，但所有的代表都真诚地倾听他人的观点，而不是仅仅关注自己将要讨论的内容。
Of course I thought this was absolutely adorable, but I think the cutest thing was how they would raise their hands when they wanted to share something instead of calling out. Dr. Montessori was steadfast in her conviction that the whole world is a classroom, a concept that the MMUN delegates seem to have completely mastered.
当然这是绝对可爱的，但我认为最可爱的事情是，当他们想与别人分享观点时是怎样举手，而不是大声叫喊。蒙台梭利博士一直坚持着整个世界就是一个课堂的思想，这样的观点应该是所有模联代表都要理解的。
Montessori students prefer to caucus on the floor -- that's how they normally sit during class
蒙台梭利学生喜欢坐在地板上开会，那是他们在课堂上通常这样坐的方式
My good friend M. Francesco Alberti recently gave a little speech to a group of mesmerized delegates about how the gavel embodies everything for which MUN stands.
我的好朋友弗朗西斯科–阿尔贝蒂最近给一群痴迷模联的代表做了一个演讲，内容是模联所主张的法槌是一切是如何体现的。
He asked if they knew what this was. “Peace,” some answered. “Security,” said others. “Even broader than that,” he told them – “It’s education.”
他问他们是否知道其中的意思，有的回答是和平，其他的回答是安全。他告诉他们，比和平和安全更宽广的，是教育。
Of course, education is everything that Dr. Montessori stood for as well. She believed so strongly in its power that she would tell aspiring educators that “establishing lasting peace is the work of education; all politics can do is keep us out of war.”
当然，教育是一切，这也是蒙台梭利博士所主张的。她坚信教育的力量，以致她告诉有志于教育的从业者，避免战争是政治的事，建立和平是教育的事。
She would have felt so gratified seeing how well MMUN combined her techniques with such a stimulating outlet for a child’s creative potential. For Dr. Montessori, seeing kids engage in discussions beyond their years would have been nothing new since her methods are so conducive to mature thinking.
如果她能看到蒙台梭利模联能够把她的教育方法和培养儿童的创造力有机结合，会感到非常满意的。对蒙台梭利博士来说，也愿意看到由于她的教育方法对儿童心智的成熟是富有成效的，以至于儿童不分年龄地参与讨论不再是新奇的事情了。
I, on the other hand, am still wrapping my brain around the fact that every MMUN delegate was 14 or under, yet was passionately discussing such intense topics as nuclear weapons, world food security, and repatriation of refugees, while actually coming up with logical and intelligent potential solutions.
另一方面，我的脑海还充满着这样的事实：每个蒙台梭利模联的代表都是14岁或以下的孩子，他们热烈地讨论着如此紧张的主题，如核战争、世界食品安全、难民的遣送问题等，实际上还能提出一些富有理性和聪明才智的潜在的解决方案。
Another solid belief of Dr. Montessori’s was that “within the child lies the fate of the future.” And I believe her. After hearing these kids, I dare say that things are looking quite bright.
蒙台梭利博士的另一个坚定的信条是未来决定在孩子手中，我也坚信这一点。听过孩子们的交流之后，我敢说，前途是光明的。
Elementary school delegates in the Committee on the Rights of the Child -- children discussing the rights of children
会议上小学生代表在讨论儿童权利——儿童讨论儿童权利
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