OSCAMUN AILY 27TH FEBRUARY 2015
MUN BETWEEN POLITICS AND EDUCATION
IL MUN TRA EDUCAZIONE E POLITICA
The first MUNs date back to the 20s thanks to the awareness promoted by the anglofone accademic world, in particular by Harvard and the by Ivy league. Their foundation corrisponds to a precise historical necessity, wisely interpreted by coeval american pragmatism : the urgency to unite education and administration programmatically. Political conformation is, up to this day, a fundamental issue in western thinking. During the last century it has taken on various and particular forms; let us remember, for instance, the formation of party members promoted by socialism and by the PCI in Italy, the marxist formation of the soviet school of thought in the eastern bloc, the concept of individual liberty discussed for a long time during the 70s by Foucault and Noam Chomskji. The new millenium gives way to the research of a fundamentally liberal pedagogical model, able to mediate between the individual's belonging to a collective ideology and the application for individual expression. The new challenge consists in synthesizing the public, and personal dimentions and that of the State to form a positive dialectics. It is what the chinese educational model has tried to achieve, establishing continuity between the scholastic itinerary and executive governmental positions, however with the result of becoming opressive and reductionist. An efficient solution was offered by the american filosopher and pedagogist Dewey already in the early XXth century. In the fisrt few pages of “Democracy and education” he eludes the rigid dichotomy individualism-comunitarianism by defining the educational process as the social phenomenon necessary for the preservation and developement of every comunity: “ Democracy's devotion to education is a well know fact, the superficial explanation is that a government depending on the people's vote cannot prosper if those who elect the rulers are not educated. There is however a deeper reason, seeing that a democracy isn't merely a form of government but an associated form of life, a continuously communicated experience”. This is a fundamental stage in Tocqueville's intuition regarding the necessity to educate democracy. Deweyan optimism can only hold while it is supported by the full centrality of the educational process. The latter can be considered as a simple phenomenon functional to social cohesion, but it holds the same processual dynamics as political experiences do. It is not a matter of preparation for future life but of including the typical traits of social life in the educational process. As asserted by Habermas, the modern world must create a “etica del discorso”: by entering the field of communicated experience the democratic setting automatically increases, appointing equal dignity to all participants to the conversation. This is the goal and foundation of the MUN, that is to establish in its own structure the awareness of social and democratic ontology and to mold cosmopolite, cognizant and educated citizens.
I primi MUN risalgono agli anni 20’ grazie alla sensibilizzazione promossa dal mondo accademico anglofono,in primis Harvard e la Ivy League. La loro fondazione corrisponde a una precisa necessità storica, saggiamente interpretata dal coevo pragmatismo americano: l’urgenza di unire programmaticamente educazione e governo. La formazione politica è una questione fondamentale del pensiero occidentale e ancora oggi attualisissima. Nel secolo precedente essa ha assunto diverse e particolari declinazioni; basti ricordare la “scuola di partito” promossa anche in Italia dal socialismo e dal PCI, la formazione marxista del pensiero sovietico nel blocco orientale, il concetto di libertà individuale nel sistema scolastico dibattuto a lungo da Foucault e Noam Chomskji negli anni 70. Il nuovo millennio si apre alla ricerca di un modello pedagogico fondamentalmente liberale, capace di mediare l’appartenenza del singolo a un’ideologia collettiva con le istanze dell’espressione individuale. La nuova sfida consiste nel sintetizzare in una dialettica positiva la dimensione pubblica, statale con quella personale. E’ quello che ha tentato il modello educativo cinese, istituendo una continuità tra percorso scolastico e accesso a posizioni dirigenziali nel governo,finendo però nell’essere oppressivo e riduzionista. Una soluzione efficace è stata offerta da Dewey, filosofo e pedagogista statunitense, già nella prima metà del 1900. Egli sfugge alla rigida dicotomia individualismo-comunitarismo definendo nelle prime pagine di “democrazia ed educazione” il processo educativo quale fenomeno sociale necessario alla conservazione e allo sviluppo di qualsiasi comunità: ”La devozione della democrazia all’educazione è un fatto ben noto, la spiegazione superficiale è che un governo che dipende dal suffragio popolare non può prosperare se coloro che eleggono i governanti non sono educati. Ma vi è una ragione più profonda, dal momento che la democrazia non è solo una mera forma di governo ma una vita associata, un’esperienza continuamente comunicata”. E’ questo un passaggio fondamentale che porta a compimento l’intuizione di Tocqueville relativamente alla necessità di educare la democrazia. L’ottimismo deweyano può reggere solo se supportato da una piena centralità del processo educativo. Quest’ultimo non può essere visto come un semplice fenomeno funzionale alla coesione sociale, ma racchiude in sé le stesse dinamiche processuali dell’esperienza politica. Non si tratta di preparare alla vita del futuro ma di accogliere all’interno dell’esperienza educativa i tratti tipici della vita sociale. Come ha sostenuto Habermas, il mondo moderno deve creare un’ “etica del discorso”: chi si colloca all’interno dell’esperienza comunicata incrementa automaticamente l’impostazione democratica, assegnando pari dignità a tutti i partecipanti al discorso. Questo è al contempo il fine e il fondamento del MUN, ovvero costituire nella sua struttura dialogica e dialettica una consapevolezza di ontologia sociale e democratica, formando un cittadino cosmopolita, colto e cosciente.
Almorò Zanessi
A PARTIAL VIEW I have been following the growth of this project from the very first steps, and I have seen all the building blocks of its human and logistical structure fall into place; and I have also seen all the people involved in it growing, by developping their skills and learning how to use them through debating, research and through making the effort to seek solutions. This is why, today, as I observe its entire mechanism powering up its engine and see it working perfectly, passing through the delegation assistants and the security, from the secretariat to the committees, I feel a deep sense of satisfaction and pride. Last year we "invented" our own way to make a Model United Nations, and this year all the work has been covered even better, and FOSCAMUN has become undoubtedly bigger and more important. It is with great emotion that I wish you all to work well and enjoy FOSCAMUN 2015. To Francesca Da Ros: break a leg, and don't worry, you've done a wonderful job and it will all turn out well. How? We both know that is a mistery.
Gilda Panizza
THE FOSCAMUN ANTHEM I will leave my mark Like an airplane in the sky Being the one, the one who takes part The one who stands up, and fights for his chance They might say we are too young to understand And things are simply what they are Let them talk and let them shout While the change has just begun Chorus: I am you, you are me, even if we are (so) that far Two eyes, two arms , two legs , a (one) heart A smile and so much to share I have a dream, someone said once A dream about tolerance and love Join me in this trip to a new world Give me your respect (and) I(’ll) give you mine Those walls are falling even harder now Holding hands was never so right Hear the sound of the spread of our wings Where (the) last will be first Chorus: I am you, you are me, even if we are (so) that far Two eyes, two arms , two legs, (one) a heart a smile and so much to share
Lyrics by Gaia Campesato Music by Marta Luciani
TODAY’S SCHEDULE 10:00-10:30 Welcome and registration 10:30-11:30 Official photos, 11:30-13:30 Opening ceremony 13:30-15:00 Lunch 15:00-17:00 Session I 17:00-17:30 Break
FOSCAMUN 2015
17:30-19:30 Session II
LICEO CLASSICO - EUROPEO MARCO FOSCARINI VENICE, 27 FEBRUARY - 1 MARCH 2015
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MILANO 2015 NUTRIRE IL PIANETA ENERGIA PER LA VITA
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