Coaching English debate has been a pleasure and a challenge that makes me work my brains like no other, particularly when it comes to policy debate. Having walked into the debate coaching position by certain circumstances, I never once looked into MUN in detail. Partly because I knew debate really questioned the policy and plans, and partly because at this age, I don't have interest in just playing through the motions.
I am a gunner by nature. I either go big or I go home. Not many people get to play with fire more than I do at the age of 33. However, when like minds meet, they cooperate. I had the opportunity to work on MUN for the very first time with high school students at Columbia International School (CIS) in Longtan, Taoyuan. I have known Robert Lo for 2 years and we know each other very well, that students need to open up their minds to the world. In Taiwan, there are three general types of schools: public schools, private schools, and private international/American/European/Canadian/etc school. For quite some time, I worked with public schools because I 100% supported the notion that public schools are the heart of education. However, with the growing frustrations over bureaucratic challenges and overall lack of enthusiasm from most public teaching staff, a real boost in morale and esteem was long overdue. Robert agrees that his school's MUN needs a shake-up and a reality check. We both know speaking English like a native speaker just doesn't cut it in the real world. Sure, private international school kids are certainly more financially privileged than others, but that doesn't mean they should be numb to the world's problems. I agreed to help out within 5 minutes of my "business" brunch with Robert. Coaching MUN with the kids meant circling through my elementary school geography knowledge and familiarity with current events. It was very fruitful for a visiting coach to do so. I maneuvered through numerous countries and their current developments. I also looked for ways to show them why persuasion is part of the speech from non-verbal to verbal aspect. As I demonstrated and pointed out things to work on, they listened so attentively I felt pleasantly startled. Startled because for the most part, most public school students never had that look of admiration or respect. I was too used to that default hostility that I deal with on the first day of contact. CIS showed me that not only did they believe in making education a real issue, but also gave me the respect that any capable speech/debate coach expected in normal circumstances. While my time there was short, I covered mostly on practicing genuine eye contact (looking at the dot on a person's forehead), speech familiarity, stress and pause, and most of all the art of delivery through tones and pitches. I am honored to train them and would not hesitate to go back some other time. Thank you CIS.
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