Mock Trial / Model United Nations
Updated 2026-09-11
INTRODUCTION
English translation pending.
CORE DEFINITION
Mock trial and Model United Nations place participants in role-playing simulations of legal proceedings or international negotiations, where each person must argue and act from an assigned stakeholder position. The core proposition is that representing a position, rather than merely understanding it, produces perspective-taking that reading or discussion cannot achieve. The key qualification is that the learning depends on genuine commitment to the role: participants who treat it as performance, or who cast the opposing side as a villain, keep their original assumptions intact.
SCAFFOLDING EFFECT
Reduce cognitive load
- Role assignment: give each participant a position that they do not already hold themselves. - Argument preparation: require evidence and reasoning from inside the assigned position only. - Blind-spot review: after the simulation, list what your original view failed to anticipate at all.
Anchor fast decisions
Arguing from an assigned position requires retrieving the considerations that support it, which is a different cognitive operation from evaluating those considerations neutrally. Committing to the role also creates consequences for poor argument, which motivates the search for genuine reasons. The result is first-hand experience of how a position shapes what its holder notices and what they ignore.
MINIMUM ACTION
In progress 0/1Practice this model in one real situation:
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Source support: Explicit
- en.wikipedia.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mock_trialverified
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