TED: John Hunter creates a World Peace game for young students
Hunter has been teaching this 4th grade class for 20 years. Students each represent a nation and play a game much like UN Monopoly, and they have to resolve issues like war, water purification, global-warming, etc… And they do this on their own, without being told how to negotiate… Hunter is always amazed by the results – what they teach themselves about world peace – and avoiding war…
Teacher and musician John Hunter is the inventor of the World Peace Game (and the star of the new doc “World Peace and Other 4th-Grade Achievements”).
Why you should listen to him:
Musician, teacher, filmmaker and game designer, John Hunter has dedicated his life to helping children realize their full potential. His own life story is one of a never-ending quest for harmony. As a student, he studied comparative religions and philosophy while traveling through Japan, China and India. In India, inspired by Ghandi’s philosophy, he began to think about the role of the schoolteacher in creating a more peaceful world.
As his online biography says: “Accepting the reality of violence, he would seek to incorporate ways to explore harmony in various situations. This exploration would take form in the framework of a game – something that students would enjoy. Within the game data space, they would be challenged, while enhancing collaborative and communication skills.”
In 1978, at the Richmond Community High School, Hunter led the first sessions of his World Peace Game, a hands-on political simulation. The game has now been played around the world, on a four-tiered board. It’s the subject of the new film World Peace and Other 4th-Grade Achievements.
Read John Hunter’s note to the community following the publication of his TEDTalk >>
Chez Froggie 