As teachers we need inspiration and support. If you are feeling a need to think about your purpose in the classroom and the meaning you have on those in your path, pick up a copy of World Peace and Other 4th-Grade Achievements, by John Hunter. I was intrigued by the prologue, and the inspiration and entertainment continued throughout the entire recollection of Mr. Hunter’s experiences in his classrooms since 1978.
Robin KlinglerRobin has always had a passion for education as well as a nagging sense that, despite our best intentions, students need more than what is typically offered in the classroom. When her daughter was in third grade, Robin noticed a change: the joy of learning was slowly but surely draining from a child who had always been so animated and curious. It was then that by chance she caught part of a radio interview with John Hunter about his book and the documentary World Peace and Other 4th Grade Achievements. Not long after, Robin enrolled her daughter in one of John’s summer camps and enrolled herself in a Master Class. The experience was life changing for them both. John’s “empty space” teaching practices answered the question of what Robin had always felt was missing in her daughter’s school experience as well in her own approach to education as a teacher and the way she viewed herself in the learning process.
Through the years Robin has worked closely with John Hunter and was designated as Executive Director of the World Peace Game Foundation by John upon his retirement. It is her greatest joy to continue John’s legacy and share the World Peace Game through her dual role as Master Class Facilitator and Foundation Director.
Sienna WrightSienna Wright is executive assistant to John Hunter. She volunteers her time to coordinate requests for speaking engagements for Mr. Hunter, as well as designs and updates the written materials used by the World Peace Game Foundation. Sienna is currently the CEO of virtual administrative services.
John N. Hunter Jr.John Hunter is the founder of the World Peace Game Foundation. He is creator of the World Peace Game and has taught the Game in various school settings since 1978. He is the author of World Peace and Other Fourth-Grade Achievements and is an international speaker who has presented to various audiences including TED, the Aspen Institute, Google, the United States Pentagon, and the National Association of Independent Schools.
A native Virginian and graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University, John Hunter is an award-winning gifted teacher and educational consultant who has dedicated his life to helping children realize their full potential. Employing his background as a musician composer and filmmaker during a four-decade career as a teacher, Hunter has combined his gifted teaching and artistic talents to develop unique teaching programs using multimedia software programs in creative writing and film courses.
During his university years, he traveled and studied comparative religions and philosophy throughout Japan, India and China. It was while in India, the cradle of Gandhian thought, Hunter, intrigued by the principles of non-violence, began to think of how his profession might contribute to peace in the world.
Knowing that ignoring violence would not make it go away, how could he teach peace in an often-violent world? 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. Over time, in a synchronous unfolding with the growing global focus on increasingly complex social and political conditions, the game has gained new impetus. As Hunter succinctly explains, “The World Peace Game is about learning to live and work comfortably in the unknown.”
My first job interview, I asked the supervisor, what should I do? She said ‘What do you want to do?’.
As a teacher, to be given that kind of open space, that kind of mandate-less position to be in where you can create out of the emptiness, it allowed me to create that kind of template for my students, where I could ask them, ‘What would YOU like to do today? What is your passion? What drives you?’
If the students have the interest and you build towards that, then they can come with more passion for learning.
Jenny KnightJenny Knight is an explorer, educator, school leader and consultant in the USA and Australia. She has worked in both private and public schools. Her priorities focus equally on advocating for children and expanding the capacity of educators. She is dedicated to broadening the influence of the World Peace Game!
Madeline HunterDaughter of WPG Founder John Hunter, Madeline is a clinical social worker focused on working with children and teens who have experienced trauma. She was drawn to service work starting with her participation in many World Peace Game sessions which led to her realizing she needed to be a part of the hands-on effort to provide people with the services and healing they need.
She brings this trauma-informed perspective with her therapy practice to the World Peace Game Foundation board with an intent to help to spread and foster her fathers vision on to the next generation.
Stephanie Gruner BuckleyStephanie Gruner Buckley is a writer, editor and media specialist. Her journalism career began at Inc. magazine in Boston. She later joined The Wall Street Journal in London and served as Europe Editor for Quartz during its global launch. She has worked in Georgia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and many other developing economies, as a media and communications advisor to government officials, judges, prosecutors and NGOs. She is a writing coach, a freelance editor for MIT’s Sloan Management Review, and a frequent contributor to Medium.