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.
Robin Klingler
Sienna Wright
Jenny Knight
Madeline Hunter
Stephanie Gruner Buckley