TED Community » John Hunter
About Me
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 three-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 Ghandian 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."
- Location:
- United States, Charlottesville, VA
- Current organization:
- The World Peace Game Foundation
- Past organizations:
- The Ululating Mummies
- Gender:
- Male
- I am:
- Change Agent, Educator/Teacher, Idea generator, Inventor, Musician
- My website links:
- "World Peace and Other 4th Grade Acheivements", The World Peace Game Foundation
- Universities:
- Darden Business School Fellow-University of Virginia
- TED conferences attended:
- TED2011
More About Me
People don't know that I'm good at
Storytelling, listening
My TED Story
I was thinking of retiring, after a full career in teaching primarily identified gifted children. One fall day, an independent filmmaker, Chris Farina, shows up in my 4th grade classroom, just to watch an activity I invented over 30 years earlier. Chris falls in love with idea, stays and makes a beautiful documentary film about the art of teaching, really. We were completely stunned at its international reception, and it has propelled us, like a rocket, on tour and landed us on the TED stage. We thought the film might end up on local television in our small town of Charlottesville, Virginia. Now look what happened! I think I better go sit down.
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A comment on Talk: John Hunter: Teaching with the World Peace Game
Thank you all for your tremendous and kind support in response to the recent presentation at TED 2011. Following that talk in March, I returned to my job teaching 2nd – 5th graders at Agnor-Hurt School in Virginia. Although I have been very busy, I did want to respond to the queries about the World Peace Game.
Currently the game is not available online or anywhere else….yet! We are considering many models for sharing the game, and hope within a relatively short time to be able to offer access to this wonderful experience. If you will check the foundation site or Chris Farina’s film site about the game documentary occasionally, any new information should appear there.
For those interested in attending an upcoming screening of the documentary, “World Peace and Other 4th Grade Achievements,” I will next be accompanying the film at the Harvard University Askwith Forum on Tuesday April 26. The film will also be screened during the Lowell Film Festival in Massachusetts on Saturday April 30. I will travel to the Atlanta Film Festival for screenings on Saturday May 1 and Sunday May 7 and the film and I will be hosted in Asheville, North Carolina for a special screening at the Diana Wortham Theatre on May 4.
Just a brief note; as many of you have understood, the game is not very realistic, nor is it meant to be. I created it during the end of the cold war era when there was the greater possibility of large tank armies battling! Things have changed greatly since then, and I have updated the game to include things like insurgencies, predator drones, cyber warfare, etc.
But in truth, the game is merely a pretext for inspiring children to create, develop and practice with the tools and processes of problem-solving, and creative and critical thinking. By competent and insightful practice, I would hope that the children may ultimately be able to use these experiences to help reduce suffering and increase compassion in the world.