Jonh Hunter - the creator of the World
Peace Game
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.”
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