World Peace Game
NBC's Education Nation summit is on this week. Thought-leaders, innovators, teachers, administrators and people on the streets have gathered in New York to talk about solutions to the U.S. public education system. Innovation Challenge is a strand of the summit focused on highlighting and inspiring creative solutions to common problems in education. Innovation Challenge features John Hunter, the creator of World Peace Game this morning.
The game is the center story of the film World Peace and Other 4th Grade Achievements. The World Peace Game is a political simulation that invites students to consider political, social, economic issues between nations. Watch this 3-minute trailer to get a glimpse of how students engage the game.
Listening to John and watching the students, it is evident that:
Relationships between students and teachers, between students themselves are key to learning. In an interview with Brian William's of NBC, when asked how other teachers can learn from John's work, he calls attention to the fact that all too often we look for solutions outside us. Deep, lasting solutions that work can only come from self-reflective practices. Teachers (and parents, I add) need to look within themselves, inspect their own baggage as they hope to nurture the minds of young learners.
Collaborative problem-solving is a powerful medium for learning. The energy amongst those students is palpable. It makes you wish every classroom would be that alive, with students so engaged, discussing problems that matter.
The role of teachers (and parents) needs to shift. In the trailer, we don't see John doing direct teaching. Instead, he has created an engaging space for the students to work with each other. He is the creator of the space, the guardian of the environment, a guide, a mentor, not a didactic teacher. If we expect our students to work together in a globalized world, they need to know how to collaborate, not in the future but today. For them to do this, teachers need to redefine their roles.