John Hunter talks on the TED show and expresses his inspiration as a public school teacher. He was hired as a gifted teacher, where he was given no standards or guidelines of teaching. Upon getting hired, he asked the super attendant, "What do i do?" and her response was, "What do you want to do?" With this response he used his imagination and creativity to teach his children. He came up with the World Peace Game. This game was four dimensional and included outer space. The purpose of this game was to let students see if they could solve the problems of Africa. He used this game as a means of engaging the students and getting them involved in hands- on learning. In the game students learn to think in long term consequential way. He lets the students run the game; he is only the facilitator. He claims, "The students collective wisdom is greater than mine." Every game takes it own path; some are focused more on welfare, some are more about social skills. Each game teaches something different.
It was inspiring and motivational to see the way John Hunter approaches education in his classroom. His method of teaching children was totally different than anything I have ever seen or heard of before. However, I find this World Peace Game that he incorporates in the classroom very effective for his fourth grade gifted students. They not only learn about the world and the problems of the world, but also they understand the importance of working together and solving issues as a whole. Everything they learn can be related to real life. These fourth graders are learning about the world and outside sources that most students are not exposed to. They are self motivated and actually want to learn. John Hunter is teaching children how to think, and to think deeper. I think that John Hunter's method of teaching was inspirational, and I find that incorporating creativity in the classroom is essential for students learning.
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