World Peace and Other 4th Grade Achievements

Hunter, John. World Peace and Other 4th Grade Achievements. 2013. 256p. ISBN 978-0-547-90559-4. Available at 303.6 HUN on the library shelves.

A teacher for more than 35 years, John Hunter has gained a lot of wisdom from his fourth graders. Years ago, he developed the concept of the World Peace game, a world simulation where his fourth graders were given control over an entire planet facing issues similar to our world. Four countries with varying degrees of economic success and military power, two large ethnic groups without their own countries, the UN, arms merchants, the weather goddess, and mercenaries are all present and faced with 50 different crisis, from global climate change to religious strife. Each fourth grader receives a dossier and belongs to one of these groups. The goal of the game is simple. All 50 crisis must be solved and world peace must be achieved for the entire class to win the game.

Hunter discusses not only the game, but also the way his students process the overwhelming flow of contradictory information to arrive at a space where, after much effort and frustration, they are able to solve the problems presented to them. Filled with wisdom from Sun Tzu’s Art of War, Hunter recounts how his 4th graders, as well as other people who have played the game, arrive at creative solutions to resolve thorny issues and how there is hope that as our children age they will remember these lessons and step beyond what we perceive as limitations to solve our world’s problems.

A fascinating read, World Peace demonstrates that human expectations can be exceeded.