Piloting the World Peace Game at Shorecrest

Mrs. Bhuyan and Mrs. Horton’s fourth grade classes at Shorecrest have been playing The World Peace Game. This game was invented by a teacher named John Hunter. The World Peace Game – as explained in this Ted Talk - is a simulation game in which students are placed in government roles. They have a dossier with 52 intertwined and entangled crises to solve. There are four fictional countries, a “Secret Empire,” and four organizations. The students have been playing the role of either a country leader or cabinet role; or they have been a member of one of the global organizations. The goal of the game is to solve all the crises while not going under their original starting budget. There is a secret role of a saboteur in the game who brings an element of mystery and forces students to think on a higher level.

The philosophy and principles around this game can be applied to many other aspects in our teaching. The situations in this game touch on many of the topics students have studied throughout their time in Lower School such as environmental factors, immigration, human rights, industry, financial considerations and more. There is especially a tie in to the work they do in Inquiry. Some important practices that teachers learn is to trust the "collective wisdom" of the children, let them make mistakes, allow failure to happen, provide opportunities for reflection, and to get out of their way.

Although the countries and crisis are fictional, they do draw parallels to events in history and in current events. Students who have the opportunity to think about and role-play these situations in a classroom game will likely be able to better make connections when studying history at higher levels, and when thinking about current events in their own lives. It is also great preparation for Model United Nations in Upper School.