Wednesday, 4 November 2015

Welcome to the Real World

          It may just be me but I am terrified of the real world. Thinking about leaving school where I always know what is expected for me and knowing my schedule for the next couple of months, everything just seems so easy. Maybe I am scared to leave the education system because I feel like have never been prepared for actual real world problems. Problems like budgeting or finding passion outside of school.  Drake, Reid and Kolohon (2015) note the importance of integrating these real world problems into your classroom.  These problems can vary from budgeting your life in math class to trying to solve nation wide problems such as world peace...

World health organization. (Nov 3, 2015). Retrieved from Wikipedia website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Health_Organization
            This is exactly what John Hunter does. Mr. Hunter is a 4th grade teacher who has created the “World Peace Game”. This game is four big pieces of plexiglass above and below each other, which represents different parts of the atmosphere (sky, ground, underwater, ect). There are four different counties around the board, where some are rich and some are poor with different assets, each country has a cabinet. Each country int he game is represented by a different group of students, where one is the prime minister and the other students make up the rest of the cabinet. There is also a “weather goddess” in the game, who spontaniously decides weather and stock market changes. With this there is also a 13 page crisis document that had 50 interlocking world problems that are social, economic and military issues, such as war, oil spills, famine, endangered species, and global warming. All 50 of these problems need to be solved and every county has to end with more money compared to the start before winning the game for everyone to win the game. This game has become so influential they have created a movie about it called World Peace and Other Fourth-Grade Achievements, here is the trailer. 

Rosalia Films. (Sept 7, 2010). World peace and other fourth-grade achievements extended trailer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCq8V2EhYs0

           It is extraordinary to think that 4th graders can be solving real world problems that can’t even seem to be solved to this day. This is a great example of inquiry based learning, in this kind of learning students find creative ways to problems solve and make sense of their own world around them to solve complex problems (Drake, Reid & Kolohon, 2015). Mr. Hunter’s purpose for these games was to get his students ready for anything that they have to face outside of his class and to help solve the problems that past generations have made. He also wanted to give his students problems that they would challenge them but questions that intrigue them, though these two points conflicts it makes students want to further learn. This is exactly what inquiry based learning should do in the classroom, it gives students ownership over their work, and it is thought as 'play' instead of work (Drake, Reid & Kolohon, 2015). Mr. Hunters grade 4 classes is encouraged to use long term, collective and critical thinking. I believe that Mr. Hunter is pushing is students to not fear any problems that come their ways, and encouraging them to go out into the real world and follow their passion!

Educator John Hunter talks with chapter 16 about the world peace game. (July 11, 2013). Retrieved from Nashville Scene website:http://www.nashvillescene.com/nashville/educator-john-hunter-talks-with-chapter-16-about-the-world-peace-game/Content?oid=3458069

            To my audience of future teachers and teachers, this inquiry based learning is tangible for every classroom, and gives everyone of us the opportunity to help our students learn how to solve these real world problems. This way every student can be ready for the real world with open arms!

References 
Drake, S. M., Reid, J. L., & Kolohon, W. (2014). Interweaving curriculum and classroom assessment: Engaging the 21st-century learner. Don Mills, Ontario: Oxford University Press.
Hunter J. (2011, March). John hunter: Teaching with the world peace game [video file]. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/john_hunter_on_the_world_peace_game?language=en
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4 comments:

  1. nschwarz6 November 2015 at 11:16

    Hi Miss Selvam!!

    I am absolutely fascinated by your example of the World Peace Game, because I can remember learning about it briefly in class before, but you have really looked at this example at a deeper and more critical level. I too, believe that this game is a wonderful example of inquiry-based learning, as the focus of teaching is on problem-solving skills and self-regulation. That being said, the responsibilities do fall on the students, as they are ones making the decisions, and this can really benefit them towards developing critical thinking skills. What I believe is so effective with inquiry-based learning is that when teachers bring real world problems into their lessons, it makes the learning more relevant for students, and is likely to boost their motivation. Students should be active participants in their own learning, so by giving them the opportunity to engage in student-centered learning like the World Peace Game, we are allowing our students to pursue their own questions as it lets their learning come alive!!

    I do understand that the World Peace Game is a little complex for younger students to engage in, so what suggestions do you have to incorporate student-centered inquiry learning to children who are in the younger elementary grades? Do you believe that all students from K-12 can play an active role in the design of their own learning, and if so, how would you go about doing that through the different grades? I am really glad you shared your insights on this topic, as I am really inspired and I could go on asking questions!! Overall, you did a fantastic job explaining the importance of inquiry learning, although I would have loved to see some hyperlinks that could have led me to other resources in order to look more deeply into this topic.
    Great job!

    Nicole Schwarz

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  2. Unknown10 November 2015 at 17:42

    Miss Selvam!!
    I must start this feedback-driven response with kudos to how you started off your blog post: such an amazing title!! You have done a wonderful job at creating a title that draws the reader in, by its informal and catchy nature, all the while hinting at the content to follow, without giving away your thesis. "Welcome to the real world" for inquiry based learning, including examples of Hunter's curricula and pedagogy? It is so intriguing!!

    Now on to the content, I could not agree more with your arguments of the importance of non-traditional teaching techniques like inquiry based learning. It allows different types of learners to engage with the material, as they are able to engage with the material through real-world relations and problem solving activities. Hunter has always been an inspiration for me, and I believe that we, as future educators, should attempt to follow his lead and include more non-traditional exercises in our lessons. My question for you though is this: do you believe that this can be done for every subject, or are there only certain subjects that this would be beneficial for?

    While reading your blog, I had noticed that no hyperlinks, or directions for further research were included. Moving forward with your blogging, I would really like to encourage you to include this!! Through including hyperlinks, the reader is then able to further their understanding of the topics you discuss, and further engage, by clicking through to different articles that you have found and noted as pertinent. Your blog was insightful, as it concisely explained your key findings, with appropriate articles to back it up, showing that your points were credible. You have also done a good job in this post at including a good amount of media components!!

    Thank you for sharing,
    Miss Sehl

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  3. Emily Scott11 November 2015 at 15:50

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  4. Emily Scott11 November 2015 at 16:01

    Miss Selvam,

    You did such a wonderful job of making your blog so applicable, as always! I love how you incorporated a real life example of how we can be teaching our students about the real world. The game that Hunter facilities is so interesting, he does an excellent job of teaching lessons as well as important social skills and critical thinking. Inquiry based learning is such an important tool for teacher to use. As future teachers, it is our job to teach students more than just the curriculum, it is important for use to teach them emotionally, intellectually, physically and spiritually. Creating lessons that facilitate this learning can be a very difficult task! I am thankful for the amazing resources that are available online. It is also so important that we are creating assessments that facilitate this type of learning as well. When students find assessments to be interactive and engaging their learning will be more meaningful.

    You have done such a great job again, next time I would love to hear some personal examples!

    Take care,

    Miss Scott

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