SPARK AND THE ART OF KNOWING NOTHING spark 2020 06/12

Jun 29

“One thing only I know, and that is that I know nothing” –Socrates

We encourage SPARK staff to build awareness, understanding and control of their thought processes to improve learning, this is not just related to architecture and design as we think the making of cross-connections between industries with a degree of invention is the hallmark of great designers like Achille Castiglioni.

Plato created the Academy in Athens to teach how to think like Socrates. “The Socratic Method” was born, a habit of questioning in the manner of the master who’s life’s philosophy was to find someone who knew more than he did, as though he knew nothing. Asking questions helps draw one’s own conclusions, to think critically of the information learnt and to reassemble it in perhaps a unique way rather than regurgitating it by rote.

*SPARK Rochester Park Executive Adult learning centre: outdoor auditorium*

It was worrying to read recently in the Economist that educators in Hong Kong are being “encouraged” to strike critical thinking from the curriculum, the basic prerequisite of a child’s education that provides them with the foundation to problem solving in favour of a more robotic form of learning. You could argue that the idea of critical thinking is needed more than ever in this “age of disruption” when the majority of jobs of this fledgling generation will work in have yet to be invented.

The projects illustrated below are places we have designed that hopefully are places that gladden the heart, work well, and shows thought, imagination and dedication in its design to make educational environments that are fun and stimulating to be in. Even if design had no measurable outcomes, students of all ages should have access to good learning environments that stimulate positivity and critical thinking in smart classrooms that take advantage of new technologies to improve learning and progress questioning in the spirit of Socrates.