Orienting Generalisations - or
immersing and playing in extra realms
Heiner Benking
Positive Nett-works and PNYV, Berlin, Germany
Based on a
seminar with the European Forum for Freedom in Education (effe) in 1999 and a
Children Workshop in 1993 in Finland the author will present his experience
with school kids and scouts to orient in geographical and mental maps and
models.
The title for
the "effe" workshop was: "From the Senses to Meaning, Reason,
and Sensibility - From Culture to Cyberculture?" as with keeping
Kückelhaus and the Exploratorium (SF) and H. GARDNER in mind, it makes sense to
add the input or representations of senses in real and "ideal/virtual"
worlds or models in order to learn about broader or extra "worlds".
The Model (one
slice in an extensional or spacial model is a map) was developed in 1989 when
preparing for an exhibition on Global Change and ever since tested with young
and old. The whole design is a Space you can jointly enter, when you built it
physically - otherwise virtually, and share positions, perspectives, levels,...
As it
combines the physical (geographic) space and a context and
cultural/multi-lingual space it forms a 3Space/Time Cognitive Panorama.
The
workshop will introduce the design and report on workshops and seminars where
this immersive construction was presented to kids from 10-16 years. (They
called it later HOUSE OF EYES, or WORLD HOUSE, they wrote later that they did
not like the conventional "FLAT" WORLDVIEW of school any more, but
like the think (play) in this new territories. (See TURKU 1993)
More can
be found at:
see: Die Konferenz spielt / Spielprojekterevue -
“The conference at play” / Revue of Play Projects
Wednesday, 20. July 2005,
Workshops, Der Kongress spielt “The conference at play”