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Dialogical Manifesto
Dear Manifesto,
We think of you as a platform where cursors can meet and start a dialogue. Similar to the original call Caro and Pablo wrote for the school. We would like to instigate the conversation about our intentions by asking questions. Trough this co-writing manifesto we would like to gather the possible paths and ways: it's simple, join the script by adding your name and responding accordingly –or ask other questions. Check it once in a while to read reactions.
Who are you?
What do you think the intention of the other school should be?
CvdH: A mental container where creativity and real contexts meet; A buffer between traditional education and studios, where we can set up interdisciplinary and collaborative work. A free state to test and experiment. On the other hand the definition should be in constant flux and adaptable. What do you think?
PCS: I see it as this dialogical manifesto in itself: an ongoing conversation. In matters of education I think this is very important, as we see institutions taking years –if not decades– to structure and perfect curricula and programmes that then become obsolete. On the other side, if education becomes an ongoing conversation (as Paulo Freire would say), it will always be relevant and responding to the situations of the context where it is taking place.
Cvdh: Education as an invitation to engage in a dynamic process of dialogue. I like that!
RS: I look at it as an 'active form' that supports the dialogue and creates a collective narrative which becomes the definition of the other school. I think we no longer need institutions (educational or professional) with well defined goals and clear outcomes. For me the most valuable quality is the flexibility or how fluid the structure is, which is powered by the dynamics of the dialogue.
Cvdh: That sound very appealing! The adaptable form you are describing would also mean that at any point in your life you could join this conversation. Life expectancy is increasing, so yes why only go to school in the early stages of your life. It should be an ongoing conversation, i'm eager to find out how.
What is the motivation for starting or joining //the other school//?
CvdH: My motivation is to urge a revolution in education. There is an emerging awareness today that new directions are needed to address the complexity of an ever-accelerating world. We lack the holistic, reflective and critical perspectives that are essential.
PCS: As I see it, there is an ever growing gap between what art, design and architecture educational programmes are teaching –and the topics they're dealing with– and the reality of the world today. Now, I think this gap goes beyond the conflict between the academic world and the job market (as it is mostly suggested in neoliberal critiques to education1)), and has much more to do with the possibility of professionals (and non-professionals as well) to find a place in society. My motivation to join such project is to make a critical –yet constructive– contribution to this running debate.
RS: The need for alternative programmes, methodologies, outputs and forms of design/art and especially education is more than obvious. I see and an enormous interest from the side of participants (learners) to join a network of creative learning and we see more and more programmes popping out everywhere. For me the interesting question is how to sustain those initiatives so they have productive outcomes for all people involved in them.
What is the goal of //the other school//?
PCS: To co-develop a blueprint of alternative educational practices in / for creative fields; this can after be used as a tool for educators, artists, designers or researchers to devise different formats of knowledge sharing and production.
RS: To support conversation that can lead to methodology for sharing knowledge and can be applied in many different contexts.
How to achieve 'the' goal?
CvdH: To create a parasite that comes to a certain place and context and injects itself with a very precise amount of antibodies just enough to stirr the organism. It's a parasitic site specific residency program that partners with a local cultural institution, a school and a city department.
RS: By keeping the conversation alive and constructive, therefore productive. By inviting more people with different view point to join.
PCS: Indeed, by engaging in an open debate that scrutinizes the state of affairs in creative education, at the same time as it hints into different alternatives.
