ERIC Number: ED284342
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1986-Nov
Pages: 13
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Educators, Architects and the Tower of Babel.
Elhanini, Aba
Architects need to understand sociology, psychology, philosophy, education, and many other fields in order to plan professional buildings. To illustrate this point, a distinction is drawn between teaching (imparting factual knowledge) and educating (imparting general understanding or basic appreciation of the subjects studied and applying this understanding to life). After evoking the "Tower of Babel" image, this paper contrasts the social harmony of the medieval era, when cathedrals were built by entire cities and numerous artisans, with today's skyscrapers built with great wealth but devoid of meaning. Human civilization may be viewed as a continuous attempt to restore communication faculties lost in the Tower of Babel. Today's overspecialization and overdifferentiation produces graduates who know something without understanding anything else. Schooling's primary purpose should be to impart such understanding, leaving particular knowledge to higher education. Architects should build schools for the students--even though most say their school's physical structure makes little difference. Architecture is presented as an exceptional, interdisciplinary profession whose essence deserves attention in school curricula. Using games with building blocks and other aids, children should learn about structural elements such as walls, windows, and doors and express their natural creative and constructive inclinations. Clearly, closer cooperation between architecture and education is needed. (MLH)
Publication Type: Opinion Papers; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: Practitioners
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Israel
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A