Building a Learning Environment

    The single factor that enabled the progress and evolution of civilizations throughout history is the capacity of their people to learn and create. The great pyramids stand as monuments to the learning of Ancient Egypt. Modern mathematics owes its roots to the creativity of classical philosophers like Euclid and Pythagoras. Even our medical practices and our knowledge of the human body stem from advances made by Islamic scholars like Avicenna. However diverse these origins may seem, the process by which they were achieved is remarkably similar. This process forms my definition of learning as a cycle of continuous destruction and construction of concepts and ideas.

    Before a new philosophy can be adopted, there must first be a level of critical analysis that separates existing facts and ideas into their component parts for scrutiny. This step refers equally to an individual’s preconceived viewpoints and the new information he or she encounters. By reducing each of these to their most fundamental aspects and evaluating them, one is able to find pieces that resonate with one another and one’s own personal beliefs. Then one can begin synthesis. Like a puzzle, each individual piece must be studied before it can be joined to the other pieces; unlike family-friendly puzzle sets, however, the process of learning has no model and often only includes a few select pieces. It is up to the individual to decide which ideas belong together and what final picture they create.

    This closely parallels Bloom’s taxonomy of learning which also emphasizes analysis and evaluation as necessary for creativity. However, it then turns the classical pyramid on its head. Each creation forms merely another step in the cycle, another idea to be dissected and compared to new information.

    Unfortunately, this process is one that is extremely personal and cannot be simply taught to an individual, much less an entire population. Instead, I have chosen to focus my series of artifacts on creating an environment conducive to creativity while also demonstrating the ideas of construction and destruction that form the foundation of my definition of learning. I begin by providing for fundamental needs of the citizens, progressing to emphasize literacy and the spread of ideas, and finally providing spiritual and secular models that can both inspire and contribute to greater learning. Ultimately, this model should lead individuals to develop skills of critical analysis, rather than persuade them to a specific philosophy, thus reducing the risk of oversimplifying societal perceptions of learning and leading to stagnation.