Design and Education

Well, I'm not going to start by saying it's been crazy busy because normal is crazy busy. So I'll say it's normal.

Yesterday was my last UCLA Extension course. This will free up SO much time to work on my other two classes' final projects as well as some side work. I'm excited to have my Tuesday nights back.

Two points of interest that I've been meaning to share. As some of you may know, I seriously contemplated going into education when I graduated from UCLA. Although I've taken another route, I'm still quite passionate about it. I've found two sites that combine design and education.

The first is an article by Metropolis Magazine about school building design and it's connection with student learning. Nueva School, in Hillsborough, is mentioned. IDEO also has a small list of things schools can do to bring themselves into the 21st C. With all the money that is hopefully going to education from various Obama stimulous packages, let's hope these are placed in more classrooms.

Once my classes end, I hope to do a poster campaign for recruiting teachers in California for my portfolio. Yet, I feel hypocritical as I didn't choose the path myself. Largely due to the negatives such as large class sizes, under paid teachers, overwhelming expectations with little resources, and the testing emphasis our government has laid on teachers' shoulders. I guess many advertisers have this problem. At least the cause is a cause, not just consumerism, like buy this new flavor of Coca-Cola, it's sweeter and made with more chemicals we don't know exactly how will effect you in 20 years. At least it's honorable. Besides, if we had more people going into teaching, or if more people had it on their radar, I think our society would be better. Just look at Teach for America, flawed on some levels yes, but their corps members teach for two years and then have that experience to share at their next position as a lawyer, doctor, teacher or computer graphics technician. They'll share their experiences at social and even political levels and fight for the cause. I think it's hard for people, especially those without children, not in school or who didn't have much schooling, to put education into a primary ring. It's so important. I could go for days.

The second thing is less education and more art/science. I like to think of it as me in reverse. Satre Stuelke, a 44 year old 3rd year med student (former art school student) started the radiology art project. He takes chicken nuggets, Barbies, windup toys and electronics and uses a CT to see what's inside them. It's a collaborative process so if you have something you want to see scanned, e-mail him.

TTFN, ta ta for now