School is the Heart of Society

Darius Radkevicius
School is the Heart of the Society
PICTURE ©OISTEIN KRISTIANSEN
1

For like every great idea it has no real beginning; rather,
it has always been, at least the idea of it.
We ﬁnd it foreshadowed, as a dim anticipation and
hope, in a good many earlier ages. There are hints of it
in Pythagoras, for example, and then among Hellenistic
Gnostic circles in the late period of classical civilization.
We ﬁnd it equally among the ancient Chinese, then
again at the several pinnacles of Arabic-Moorish culture;
and the path of its prehistory leads on through
Scholasticism and Humanism to the academies of
mathematicians of the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries and on to the Romantic philosophies and the
runes of Novalis's hallucinatory visions. This same
eternal idea has underlain every movement of Mind
toward the ideal goal of a universitas litterarum, every
Platonic academy, every league of an intellectual elite,
every rapprochement between the exact and the more
liberal disciplines, every effort toward reconciliation
between science and art or science and religion.
Hermann Hesse
“The Glass Bead Game”
2

This is not to say that we are going
back or that I am calling to turn
back. I'm just sure that nature lives
in cycles, so we live not in a linear
time of ideas, but in a cyclical one.
On the other hand I want to lean
on cause and effect. What we
taught kids in the last two
centuries, that we got as a results
today.
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Causality:
“if Humanity has succeed, the
education system has to
succeed. Education failing - no
nation can succeed, the whole
Humanity will not see
happiness. "
Paraphrasing the words of prof. T.
S. Powdyel
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The 19th century:
witnessed major social and technological upheavals, spurred in large part by the Industrial
Revolution and correlating trends: mechanization, urbanization,- the based of first industrial
revolution with decades of industrialization that had radically changed the nature of work—both in
the country and in the city. Colonialism - territorial expansion by emerging global superpowers.
Finally, there was a widespread psychological change: people’s confidence in their power to use
resources, masternature, and structure theirown future was heightened beyond anything known
before, and this confidence on a national scale—in the form of nationalism—moved all groups to
struggle for the freedom to direct their own affairs.
Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection undermined religious certainty and the idea of
human uniqueness. In particular, the notion that human beings were driven by the same impulses as
"lower animals" proved to be difficult to reconcile with the idea of an ennobling spirituality.
In art - Romanticism, Realism and Impressionism.
Photography emerged as a means of documenting social realities and an art form accessible to non-
elites. Architecture was characterized by the use of new industrial materials and techniques, on the
the one hand, and the revival of Classical and Gothic styles, on the other. In design and decorative arts,
the Arts and Crafts Movement and Art Nouveau both responded to industrialization and mass
production through their emphasis on handmade craft and organic forms.
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Schools in 19th century
All these trends influenced the progress of education. One of the most significant results
was the gradual acceptance of the view that education ought to be the responsibility of
the state. Schools were expected not only to promote literacy, mental discipline, and
good moral character but also to help prepare children for citizenship, for jobs, and for
individual development and success.
The theories of the Swiss reformer “an idealistic dreamer” Johann Heinrich
Pestalozzi laid much of the foundation of modern elementary education.
The foundation of his doctrine was that education should be organic, meaning that
intellectual, moral, and physical education (or, in his words, development of “head,
heart, and body”) should be integrated and that education should draw upon the
faculties or “self-power” inherent in the human being. Education should be literally a
drawing-out of this self-power, a development of abilities through activity—in the physical
field by encouraging manual work and exercises, in the moral field by stimulating the
habit of moral actions, and in the intellectual field by eliciting the correct use of the
senses in observing concrete things accurately and making judgments upon them.
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Words, ideas, practices, and morals have
meaning only when related to concrete things.
From these overarching principles, certain rules
of thumb for teaching methodology followed.
First, experience must precede symbolism.
There must be an emphasis on object lessons
that acquaint the child with the realities of life;
from these lessons abstract thought is developed.
What one does is a means to what one knows.
This means that the program should be child-
centred, not subject-centred. The teacher is to
offer help by participating with the child in his
activities and should strive to know the nature of
the child in order to determine the details of his
education. This means that the stages of
education must be related to the stages of child
development. Finally, intellectual, moral, and
physical activities should be as one.
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But the ideas of the reformers were not widely disseminated - mostly teaching methods remained oriented toward textbook memorizing
and strict discipline, a more sympathetic attitude toward children began to appear. As the numbers of pupils grew rapidly, individual methods
of “hearing recitations” by children began to give way to group methods. The monitorial system, also called the Lancastrian system, became
popular because, in the effort to overcome the shortage of teachers during the quick expansion of education, it enabled one teacher to use
older children to act as monitors in teaching specific lessons to younger children in groups. Similarly, the practice of dividing children into
grades or classes according to their ages—a practice that began in 18th-century Germany—was to spread everywhere as schools grew larger.
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The 20th century:
people’s confidence in their power to use resources, to exploit the nature, has risen to unprecedented
heights. People believed in science, and science almost destroyed faith in God. All nature must
unilaterally serve man and only man.
Nuclear power and space exploration and decolonization. Digital (3 Industrial) Revolution. Cultural
homogenisation, globalisation through developments in emerging transportation and
communications technology; world population growth, awareness of environmental degradation,
ecological extinction. The 20th century saw the largest transformation of the world order since the
Fall of Rome: global total fertility rates, sea level rise and ecological collapses increased; the resulting
competition for land and dwindling resources accelerated deforestation, water depletion, and the
mass extinction of many of the world's species and decline in the population of others; consequences
which are now being dealt with. Machines were being utilized in all areas of production, feeding an
increasingly intricate national supply chain, meaning for the first time in history, mankind was no
longer constrained by how much it could produce, but rather by peoples' willingness to consume.
In art - Symbolism, Modernism, Postmodernism
Modernist architects believed that new technology rendered old styles of building obsolete. Le
Corbusier thought that buildings should function as "machines for living in”. Following this machine
aesthetic, modernist designers typically rejected decorative motifs in design, preferring to emphasize
the materials used and pure geometrical forms.
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Le Corbusier
Dom-Ino house
Kazimir Malevich
Black Square
School of the “Future” in Vilnius
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The schools of 20th century
New foundations. The three concerns that guided the development of 20th-century education were the
child, science, and society. The foundations for this trilogy were laid by so-called progressive
education movements supporting child-centred education, scientific- realist education, and social
reconstruction.
Three main traits characterized progressive schools: each school adopted an activity program; each
school operated on the assumption that education was something that should not be imposed upon the
child from the outside but should instead draw forth the latent possibilities from within the child; and each
school believed in the democratic concept of individual worth. Society should be interpreted to the child
through daily living in the classroom, which acts as a miniature society.
Education leads to no final end; it is something continuous, “a reconstruction of accumulated
experience,” which must be directed toward social efficiency.
Education is life, not merely a preparation for life (Dewey).
The notions expressed by progressive education influenced public school systems everywhere. Some of the
movement’s lasting effects were seen in activity programs, imaginative writing and reading classes, projects
linked to the community, flexible classroom space, dramatics and informal activities, discovery methods of
learning, self-assessment systems, and programs for the development of citizenship and responsibility.
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The schools of 20th century - continuation
Against the various “progressive” lines of 20th-century education, there were strong voices advocating older
traditions. Those voices were particularly strong in the 1930s, in the 1950s, and again in the 1980s and ’90s.
Essentialists stressed those human experiences that they believed were indispensable to people of all time periods. They
favoured the “mental disciplines” and, in the matter of method and content, put effort above interest, subjects above
activities, collective experience above that of the individual, logical organization above the psychological, and the teacher’s
initiative above that of the learner.
Therefore, most schools have become like factories. Building factories, maintaining factories, living in
factories, and everything was presented as a right way to a better life, which is based on the intensive
exploitation of our mother - nature.
Alternative teaching strategies were encouraged in theory, but basic curriculum uniformity effectively restricted the
practice of new methods. General education was still mainly abstract, and subject matter—though internally more
dynamic—still rested on language, mathematics, and science. There was an increasing reliance on the construction of
subject matter to guide the method of teaching. Teachers were entrusted with a greater variety of tasks but were less
trusted with knowledge the mechanical, assembly-line methods of traditional schools stay most popular in XX century.
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Materialism has become a universal religion,
faith in science has replaced faith in God.
Loneliness in the crowd has become universal.
Spirituality has been deleted from school
dictionaries.
“Selfishness, depression, alcoholism are
essentially consequences and not a cause.
Children gain knowledge, but become
emotionally, morally and spiritually very
vulnerable. The goal of making money changes
the goal of finding meaning. This is the legacy
of the 20th century”.
Written by an educator from God
prof. T.S. Powdyel in his book My Green School.
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Plastic garbage
Deforestation
Chernobyl atomic station
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The 21st century requires
completely new people - creative
and able to work collectively in
order to solve the huge problems
inherited from the ideas of
unrestrained exploitation of
nature and now facing the
children of the 21st century in
order to protect nature and save
themselves.
Greta Thunberg as Jean d'Arc
Leader of Children's Revolutions.
The 21th century:
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21
The 21th century art is starting from Metamodernism - “a romantic reaction to our crisis-ridden moment” (Luke Turner

There is an urgent need to remedy the situation.
“The predominant uni-dimensional
mentalistic approach to learning must be
redeemed and expanded to accommodate
the multiple dimensions of thee learner’s
life” - invites the First Minister of Education of the
Kingdom of Bhutan, prof. T.S. Powdyel in his book
My Green School.
We need to rethink what we teach, how we teach
and in what environment we teach.
The schools of 21th century:
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Methodology, Tools and Architecture -
interrelated elements
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Nature, aesthetics
and kids
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Nature and kids (from “My Green School” T.S.Powdyel):
As I enter the campus, my heart expands and my mind grows. My eyes feast on the blessings of mother-nature in trees, flowers,
fruits, little ponds and sparkling streams that deck out my school all around. I hear bird-songs and the sound of myriad beings
that make my school their home. The dustless air brings to me the fragrance of flowers and the scent of mother-earth. I can even
relish the gift of fruits and entice my taste-buds. My faculties receive the impressions of many kinds thanks to the gift of touch. All
my senses are awake and live! I am fully awakened, fully human.
Natural greenery softens and relieves the hardness of our concrete walls, the coarseness of metal surfaces and the coldness of
glass-faces. The deficiencies of structural designs and aesthetic loss are made up for by the physical ambience that we create
with the blessings of mother-nature.
This natural, environmentally green campus has a cooling and welcoming effect on our eyes and all other senses. What is
soothing to our eyes is soothing to our mind. And as we receive cool intimations in the morning, we are better equipped for the
day’s work and beyond. Such a campus takes us closer to the life-giving elements of mother-earth. The self-sustaining power of
nature makes us realize how dependent we are on the elements of mother earth for our survival. That is why we need to honour
the earth on which we stand
the air that we breathe
the water that we drink
everything that sustains us, indeed.
That is the reason too that we need to honour our link with the animals and the plants and the birds and the reptiles and every
living being with which we co-inhabit our planet earth. We need the earth and the sea and the sky more than they need us. We
need the air and the water and the plants more than they need us. A Green School teaches us to be more humble and respectful
– in our engagement with the larger world. It makes us more aware and a little more caring. This is the secret of our survival and
the survival of our planet earth.
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Aesthetic and kids (from “My Green School” T.S.Powdyel):
One may often be tempted to ask: What is the practical value of music and painting, colour choice and
background arrangement? Why would one render a birthday cake into a work of art if ultimately it ends
up being eaten up? Or, for that matter, why chisel stone and build beautiful homes if their end-use is
mainly to provide shelter?
I am fascinated by the Clovis Point that James Michener’s hunter executes in The Centennial. As a hunting
equipment, the Clovis Point could be a plain, practical and effective instrument. Its only job is to kill game.
But the hunter goes a step further. He transforms the Clovis Point into an exquisite work of art.
Our sensitivity towards an object of beauty, a well- laid-out garden, a beautiful poem, a piece of music, a
nice dress, a good deed, indeed anything graceful, elevates us to a different level. Our preferences,
inclinations and tastes speak for us and about us. Our capacity to respond to wholesome stimuli nourishes
and liberates us from the mundane and the workaday. It can even keep us from mischief!
In an educational setting, it is vital to create life-supportive stimuli that invite wholesome responses from
young people.
IS IT POSSIBLE TO DEVELOP THE AESTHETIC TASTE OF CHILDREN IN BOX ARCHITECTURE? OR THE LOVE TO NATURE?
26

THE XXI CENTURY - THE ISLANDS OF
NATURE
27

FARMING KINDERGARTEN / VO
TRONG NGHIA ARCHITECTS
Vietnam
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Vietnam historically an agricultural country is facing changes as it moves to a manufacturing based economy, taking its toll on the environment.
Increased droughts, floods and salinization jeopardize food supplies, while numerous motorbikes cause daily congestion and air pollution in the cities.
Rapid urbanization deprives Vietnamese children of green lands and playgrounds, thus relationship with nature.
Farming Kindergarten is a challenge to counter these issues. Located next to a big shoe factory, and designed for 500 children of the factory's
workers, the building is conceived as a continuous green roof, providing food and agriculture experience to children, as well as an extensive
playground to the sky.
As the roof lowers to the courtyard it provides access to the upper level and vegetable gardens on top- the place where children learn the
importance of agriculture and recover connection to nature.
The building is made of a continuous narrow strip with two side operable windows which maximize the cross ventilation and natural lighting.
Additionally, architectural and mechanical energy-saving methods are comprehensively applied including but not limited to: green roof as
insulation, green facade as shading and solar water heating. These devices are designed visibly and play an important role in the children’s
sustainable education. Factory wastewater are recycled to irrigate greenery and flush toilets.
As a result, the kindergarten is operated without air conditioners in the classrooms despite being located in a harsh tropical climate. According to
post-occupancy record issued 10 months after completion, the building saves 25% of energy and 40% of fresh water compared to baseline building
performance, reducing its running cost greatly.
Cost-Efficiency
The building is designed for low-income factory workers' children, therefore construction budget is quite limited. Therefore, the combination of
local materials (ex. bricks, tiles) and low-tech construction methods are applied, which also help minimize the environmental impact as well as
promote local industry. Thanks to simple rigid frame with economical materials, the construction cost per one square meter is only 500 USD
including finishes and equipment, which is competitively cheap even within the Vietnamese market.
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THE PROJECT FOR FORMER RENAULT FACTORY IN FRANCE
BECOMES AN UNDULATING GREEN-ROOFED SCHOOL
FRANCE
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A former Renault factory is set to become a "living" school and gymnasium in the northern French city of
Boulogne.
Chariter Dalix has joined a partnership to transform the former factory space into an undulating and
uplifting green building that encourages not only native ﬂora to re-grow, but invites local fauna to pay a
visit as well.
Best of all: this is a place where children learn. So instead of locking away their imaginations in an awful,
sterile environment, these kids will be able to play and study amongst chirping birds and squirming
worms.
The separation between study and play is gentle, facilitating a vibrant, natural learning environment.
The children will be able to experience nature in its entirety - instead of trapping their learning in a closed-
off box.
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Ekiraya Montessori school
Colombia
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The Ekiraya Montessori school grew out of the confidence of a parent group in its educational system and today is growing at
the time as children.
The project is developed on three acres in La Calera, in very close to Bogota, with all the benefits of pure country air.
This required a construction that does not lose the country character, who was friendly with the environment and with
children, as well as being his safe haven.
The building is located next to the workshops of the primary and continues the architectural, but with a different
distribution of environments language. This time around a large central void with vegetation.
In this building adolescents live and hijack the mode that feel like another home. The Montessori method requires spaces
that contribute to education being propitious places for social coexistence, where the physical work to integrate practical
and academic, is inspired by respect for nature, and will stimulate the interest of students in their final school stage.
The project consists of 2 levels: the first, where are the dining room, kitchen and workshops of Arts and Sciences, the stands
that articulate the two workshops and a study and meeting place. In the second there are 8 environments. 4 for each
workshop, more two rooms that work, just for the students, as a study place,
socializing and games, presentations and various activities.
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HILLAR HANSOO ELEMENTARY
SCHOOL
ESTONIA
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Typical box shape school
was destroyed
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HILLAR HANSOO Elementary SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION
The territory covered by Paide Hillar Hanssoo's primary school project is nearly two hectares, the new building
has a size of almost 4400 square meters. Energy-saving schoolhouse has two ﬂoors. Classroom walls are
mostly glass inside. Land and, if necessary, district heating is used as heating, solar panels are installed on the
roof.
Most attention has been given to the schoolhouse by the fact that it is circular and spirally along the facade
almost leads to the roof from the ground. Janek Lohu, Executive Director of Paide MEK, has said that it was not
easy to build a round from a square house, but the company managed to do it.
You can see table tennis boards, skateboard park, bicycle parking, outdoor training class, chess playground
and net pyramid. The city of Paide received nearly 4,5 million euros from the European Regional Development
Fund for the construction of a new school building.
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VÄÄNA MÕISAKOOL
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
ESTONIA
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The Green School Bali
Indonesia
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The Green School This magnificent school campus in Bali is made entirely from
sustainably harvested bamboo.
Architecture firm PT Bambu developed the rich environment, which consists of
four classrooms, housing, offices, cafes, a gym, and the Heart of the School, a
spiraling, multi-story building.
The school also runs on clean energy systems like solar power, a biomass boiler,
and a micro-hydro generator.
Of course, sustainability is a core element of the children's education.
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47
So why can't we expand the school territory to the level of an amusement park? The most reassuring answer to where are the children for
parents are at school! Different grade schools should have appropriate playgrounds. For example - primary schools should have
playground difficulty level for ages 6 to 10 years old. The secondary - from 11 to 15. And gymnasium - from 15 to 40 years old.
And schools should be built with new technologies. So it could transform their walls based on the needs of the community.

Old new innovative
learning approach
Phenomenon based learning.
Intellectual, moral, and physical activities
should be as one.
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The End or just the Beginning
For like every great idea it has no real
beginning and no real ending

A member of Vilnius City Council, a member of
Committee on Education and Culture;
HundrED ambassador:
https://hundred.org/en/users/darius-radkevicius
darusinmac@mac.com
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School is the Heart of Society

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