“I was born in Buenos Aires, but I was still young to Mexico, where I graduated in architecture. I specialized in Urbanism, but went to the US to study Education at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. I did doctorate at Harvard University. Today I am a professor at the Autonomous Metropolitan University in Mexico City. ”
Tell something you do not know
It is a poetic idea, philosophical means:. Knowledge is not something we know, but what I know. Knowledge is the book I’m reading; those who have read, serve to give away. Whenever invite me to a conference, I will talk about what worries me. This idea also says that knowledge is endless.
What the restless now?
It is another philosophical thought, a metaphor that says education can not happen at any time of day, it has to be when the sun is rising or setting. When there is gloom, half-light. Because? If I tell the students that this is what he has to know, give the sun, I’m doubting your intelligence. If early, the student does not see right, you will have to guess, bring into play their perception, their point of view. Students learn more when you use your intelligence to guess what the teacher suggests.
This is not common …
No! Most teachers said. If I explain, it is because I think you are not smart enough to understand. Explain is bad. A pianist can learn to play many scales because the teacher sent or because he loves music and found that it would make you play better. The pianist who learned in square education is very good, but is not happy. The other might not even play so well, but is happy! What is most important, play well or be happy?
What do you mean by the phrase “The role of the university,” the title of your book?
It is a criticism of the policies formulated by governments. The state defines as higher education will grow, as will work. Instead of talking to the academic community in Mexico the decision makers speak with who decides how it should be education in the Third World. For them, education is to produce skilled workers, not inventive engineers, philosophers, inventors … These are in the US, in Europe, we serve for workers.
Why would the university “paper”?
These policies interfere with the functioning of universities and require teachers to meet bureaucratic issues paper, which distract from the essential, students. The university in Mexico became a university controlled by the government to meet targets. In room I have freedom, this has not yet been lost.
How should it be?
I tried it in another book, “The imagined university.” We joined a group of researchers to imagine an ideal university, a utopian exercise. Forgetting limitations and models, we think a university without careers. Teachers and students work together to solve real problems, and around this project while working, will directing the playing field. It’s another conception. Universities do not need buildings. You can have a city connected cells, discussing projects remotely, using technology, not the school desk.
You are an enthusiast of technology in education?
I teach in the traditional scheme, but I tell students who live far away to communicate with me via Skype or Facebook. Appear when needed. Take a bus and travel two hours to study is absurd, that needs to change. But it needs to be a revolution. The blackboard is a very archaic technology.
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