When I first saw this question, I also wanted to ask you guys, what do you think? As students why do you think creativity or learning motivation is important?
I feel that, just like our current classes in school, when we are studying at school, we mainly learn subjects such as Mandarin and mathematics, which are based on the content in textbooks. However, I think creativity is more important, personally. For example, our school has courses like Design class, where we can create and express our creativity. Additionally, we also work on projects, such as in English class. In my opinion, these projects allow us to unleash creativity and better prepare us for future development after we graduate.
Um, Okay, this question is quite unique. Some people have asked me why am I establishing such an organization and why we chose to do space education. No one has ever asked me this question before, but I find it special because, as a student, asking such a question shows that you really care. In terms of motivation, I believe space education is a method that can provide learning motivation for children who aren’t interested in learning initially. It helps enhance their learning motivation. Okay, creativity might be one way, but we have to acknowledge that not every child is inherently creative, right? So, in our curriculum, the challenge is how to maintain the learning motivation for children who may not have much creativity or don't know how to express their creativity. This is a very important aspect when designing our courses because, space education, I would say it's definitely not an elite education. It's not just for those children who might be talented in space or architecture. The main idea of designing our curriculum is we want everyone to participate, regardless of age or background, to enjoy the learning experience and learn something from it. Personally, I have dyslexia, which made me lack learning motivation when I was young, especially for subjects like Mandarin and social studies, which involve more text or history. I couldn't enjoy learning from them. But for subjects like math and science, I loved them and felt very happy. So, this might be one of the reasons why we established such an organization because, when I was young, I might see a tree on the road that I found beautiful and just stared at it and stood there for a long time, or even some flowers or grass by the roadside, sometimes I would take a look and wonder why the bus stop has a different design today. What's the purpose behind this design, and what benefits does it bring? I would think about these things on my own. Or, like the stationary you use every day. I love buying stationery. For example, mechanical pencils. Why is it in this color, this design? Why is this design more expensive than another? Why is this one popular while the other one is not? I have constantly thought about these questions since I was young. I believe that thinking about these things is also a form of learning. Learning doesn't necessarily mean I have to open a textbook or read some articles. So, in space education, our philosophy is that you might be walking on the street and casually see a tree, or, as I mentioned earlier, wonder why there's construction here recently. What do they want to do, and what's the reason behind it? I hope our curriculum design gives everyone the ability to have such thoughts. When I'm speaking, I won't be completely clueless. I will have some thoughts like, oh, maybe it's because of this, and it's actually based on your previous experiences. That's basically the answer to this question.
Question 1: Why do you think creativity and learning motivation are important to learning?
Ok, when me and my colleagues decided to establish this organization, not having enough resources was the first problem we faced. We mostly rely on help from collaborating with other organizations or from public donations. But in the country we are living in, which is Taiwan, people mostly decide to donate packaging such as a healthy lunch meal or dinner. Therefore, donations direct to education would be lesser compared to donations to people in poverty. The idea and concept of Space Education might be not as generalized compared to the classes you attend, such as Chinese, English, etc. As a result, society would understand less about the purpose of Space Education, so we would have to advertise ourselves through activities, or also via our social media. Our goal is to make the public agree on our goal and the belief in education that we have. On the other hand, finding children in need, or interested in learning the way of Space Education is also another problem we face while trying to maintain the organization from running. People wouldn’t just let me teach their children if they don’t understand who we are, and what outcomes would their children get, right? Therefore, we would have to find Schools that allow us to teach there, or even create projects and recruit the students based on our own abilities. Same as one problem I’ve stated above, when the public doesn’t know much about Space Education, only if you are very bored, you have nothing to do, otherwise, you wouldn’t take the risk of taking the lesson of Space Education. As an effect, promoting Space Education would also be a challenge that we will always have to overcome, ways of letting the public, children, or even parents understand our organization. Abilities such as negotiating with enterprises would differ from talking to a student, those two ways and techniques of talking, are very likely apart and different from one another. Therefore, we have to clearly state the benefits of getting the ability that Space Education brings you, and promote our organization as a whole. Summing from all above, these various reasons are the challenges and problems that we are currently facing and trying to overcome.
Question 2: You mentioned that the goal of establishing this organization was to encourage the motivation of learning subjected to those children. During the process, what problems have you encountered?
Question 3: When implementing space education, is there a student who left a deep impression while teaching? Could you share why that student stood out to you?
Okay, well... there are actually many students who have left a deep impression on me. In teaching, often what you remember vividly is the emotional impact you feel during the teaching process. For example, there was a child I used to teach who had Asperger's syndrome. As you might know, children with Asperger's often excel in creative expression. However, the challenge he faced was that he had difficulty controlling himself. In our space education class, we use tools, including scissors as the most basic tool, and sometimes even utility knives. I believe using utility knives has certain risks, and when a child with special conditions uses these tools and can't control themselves, it can pose a danger to others. After all, we are not providing one-on-one tutoring; we might have a class of over ten children. So, when allowing him to participate in such a class, we have to strictly enforce the rules. If there's any inappropriate use of tools, we must pause the class. However, I knew he really loved this class, so I kept encouraging him to find ways to control himself. If he wasn't feeling well that day, it's okay; we can take a break. So, we would take a break on those days. I've been teaching him for about three semesters, and during this time, I observed significant progress. Initially, he just liked doing hands-on activities, but gradually, he was able to apply the knowledge from the earlier part of our curriculum into his own creations.
Eventually, he could share his work with others. The most challenging part for him, of course, was controlling his emotions. In the beginning, perhaps for the first semester, he could only control his emotions for about half of the classes, so he could only participate in half of them. Slowly, by the end of the semester, there was only one class he couldn't attend. From this, I could see the effort he put into participating in the class. Even when he faced challenges, he made the effort. In the end, when he moved on to a regular public junior high school, there were no issues with the teachers there. I think the progress he made and how he could smoothly integrate into a regular curriculum in a public junior high school made me feel that what we do is truly meaningful, and it touched me deeply.
When it comes to Space Education, due to the fact that we cover a wide range of aspects, the lessons we design and the key points we emphasize are distinguished from one another. But I think the basic goal that we all want to achieve is the hope to at least bring children's attention back to their feelings about the environment and assist them on observing more carefully. Yes, and I expect the children try to understand or have the motivation to know the reasons behind a problem. Space Education works like this: after I teach you the skill, and after you master it, you can always review and expand your own database every time you see something. There's a very simple example, stationery. If you understand the concepts and design process behind a particular brand of stationery, and then you start to analyze in your brain, while questioning yourself, one day you may turn into an expert in stationery design. Right? Due to the fact, that you'll observe various samples, you'll consider different colors, and you might even become a market analysis expert specialized in different kinds of stationary, knowing the needs of different people. Stationary is just a small part of your daily life, right? On a larger scale, a chair, why is this chair suitable? As in learning Space Education, I will teach you key points on what makes a chair good, a good chair can last for a long time, but what conditions make the chair good? I’ll show you the logic behind it, so when one day you need to buy a chair for yourself, you'll know instantly what kind of chair you are looking for because you know exactly what kind of chair suits you the most as an effect of prior Space Education training. But when you don’t have skills like these, you have no idea what is the best chair for you, you might just choose the based on its color, and then maybe after spending lots of money, you find out that the chair hurts your back, or maybe it's not very suitable for you because your cat scratches it up. Right, isn't that just wasting money and wasting resources? So, when you learn these things slowly, it will become helpful for a lifetime. And even when you're choosing other things, you'll have your own opinions and perspectives. These opinions and perspectives actually come from the background knowledge you’ve gained throughout the classes, knowing how to collect more, and then slowly building up your database in your mind. Our educational philosophy is definitely not turning children into architects, the concept of space and engineering is just another way of learning. And if you noticed, actually, we're all in space right now, aren't we? Unless when you're outdoors, actually that space outdoors is also designed. When you're placed in these designed or arranged spaces, you can start to discover the kind of space or design you like, or maybe it'll take a long time to ask you whether you prefer cats or dogs, or when someone asks you do you prefer mountains or seas. But if you only reply with “I like the sea”, and when they ask you why, and you have nothing to say, isn't it difficult for others to chat with you? These questions actually becomes part of interpersonal relationships, right? Or they ask you opinions on which dish do you like the most while eating in a resturaunt, or even what's good about this restaurant? Also if you plan on starting your own business in the future, or if your family asks you to choose a restaurant today, then after the training of Space Education, you can tell them “I would like our family to eat in this particular restaurant because of reasons” Actually, you slowly start to manage it. So for us, learning such space education is something that can be applied to every elements of life, and also tells you that knowledge really doesn't only exist in books, the environment is also a place to acquire knowledge, especially for people like me who might have some problems when reading, the environment is another way for them to gain knowledge.
Question 4: What’s your opinion on the effectives of Space Education when talking about the future developments of a child?
Question 5: Now we have a better understanding of Space Education, and on your website, we’ve noticed the different programs that your team is currently hosting. Such as programs that bring the idea of Space Education into remote areas in Taiwan. What positive impacts have these programs made?
I approach this method in another way. I would teach the children to combine their prior knowledge to the new "inventions" or designs that they are currently on to, while this is a way of teaching them to improve, I don't just teach them a method; I provide them with enough depth of knowledge and technical guidance. I guide the children in a way that follows the design process and philosophy, which is why I think taking the education of Space Education to remote areas is important. Unlike school teachers who can be with their students every day because the students live in cities, maybe I would travel to those remote places for two days during a winter break, and the things I teach those children in remote areas could continue to develop over the next three months when I'm not there. But the children keep learning. Perhaps I'll come back during the summer break or next winter break to teach him new lessons, and for him, it's another period of growth. In our course design of Space Education, there's no fixed sequence you must take to follow for example A before B and B before C. If someone has taken A, they might perform well in B, but if you haven't taken A and are also in B, you can still perform the same or even better than the one that attended A. You just might not know as much, but it's okay because creativity is about comparing with yourself, not with the other students. It's like drawing, we don't need to compare our artwork with others. When I'm creating or designing something, there's nothing to compare because in art there is no correct answer. The most important thing is whether you've expressed what you wanted to express through those creative deisgns. Fundamentally, do you even know what's in your mind? Alot of times, you may have lots of materials and resources placed before you, but you don't know what to create with those materials. That's why when we go to remote areas, we make sure to provide sufficient background knowledge to the children. When they're creating or designing, we aim to see a clear mind of what the children is willing to design. We check if the topic might be too difficult for those children. Maybe the group of students today doesn't have as much background knowledge, so we might make some adjustments to our lesson plans. We can simplify and restate it for them, and then let them try to design and create again. In the course arrangement, we have many checkpoints set to confirm whether our course is suitable for the generalized children, whether they can gain something from it, and then check if what they've learned is what we've expected. Slowly, we consider how we can continue to accompany them. We would also use evaluations to understand these children and figure out how we can build more knowledge upon them, so they truly gain something from our courses of "Space Education".
Alright, because we are engaged in space education, many of the SDGs indicators are related to the environment. For instance, aspects like ecology, terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, and how we treat animals directly correlate with how we treat the environment. Essentially, these crucial concepts in SDGs are categorized into various indicators. In the realm of space education, interestingly, everything is related. However, when designing a curriculum, I can't overwhelm children with 15 different concepts; I can only provide them with around 3 to 5 concepts at most. These concepts need to be consistent and logical. Through a 2 or 3-day course, we guide them to connect their understanding of knowledge to actual practices. In terms of SDG issues, rural children are more profoundly impacted due to their environmental conditions. For example, if a natural disaster like a landslide occurs, children in rural areas might face greater challenges than urban children in terms of recovering resources. Unfortunately, they often lack exposure to such knowledge. In urban areas, there are often educational campaigns or activities to promote sustainable practices, but in rural education, the exposure is relatively limited. Our goal is to integrate SDGs into the curriculum and provide these children with the understanding and the ability to share and spread these concepts within their families. We want them not just to learn but also to impart these ideas to their parents, and grandparents. By having these ideas and concepts they can know it’s important to treat their environment well.
Question 6: In fact, we noticed on your website that your education is integrated with the concept of SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals). Our school is also develop classes that are related. We would like to inquire how you integrate SDGs into your education.
The most accomplished thing for our team, I believe, is certainly in teaching or the sense of accomplishment that comes along with it. We feel genuinely happy with each child we encounter throughout the years of us teaching. Watching the children’s growth or improving their progress brings us indescribable joy. However, the biggest sense of achievement for our team, I think, is that we are able to design a space education curriculum that belongs to Taiwan and actually gather enough resources to bring these courses to the individuals living in remote areas. This is what we feel is the most fulfilling thing for us. In terms of designing curriculum, we have spent a long time researching what Taiwanese space education is, rather than American or British. What is our own space education? How can we use this kind of space education to guide children? What do I want them to learn? And how can we actually help them, especially rural children? And how can we obtain enough resources to provide them with this kind of education? This is what I feel our team considers the most successful achievement.
Question 7: During your teachings, you said you taught many children and helped some with learning disabilities. In your opinion, what kind of mission have you and your team accomplished? For example, seeing the children completing a project or acquiring a new skill?
In terms of improvement, I think the development of education, is not a goal that can be achieved in a day; it requires accumulation. Unfortunately, in rural areas, there may be a sense of isolation, with teachers having multiple responsibilities and limited time. The advantage now is the availability of innovative educational resources, like our free courses, which can be provided to teachers, easing their workload. The challenge in the current educational environment lies in the rapid influx of information and tools like AI, presenting a significant impact. So, with the limited knowledge we have I think this is very challenging. But not every teacher or educator can come up with effective solutions. Sometimes, you even want to keep the solutions to you yourself only, right? Furthermore, as a student now, the future is changing faster and faster. Maybe in the past, it was okay for education to stay the same for 20 years because there weren't any effective new technologies to impact students that much. But as now the world you are live in, if things stay the same for 20 years, what you learn by now would be completely useless by the time you graduate from college. Because maybe AI will do it better, right? So I think the most challenging thing now is in the educational environment. And of course, I think this must be two-way. The feedback you receive from learning must be shared with everyone. Many times, I feel that in today's educational environment, what challenges children the most is being brave enough to express their ideas systematically so that others can understand, because this way, everyone knows how we can improve. Many times, you may have thought a lot about how to do something, but when I talk to the children, they might just be daydreaming. Then I'll know it's ineffective, right? If they daydream, I know it's ineffective, so I have to change, right? But if many times, sometimes you might think, 'Oh, I really like this teacher, so I pretend to agree.' Then it's very difficult for me to collect effective data of our teaching programs. Or when you are willing to try something new, but you have to always think of a better plan for every thing you do. So I think now in education, it's really a big problem that nobody knows what education will turn into after three years. I have a three years old child, and I do not know what the world will be like when he grows up or even when he enrolls in university. What kind of resources and supply should I give? So it really is about finding the best and most suitable solution, including the children themselves thinking about setting goals that they are sure that they could achieve. And then in the field of education, what we are really challenged by is whether what our program is currently conducting is actually helpful for the students. And although it is helpful now, whether it will still be helpful in the future. I think this is the most challenging and the biggest problem of education in Taiwan nowadays.
Question 8: Based on your work on Space Education, do you think there’s an improvement that should be made in Taiwan’s education system?
Question 9: As you’ve mentioned earlier there are differences between Taiwan’s and other countries’ space education. So, we would like to ask for the definition or content of space education in Taiwan.
Alright, let's think about it this way. If we take the space education in the UK, for instance, designed according to their climate and environmental conditions, do you think it would be suitable for Taiwan? Since we have a hotter climate compared to their cold one, it's a straightforward difference. Your buildings won't look like theirs at all. However, have you ever wondered why the houses you drew as a child looked like those abroad, with slanted roofs and a European style? It's because we never told you what Taiwanese houses look like and why. For example, the reason roofs are slanted in some countries is to let snow slide off; otherwise, the weight of snow could collapse a flat roof. In Taiwan, houses might seem chaotic because we didn't consider the need for air conditioning when initially designing them. The new challenge is to design buildings with considerations like where to place the air conditioning units and how to manage all the wiring neatly. This is a part of our own spatial education, addressing the issues we face in our living spaces.
Now, let's talk about population density. Taiwan has a smaller living space due to its higher population density, and each country's perspective on space differs based on its population and land size. Therefore, it's essential for us to explain to children why our living spaces are the way they are. When they grow up and interact with people from other countries, they'll know how to introduce Taiwan and explain the reasons behind its living conditions. Learning about different spaces and architecture can serve as a motivator for gaining knowledge. It's not just about exams; although achieving high scores can bring a sense of accomplishment, it's crucial to explore different ways of learning, not just through reading. For example, my fascination with space and architecture stems from realizing that it's another method of learning, using logic and visualization rather than solely relying on written words.
For me, like this year, we received two education awards. Before entering these education awards, we conducted some tests. So, I believe that an interdisciplinary course like space education, which integrates knowledge from various fields, is crucial, especially for children in rural areas. Before our intervention, they might perceive knowledge in a more segmented way, such as distinct subjects like language and math. Looking into the future, I hope that we can design more integrated and thematic courses that blend various subjects together. This approach would enable students to understand that, whether conducting research, designing, or even creating a simple chair, they need a diverse set of skills. For example, if one wants to make a small stool, mathematical skills might be required to measure and calculate the slope of the legs if they are not meant to be straight. This integration involves designing and bringing together various skills. Therefore, in the future, I wish for the development of courses that are more interdisciplinary, and not confined to single subjects.
Question 10: Regarding the future of space education, do you have any specific goals or plans?
So, I'll give the example of the project we won an award for this year. The theme of the project is about floating cities. When we hear the name “floating city”, the first impression of it is everyone thinks floating cities are cool, but actually, we need to think outside of the box. Problems such as why might we live on the surface of water one day, and why are we designing floating cities. Besides the various types of buildings or cities that may have existed in the past, perhaps one day we all need to live on the ocean surface. Why is that happening? It is due to the rapid increase of global warming, the produced greenhouse gases would melt the ice that is located on the two poles, which would cause the rise of sea level. Especially for island countries like Taiwan, water might one day decrease the land that we could live on. I would start to introduce to them about climate issues we are currently facing, and environmental climate changes. Then, I would talk about the inconvenience and limitations for having to live in the mountains one day. The land in the mountains is relatively small due to the difficult terrain structure, so we can't just build parks playgrounds, or malls like we can now on the plains. Our space might become very small. I might not even be able to eat meat regularly, like beef or pork. The reason is that if I want to raise pigs or cows, they need a relatively large space, right? But my land in the floating city is very small, so I might have to eat more algae, or eat seafood more often, affecting their lives. And then slowly talk about, well, if I want to design a building on the water, can it be 20 stories tall? Probably not, right? Because my land is relatively small. So if a typhoon or something comes, the whole building might flip over, so we need to start considering these things. And slowly take them to understand these factors, design a plan that is feasible and realistic to our economy or the current status of our country, and then take the most suitable planning into effect.
Question 11: You mentioned earlier that you have many courses that can engage their interests or teach them learning methods rather than just standardized knowledge. Could you please give me a few examples of existing courses you've designed that incorporate the concept of space education.
Do you mean online classes? Okay then yes. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have established some online classes, the interesting thing is that everyone feels that how to create online classes about creativity. But then everyone finds it interesting, at that time everyone was stuck in their home. No one knew what to do. However, I could teach them for an hour, and then they could create their work at home by themselves for a week or even a month. When I teach you how to create, I only need the first 15 to 20 minutes for guidance, and then you can just look at the screen. After that, as long as your camera is on your work, when you encounter difficulties or even when I actively suggest some solutions, you don't have to keep staring at the screen. So, this way of creating turned out to be feasible online. Of course, during the pandemic, everyone thought we could continue promoting spatial education in this way afterward. " However, after the pandemic ended, because everyone had been stuck in their houses for too long, they still wanted to go out. So we developed another course where we took them on a walking tour, physically moving in space, observing and learning, and then transforming that into creative work. It is also our hope to pull children out of their laptops or phones and put them into the world outside of their electronics. So actually at that time, we’ve taken a lot of online classes or even videos. Yeah so like show them step by step by using materials that they can easily find in their home. I think the benefit that the pandemic brings us is letting the audience know there can be different ways of learning, even though there might not be enough resources I can still do it. During that time, it was interesting because we implemented a class using Google Maps to take the children on virtual trips to art museums and galleries around the world. While most people use Google for navigation, they might not discover.
Question 12: Do you think rather than just using models, have you ever considered using the internet for education?
I feel that given the current scale of our association, it might take some time to create a significant impact. I am interested in understanding what children in rural areas need, and how this form of spatial education can influence them in the future. Despite my limited time spent with them, I hope that children can at least realize that there are various methods of learning. Once they grasp this concept, I hope that in the future, when facing difficulties in their studies, they won't give up so easily. Even if they are not focusing on grades and exams, they can learn valuable skills and understand that learning is not just about exams, which is crucial in rural areas.
Question 13: By brining Space Education to the remote areas, what positive impact do you think these actions will have on our society? It is possible that your small power can even change the way of the entire society.
Question 14: We are now looking for our interests, but I still don’t know what I want to do in the future. What are my interests? What do you think can help me find my interests?
Okay, you hit me with this question. Let me tell you about my childhood. I grew up in an environment where my mom was a tailor, sewing things and measuring things at home, and my dad was an architect, designing and building things. I loved both aspects so much. However, in high school, I was forced to study business. My family really wanted me to pursue a business education, and I entered a school where everyone was really talented. I felt immense pressure. Even in university, I studied something that wasn't my interest, every day felt hard for me at that time. But you never really know what's best for you. You have to use a process of elimination. Do what you want, try it out, and if it doesn't work, move on to something else. However, as time goes by, you need to become stricter with yourself and admit when something isn't working. I find myself in a similar situation now. Despite having many interests, I know that diving into education, especially without an educational background, requires a significant time commitment. So, I have to cut off other interests and force myself to focus on this one thing, giving myself a time frame. Maybe three years. If I can't make it in this field or become an expert within three years, I can explore other options. So during your school years, don't worry too much. Just try different things. My own journey is quite amusing. I spent seven years studying business in high school, followed by another four years in university. Then, I self-studied architecture for two years and eventually pursued a six-year formal education in architecture. After all this, I finished my studies around the age of 30, and people thought I should have everything in life. However, right after completing my master's degree, I had nothing. But I didn’t panic. Consider yourself lucky to have the ability to choose what you love. Fully commit to it because you never know when that opportunity might be taken away from you. Many times, people are fortunate with resources to study, but sudden events might force them into work. This awareness comes from my own experiences in education and upbringing. You have to work very hard to seize the opportunities available to you. Likes and dislikes don't matter because everything becomes a part of you. For example, if I hadn't studied business before, I might not have been able to start my own company or organization now. And even though people may say it's a pity I didn't become an architect after six years of studying it, I find more joy in education. I can engage in research and contribute to this field, making me happy. So, give it a try, and if you find something you really enjoy now, maybe in five years, you'll discover something else you like. It's not necessary to follow a specific path. You have to be responsible for yourself and evaluate the risks at every moment. Manage your time well, and don't worry too much. I used to be crazy and even wrote a proposal to my family about buying a sewing machine. After three days, I realized it wasn't working out, so I sold the machine online, leaving my family confused about what I was doing. I was always trying new things, but you only truly understand what you like and what suits you after trying it out. Many people might like math, for instance, but that doesn't mean they have to become mathematicians. Math has various practical applications in life. Like if you love architecture, you don't have to become an architect. I loved architecture, and now I'm an expert in teaching children about it, which I find enjoyable. So, you can always change, and the effort you put into something will never be a waste. Don't worry about choices. You can always make new ones. Your current major or what you're studying doesn't define you. It's about your motivation and what you want to achieve and that's what makes you who you are. So, don't stress too much, and don’t always be worrying.
Question 15: I think the part where you mentioned your diverse interests, continuous learning, and experiences is very rich. What was the catalyst for you to establish this space education association and promote space education?
Like I’ve said earlier I grew up in the eastern part of Taiwan (countryside), so I naturally had a strong connection to the environment and developed a keen interest in spaces. During the two years of self-study in architecture, I became certain that I really enjoyed architecture. So I decide to have an education in architecture for four years. Throughout these six years of learning architecture, I consistently felt this aspect of architecture should be introduced to the public. It’s not just about architectural design there is more to it. For example, a train station, why does it look in a certain way? This is what I think people should know. Let’s use the park as an example, can it have multiple purposes? Or why do some parks have grassy areas while others seem less designed, filled with cement pavements? These questions seem simple and have reasons behind them, but understanding such design considerations can help people appreciate the thoughtful planning behind these simple spaces. I wanted to teach and disseminate my knowledge. That’s when I explored architectural education abroad, specifically wondering if architectural education can be applied to children. I was surprised when I found out that there are many institutions worldwide, such as Arkki in Finland, specializing in architecture education for children. These programs have expanded to various countries globally such as Shanghai, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. However, there was no such association like that in Taiwan. I am always a crazy person, and with all my passion I begin my journey. I thought, “If Taiwan doesn’t have it, I’ll create it”. I gave myself three years to make it work. If it didn’t succeed, I could always go back to working in a firm just like before, I told myself that I’d try and see how it goes. If it didn’t go well, I knew I could find another job. So, I begin my adventure.
As I mentioned earlier, I grew up in the eastern part. So I am very interested in my sensitivity towards my surroundings and my passion for architecture. During my two years of self-study in architecture, I have confirmed my passion for architecture. That’s why I then used four years to study it. In those six years of studying architecture, I think people like us need to be acknowledged by others. Of course architecture design is a very complex process. When I first started learning, when I see a bus stop, I will ask myself why this bus stop is the way it is. There are actually special reasons. Or this building, what was added afterward? And why was it added? Or why is the front of this building designed like this? There are reasons for all of this, and I believe these reasons should be acknowledged by normal citizens. For example, what can the square do? It’s easy. Why are the parks like most of the parks here in this community? Why are some parks paved with grass? Why do some parks seem to be undesigned and just paved with cement bricks? Cement bricks are hard, they may think the parks are undesigned. But that is actually untrue. Those parks’ purpose is to let kids bring their own ball to play with, and even set up an activity court, or to play dodgeball. That’s why it is designed like this. As I was saying. I believe normal citizens should know these knowledge, it is helpful. So after I graduated and went to the office and worked for some time, the thought of teaching others about this and that these should be known by citizens didn’t vanish. And I don’t like to do some repetitive work, I still want to do some more creative work. So I started to do research about architecture education in other countries. At that time, my thought was to find out if architecture education can happen on children. And after some research, I’m amazed by the massive amount of children architecture education in the globe. Such as Finland’s Arkki, which is actually available in many places. It is exported to Shanghai, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam and has their distribution, then I realized, eh, why doesn’t Taiwan have it? Then because I am a relatively crazy person, I thought, well, if there isn’t one in Taiwan, then I will make one. Yes, then. I started, just started doing it, because I told myself, it doesn’t matter, I’ll try it and see how it turns out. At that time, I told myself, I will give myself three years. Then I started to do it, it’s fine if I don’t make it, I can still go back to work at the office. I’ve already got the education qualifications. If I really can’t do this, I can still go back. So I’ve made my decision and started. Just do it, then talk about it. My life is about deletion. Do it first and then talk about it. If it doesn’t work, try again. It’s fine. It's just a risk assessment. It's what I just told you. If it really doesn't work, then I can still find a job. Actually it doesn’t matter, right, so I started doing it.
Question 16: So, you're currently involved in spatial education in Taiwan. How do you plan to promote this concept in the future and make it known to more people?
Well, I think the promotion of this concept is how I want to start from the possibility of some people will come to participate in our courses or let us go. It is relatively easy to take the initiative. So what method should I use to let everyone know? In fact, we, we just think that we may be able to organize some courses that are more like teacher training. Let the teachers in the school know what we are doing, and then, even from this teacher training course, I take the teachers to actually implement a sample, the goal is to complete the course from zero to the end, and then make the teacher agree with this concept. Then it is understandable. He does not necessarily have to agree, but he must at least understand it. After understanding, maybe they will invite us to go to their school to teach. Then what we are looking forward to is, as more and more teachers understand this, they can combine their majors with our courses and we can design the courses together. In this way, they will not just stay in an extra course. Maybe we can promote it in the teacher's own existing courses, so this is what we think in the future, oh, we can continue to promote in this way. Of course, it is usually to go to some exhibitions, follow up and create initiatives with enterprises. I hope companies can understand and help us go to remote areas to do some promotion, that is, do it slowly, yes, like this.