Teach-in
From Dar
A "teach-in" is similar to a general educational forum on any complicated issue, usually an issue involving current political affairs. Teach-ins are meant to be practical, participatory, and oriented toward action. While they include experts lecturing on the area of their expertise, discussion and questions from the audience are welcome. "Teach-ins" were popularized during the U.S. government's involvement in Vietnam. As an example, a teach-in at the University of Chicago in May 1965 began with a discussion of the Vietnam war draft and ended with the logistics of a takeover of the University. Teach-ins are can be seen as an early form of Action Research.
Modern Teach-ins have recently been used by environmental educators in America. The ‘2010 Imperative: A Global Emergency Teach-in’ was held in February 20, 2007 at the New York Academy of Science and organized by Architecture 2030, led by architect Edward Mazria. The event reached a quarter million people from 47 different countries with an interactive webcast. The webcast featured presentations by climate scientist James E. Hansen spoke to an auditorium full of students. On this day, ‘The 2030 Challenge’ and the ‘2010 Imperative’ were issued as strategies to mobilise the architectural design industry to stabilize carbon emissions in the building sector. Embedding ecological literacy in the architectural industry was the central strategy in the Teach-in.
The teach-in model was also used by a ‘Focus the Nation’ event January 31, 2008 broadcast to 1,700 institutions and universities.
The 2012 Imperative Teach-in is a new project launched by London based EcoLabs as a means of addressing urgent environmental environmental issues in design education.
