Seedling

Forty minutes into a mountain in Taipei, Taiwan, a private elementary school called “Seedling” sits quietly by the hill side. Every morning, its students gathered at the bottom of the mountain, waiting excitedly to be picked up by the school bus. As it slowly roams uphill into the deeper mountain, scenery gradually changes from skyscrapers to grass and trees. The urban traffic noise diminishes as the sound is replaced by the flowing streams. After a short tunnel followed by a bridge, the Wu-Lai waterfall where students often dive and swim in would soon appear in view, located right behind the school.

Unlike the public educational system in Taiwan, students in Seedling are not restricted under a preset curriculum. Instead they are given control of choosing classes according to their interests. Other than the required math and Chinese, students are offered untraditional courses such as outdoor survival, acting, cooking, and much more. Even though there is no minimum limit of the number of classes each student must take, the classes were interesting enough that everyone tries to register for a full schedule.

In Seedling children are given almost complete learning freedom under little restrictions, and students are encouraged to put their ideas into reality. One year for example, I decided that the students need food supply since it lacks vending machines, so I started a “convenience table” where a few of my friends and I set up a station for the rest of the student body to buy food from. We were responsible for everything that our “business” required including setting up, splitting profits, supplies, etc. Also at the end of every semester there is a talent show for classes to present what they have learned. The performance was again hosted by students where they are responsible of coming up with their own script and program.

Another special charateristics in the school system is a court system. The judges include one teacher, and at least two students, elected by the student body. Whenever a conflict surfaced, one then may file a “court examination” request. The court checks the request box every day at noon and call people to trial, and the court session is open for everyone to witness. After the prosecution, the judges would then deicde whether the defendant was guilty and deserves the appropriate punishment, often an apology or school cleaning service.

The school was originally designed by a group of parents whose children were told that they do not fit with the national educational system. In contrary, these parents believed that their children were able to learn much better if learning was not forced. When the school was first established many, parents worried about their children falling behind on their studies since program gives children the freedom of choosing their studies. Surprsingly, it turned out that almost all the students who graduated from the school successfully adapted to middle school and even performed better than average because they knew clearly of the things they wanted to become and what they needed to do to get to their goal.

In Seedling the students feel a sense of belonging to a part of the small community. It is a great example of a system design where the users were not only willingly involved but enjoyed its activities. The wide variety of class choices provided its users the feeling of freedomm while the flexible structure allowed its students to improvise the current status and changing it according to their best interest. The system succeeded at allowing itself to evolve and at the same time, keeping its core idea: for children to learn happily.

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At the age of twenty-two I still think back often at what I have experienced at Seedling. Even though I have only attended one year in the school, I have learned to remain curious and go after my interest rather than being told what I should do only because everyone else is doing it. In Seedlingm each child is a unique character, and everyone shares knowledge with each others, collaborating to accomplish what they feel is important or necessary. This system greatly affects me as an industrial designer, teaching me to look before pursue, and to remain motivated to my interest, finding simple solutions to improve human everyday lives.