Semester 2 -External Examiners Visit

This is the first week of semester 2! Time to get down to the nitty gritty

In the next few weeks I will be continuing my research and developing concepts to work towards my mark 1 prototype!

From meeting with Susan Fairburn, one of the external examiners, she had some useful insights associated with my project.

We were in agreement about the safety of knifes, yet she explained to me that in many cultures knifes are given to children at a young age for different reasons and that they learn very quickly how to use them. With this in mind, she told me to research the beliefs of Rudolph Steiner and the philosophy behind the pedagogy that is used at schools that operate in association with him. Ms Fairburn believed that it might be possible to promote the use of knifes in early years as a means of safety. The younger children learn to use knifes the more likely they are to be able to use them properly. She emphasised that this was simply a theory and may be worth while researching.

With this information I looked into Rudolph Steiner and the two schools in Scotland that operate under his beliefs. Although the concept of learning through doing is very relevant to my design, Rudolph Steiner’s philosophy appears to be very spiritually based and controversial in comparison to the more factual findings of Jean Piaget.

I have also looked into several of the products she thought might be useful to me. One of the brands Ms Fairburn talked to me about was Islabike, These bikes that are designed for children are durable light weight and hold their value very well. My product should also aim to meet these criteria, as this would help it appeal to parents as a worth while investment.