Arkki creative education services include a wide range of courses, including long-term step-by-step goal-directed education as well as workshops and theme courses. The long-term Arkki program is divided into modules and covers the ages from 4 all the way to the age of 19.
In its field, Arkki is globally one of a kind: no other institute in the world offers as wide a curriculum in creative architecture education for children and young people. Arkki education is given by teachers who have a degree in architecture, pedagogical skills and are thoroughly trained for the Arkki concept.
ARKKI’S EDUCATIONAL GOALS
Arkki’s mission is to equip and nurture the new generation with a creative mindset, innovation skills needed in any future profession or startup, and skills and qualities to integrate into the world, into and beyond the 21st century.
WHY WE NEED TO CARE?
According to the World Economic Forum, 65% of children currently entering primary school will end up with jobs that don’t exist yet. The world is changing at light speed. New technologies are disrupting the economy and society in every hour of a day. The future is unpredictable. What knowledge and skills can we teach our children in such a context to prepare for the future? The knowledge that we’ve been teaching for the past 200 years has become obsolete. The only way forward, therefore, is to provide our children with the skills and qualities for them to walk into an unknown future, and to resolve complex issues with their creative approach.
WHAT DO CHILDREN LEARN
DESIGN THINKING
Design thinking is well-known being the core discipline of disruptive startups and tech-giants. Basically, it is a human-centered approach to creative problem solving.
At Arkki, we believe that it is important for children not only to learn this approach, but also to integrate this philosophy into their everyday creative problem solving activities. The five steps of design thinking are integrated into Arkki projects so that children can apply, practice and absorb design thinking in a natural way.
THE MAKER WAY
At Arkki, learning through doing is emphasized. The children build the habit of testing their ideas e.g. through building a sketch prototype at an early phase of a design process. They are guided to implement, test, learn from success and failure, learn how to improve and develop. They learn from peers by collaborating in an open and social environment. The value of creativity does not come from one bright idea but from the process of on-going innovation, continuous improvement, and perseverance.
STEAM SKILLS & KNOWLEDGE
In order to solve complex problems one must collect information from multiple sources and assess and combine different skills and knowledge from multiple disciplines.
Arkki projects are designed in a way that children have to combine different STEAM disciplines (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) and actually even beyond (Humanities, Social sciences) into completing a project. Through this process, each child will generate different learning inquiry & questions following their interests and experience. Arkki’s pedagogically-trained teachers will then provide support and help them to expand their inquiry. Thus, education at Arkki supports each pupil’s individual development.
21ST-CENTURY SKILLS & QUALITIES
Through playing, working and learning with peers on multiple projects, children practice and develop the necessary skills for the 21st century world. In which, the most important ones – the 5 C’s – are: complex problem solving, creativity, critical thinking, communication, and collaboration.
Furthermore, the process of working on complex problems as a team will help the children to learn and practice their perseverance, focus, adaptability, leadership, curiosity, and initiative. Most importantly, by creating together children will be able to sharpen their social & cultural awareness and develop their emotional intelligence.
WHY ARCHITECTURE?
Since architecture is intrinsically interdisciplinary, requires aesthetics and sympathetic understandings of people – architecture education for children is an exceptional discipline to provide complex projects that foster design thinking and enhance the essential skills needed for the future world of work.
Architecture also offers endless projects that are in themselves very intriguing and exciting for children. In architectural education, children work with 3D structures, try different materials and tools with their own hands and heads, and freely explore and express their creativity.
Architectural education also provides children a chance to take responsibilities and participate in the decision-making process and building of projects that are closely-related, impactful and important in their real life, from envisioning a new item all the way to planning an entire city.
