Key questions
- Why and how do we create?
- What are the consequences?
Description
The purpose of homo faber is to develop opportunities for the student to appreciate the human capacity to invent, create, transform, enjoy and improve the quality of life. It therefore encourages the student to see the relationships between science, aesthetics, technology and ethics. Many areas of human activity can be explored through homo faber, including:
- systems, such as laws, methods of government, transport, education and health care
- communication, which may include statistics, language, mathematical formulae and codes
- technology, such as buildings, machinery and tools
- thought, including principles, concepts, ideas, opinions and attitudes
- art, such as painting, sculpture, embroidery, theatre and music
- culture, for example, fashion, rituals and food.
Within a personal project, focusing on homo faber is much more than presenting a product as an example of human creativity or achievement. It involves questioning, investigating the creative process, reflecting on one's own and others' involvement in it, engaging with the product, and reflecting on its role and context.
The personal project is a rich opportunity for students to complete an extended piece of work that challenges their own creativity and thinking about issues of concern to themselves. The following themes could relate to this area of interaction:
- the development of mathematical and scientific thought through the ages
- ethical values through the ages
- the diversity of moral and aesthetic judgments
- the human capacity for change, and for reaction to changes
- the influence of men and women of genius
- great cultural and historical movements
- great scientific discoveries
- the impact of inventions and discoveries on society.
The personal project may be the best opportunity in the MYP for students to use their creativity in the development and treatment of these ideas. Allowing students sufficient scope for personal expression places them in the position of homo faber.