Astra Zarina in Civita

To say that Civita has been the classroom or “living laboratory” for the Italian Hilltowns program is to understate Civita’s importance to the students learning experience.

It also understates the importance of  the innovative didactic methods of Professor Astra Zarina.

What happened on the Italian Hilltowns program in Civita was a result of the unique nexus of Astra and Civita.

Applied Learning

Applied learning pedagogies share a design fundamental: the nurturing of learning and growth through a reflective, experiential process that takes students out of the traditional classroom setting.  The approach is grounded in the conviction that learning is maximized when it is active, engaged, and collaborative. (Ash & Clayton, 2009)

Astra’s Applied Learning pedagogy, (knowledge, action and reflect), gave the students the process to Identify and align with the rich culture of Civita. 

The Transformative Moment

As evidenced by the students' reflections, Astra’s teaching was transformative. This transformation of the student relies on the shift in “ their own (the students’) perspective of the world based on their interpretations of their personal experiences”. (Gargon and Collay, 2006)

Meyer and Land (2006) describe this process of learning that to gain a new insight or perspective on the world, one must change oneself and hence lose one part of one’s old self.  Astra’s method’s enabled Civita to be the crucible of learning and transformation in the sense above. And this legacy has shaped each student’s vision of the world and through their work the built environment.