We are an in-person group of people interested in software engineering as a
fun activity of leisure time as well as a craft to become skilled at.
Programming is a fun skill we want to become better at. We value
learning together rather than alone. We are a school because the
etymological definition of school is “leisure time”. We are a
school that is:
- not only for beginners
- not online
- not based on a teacher-student model
- not transaction-based
Philosophy
school < from Ancient Greek σχολεῖον (skholeîon), from σχολή
(skholḗ, “spare time, leisure”, later, “conversations and the
knowledge gained through them during free time; the places
where these conversations took place”) —
(from Wiktionary)
School used to mean leisure; then it came to be the things
one gained when on leisure. Now it means death.
Let’s reclaim it.
The goal of Chaitin School is to create space, in both spatial and
temporal dimensions. Space for people to explore
ideas, to make experiments and to fail; to make jokes, to participate,
and to meet new friends and networks.
Chaitin School is not interested in acquiring money.
Managing money is a very distracting process,
which would cause us to stop focusing on the essence of what we really
want to do here: learn computer science and software engineering.
Paradoxically, we desire material assets, which makes the only way of
receiving them to be as gifts.
Values
Inclusivity. We aim to be radically inclusive. No fees, no tickets, no
applications, no acceptance criteria. We welcome everybody who wants to
take part in our activities. Our only requirement is our
Code of Conduct,
which we hope is embraced and welcomed by everyone.
Expertise. We view software building both as an engineering discipline
and as a craft. We value both skill and creativity as things we want to
develop. Among others, these require practice, intelligence,
consistency, persistence.
Humour. Computers are fun and if they’re not, there is no point
programming them. The element of amusement is fundamental to our
approach.
Gifting. There are no transactions involved in what we do.
We gift as much as we feel comfortable. What usually happens is that
people appreciate it and take up an active role too. But this is
neither required nor expected.
Democracy. Traditional learning institutions have knowledge
authorities who provide absolution. It’s useful to learn along
someone experienced that has many answers, however,
hierarchy means people have to depend on the opinion of one (or a few).
In contrast, we aim to create a space where knowledge is assessed from
its content, regardless of where or whom it came from.
Exploration. We are interested in the knowledge behind computer science and
software engineering. Whether some of it has already been discovered is
irrelevant. We are interested in both kinds—and most times, by thinking about
what you already know,
you discover what you don’t.
Community. Only if it is shared is there value to this project.
Thankfully, there are a lot of people to share it with; it’s hard only
because it—the community and the projects—are constantly defined
and redefined.