Design teaching practices of practitioner architects: An observational study

Abstract

The teaching practices of practitioner architects who teach design (known as tutors) are critiqued for being inconsistent, solely based on their own educational experiences, and therefore teacher centred. This observational study makes visible the give and take that occurs in design studios and provides a behavioural perspective. Observations of student-tutor interactions at four Australian universities enabled direct exploration of the phenomena of design teaching as it occurred. Data was collected via video recordings, fieldnotes, and spatial mapping. Employing the lens of practice theory, the analysis consisted of a series of transcriptions illustrating position, talk, pauses, gestures, gaze, shared materials such as study models, drawings, diagrams on tracing sheets and sketchbooks, and laptops and computers, and what students do while the tutor discusses with another student. The key findings of this study are that practitioner architects who teach design improvise during interactions with students. They make evaluative judgements about how to operate within specific settings and manage their behaviours to co-construct design knowledge. While spontaneous, such practices are not simply ‘anything goes.’ Rather, improvisation is a creative response to unfolding situations and occurs within established structures and formats. The significance of this study is that it enables seeing reflection-in-action in a new light, offers an architectural lens towards conversations on practice theory, and provides a unique research method for observation of teaching behaviours and practices.