Researching the one-on-one from a learning and teaching perspective

This paper explores whether or not, current thinking in learning and teaching concepts reflects the state of the ‘studio’ in architectural education. Schön highlighted the deviant value of the architectural studio method in the 1980s for professional education. The central vehicle used in many of his works to argue the value of the reflective practicum was the one-on-one exchanges between an expert coach and a student. Opinions are divided whether or not these practices purport to fulfill concepts of learner-centred teaching and constructivism. This paper reviews and discusses the ‘studio’ literature in architectural education in terms of its links to contemporary learning and teaching thinking, challenges and criticisms associated, and alternatives emerging. The paper finds that the challenges are more readily identified than remedied, and that a subtlety exists between intended and enacted teaching practices. Alternatives are typically a variation of existing practices that draw further from the opportunities of group interaction and critical discussion, but how to make these succeed.