Educating the Ethical Practitioner

My talk today will be about my own thoughts regarding architecture education. My intention is not dictate a method for others to follow, but rather to open up a discussion of a topic that is central to many of us. I will begin with the findings of a study made by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching on architecture education known as the Boyer Report. I will then discuss the work of Donald Schön as it supports the report’s general conclusions. Though I see much merit in Schön’s proposals as well as the assessment made by the Boyer Report, I would argue that a more nuanced approach is required. I will propose, therefore, that a means of architectural education as based on the Socratic method is a more constructive way of architecture education. The discussion that follows is based primarily on early Socratic dialogues and I will specifically use the Charmides to discuss the issues that I believe are relevant to studio pedagogy