In the midst of things: a spatial account of teaching in the design studio

Critical Analysis

Discussion of pedagogy often focuses exclusively on things that happen. Rarely does the discussion extend into considering where things happen, and when it does, the discussion treats space as separate from teaching and learning—as a container for holding learning experiences. Corazzo describes this as a “realist perspective” to the relationship between environment and teaching. From this perspective, space has characteristics that can be manipulated in support of a learning outcome. This perspective is limiting, because it operates in a one-way fashion: the space is selected, and it then impacts learning. An alternative “relational perspective” to space use emphasizes neither the social or material, but the relations between the social and material. Space becomes a medium, like language or drawing, in which creative activities occur.

To investigate and formalize this relationship, the author conducted a graphic elicitation study. In this study, instructors sketched drew maps of their studio space, and then described the studio teaching experience for a given day using the sketch as a prompt. Interviews were conducted in-situ to aid in recall.

Instructors described the way physical space was constructed by students to change the nature of visibility and public/private studio presence. Over time, use of space in learning created an “ongoing, but subtle, tussel” between students who wanted the ability to retain privacy and faculty who wanted the benefit of an open-plan and full line of sight. This power dynamic was made more vivid by the fight over studio territory, where faculty found themselves “literally ceding ground to [students].”

Visibility, territory, and casual approaches to teaching (likely influenced by the casual nature of the space) define the relationship perspective of pedagogy, space, and learning.

Research Value

The value of this work in informing my own research is that it:

• Indicates how being private and claiming space can lead to challenging faculty/student power dynamics