ABSTRACT
It is said that “we teach the way we were taught”. This seems particularly true in architecture. This chapter explores one architect’s teaching journey from reproducing classroom experiences that he did not enjoy or find especially useful and moving to the Harkness Method. Harkness is a pedagogy that is student-centred and discussion-based and where the instructor, instead of being the master of the classroom, is largely silent. The author explores his history with the Harkness Method from being a student at its home, Phillips Exeter Academy, teaching for the first time using the approach and taking it back to Stanford University’s architecture programme. The chapter recounts the myriad revelations brought about by teaching architecture in a student-centred way and describes the enhanced learning of both he and his students.
