Re-imagining built environment education: investigating the pracademic through autoethnography

This research seeks to mobilise the researchers own vocational, academic and professional experiences of built environment education, creatively challenging a personal belief it needs to be re-imagined. Through critique of historical and current practices, personal insights are offered from multiple perspectives that could benefit a range of influential stakeholders; whilst questioning their collective impact on the learning experience at different levels. Autoethnography is underpinned by a range of scientific fields, particularly design science, to explore artefacts relating to built environment education. Design of this qualitative inquiry emerges from the unfolding story, showcasing the flexibility autoethnography offers. Both qualitative and quantitative data are utilised through personal memory, self-observational/ reflective and external data interchangeably to re-tell a story covering a 30-year period to deliver meaningful personal insights. Analysis of comparable undergraduate built environment courses challenges the merits of sector-wide benchmarking, modularisation reflects siloed and fragmented practices; all impinge on the realisation of learning gain. In turn this raises questions of assessment practices in evaluating the success of both students and programmes; that academic education and professional training offers a confused learning environment at many levels currently. Anaylsis of experiential models raises questions regarding the relationship between theory and practice, that embedded knowledge reveals gaps between theoretical thinking and experiential reality. This research challenges stakeholders at all levels, raises questions of current practices and their impact. Through using autoethnography, an authentic account extends knowledge and professional practice in this area of educational research. Pragmatic recommendations are offered for all stakeholders influencing built environment education, informed by critique of existing humanist experiential models and other artefacts to offer a new lifelong learning model and consider re-imagination of current practices.