Individual support in expanding, high-needs studio cohorts
I teach Design Studio across all three years of the BA Architecture programme. This year, my students present a wide range of needs, experiences and realities. In the vertical studio of 23 students, seven hold Individual Support Agreements (ISAs) and a further seven may benefit from additional support. In Stage 1, six students have ISAs, roughly half the group.
Evaluation: Questioning the effectiveness of 1:1 tutorials in growing studios
To respond appropriately, my current approach integrates ISA guidance through regular check‑ins and 1:1 tutorials. These help tailor feedback and signpost students to Academic Support where required. However, as studio sizes and ISAs increase, teaching time reduces, making sustained individual support difficult. Time constraints limit my ability to offer bespoke tutorials and extend them when needed.
While 1:1s are highly valued by students, relying on this model limits opportunities for collective, embodied, hands‑on learning central to architectural education. I offer ‘equal’ tutorial time to all students to ensure everyone feels supported, yet this produces siloed learning that can privilege students who are already performing well, leaving the wider cohort feeling less connected and more dependent on digital work.
Moving forwards: Reimagining studio pedagogy through equity and mutual care
To embed a more just teaching practice that holds the experimental and multidisciplinary nature of architecture while responding to students’ specific needs, I want to design teaching for equity rather than equality, offering multiple routes to learning and participation. Drawing on Universal Design for Learning principles (Zakrajsek, 2021), I can blend individual tutorials with structured whole‑class workshops, so students learn through varied methods and tools.
I envision alternating or combining these formats within one session: while I rotate short 1:1s, the group works on a timed task using 2D and 3D exploration. This would allow continued bespoke support while nurturing collective learning.
I also aim to interweave analogue hands‑on making and sketching with digital processes and iterations so students can take risks, explore multiple representations (models, drawings, annotated process) and demonstrate learning in different ways. This supports diverse sensory, cognitive and linguistic needs while re‑emphasising the multidisciplinary nature of architecture.
To enable all students to participate freely and fully during workshops, responding to varied cognitive, linguistic and socio‑cultural needs, I aim to create not just a safe space, but a ‘brave’ space (Arao, Clemens, 2013): an environment where students can participate honestly and critically without feeling pressured to justify or disclose their needs. Establishing students-reviewed ground rules can help recognise that challenge and discomfort are part of learning, enabling students to own their ‘intentions and impact’ (2013, p.145). In doing so, I want to support students in engaging with their work even when the process becomes uncomfortable, helping them explore the edges of their comfort zones (Arao, Clemens, 2013).
Mahdavi’s call to dismantle scarcity and adversity models (2022) echoes the old architectural teaching approach in which an (abled) ‘master’ dictated the rules of “good architecture,” suggesting that only a few could succeed. This model persists and takes time to decolonise. Challenging it means bringing in multiple voices, fostering multifaceted discourse, and supporting different needs and approaches. By encouraging collaboration, peer learning and mutual care, students can build a collective chain of support that empowers them to care for each-other, while being ‘brave’ in the learning space.
References
Arao, B. and Clemens, K. (2013) ‘From Safe Spaces to Brave Spaces: A New Way to Frame Dialogue Around Diversity and Social Justice’, in Landreman, L. (ed.) The Art of Effective Facilitation: Reflections from Social Justice Educators. Sterling, VA: Stylus, pp. 135–150.
Mahdavi, P. (2022) Social justice in, through and beyond higher education. Times Higher Education, 24 March. Available at: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/campus/social-justice-through-and-beyond-higher-education (Accessed: 17 January 2026).
Zakrajsek, T. (2021) Do we need equity or equality to make things ‘fair’? Actually, we need both. Times Higher Education, 2 September. Available at: https://www.timeshighereducation.com/campus/do-we-need-equity-or-equality-make-things-fair-actually-we-need-both
Vertical studio: our first collective mapping exercise asked students to identify a core interest in relation to the brief, creating a shared network of interests and ideas.
Note on the use of Copilot: Microsoft Copilot has been used to help condense the text without generating any of its own inputs, in order to adhere to the word limit. This was then edited manually to create the final blog.