Implementing innovation: a vertical-teaching approach for educating architects.

Studio teaching through segregated year groups is the historically accepted method of educating architects. It is proposed that this approach is disconnected from the reality of architectural practice which takes place in an immersive, collaborative environment. There is a need to ‘disrupt’ established methods to better reflect professional demands. Vertical Teaching (VT) is a pedagogy in which mixed year groups and abilities are taught together across clusters/studios.
VT has been proposed as an innovation by virtue of its ‘newness’ in pedagogical practice for architectural education. The purpose of the paper is to define and classify VT in terms of an innovation using an Innovation Classification Model, Educational Competency Model and Case Study to establish a pathway for implementation of VT as an established approach to teaching architecture. It is anticipated that the findings of the study would develop the discussion around the current education of architects. Limitations of the pedagogy will be considered as well as suggestions on how these can be addressed in new and alternative contexts.