Putting People First: Designing an Inclusive Curriculum

Sandra Manley University of the West of England, Bristol, UK
Title of Program: Bachelor of Arts (Hons) Architecture and Planning

Description of Program

The BA (Hons) in Architecture and Planning course is based in the School of Planning and Architecture at the University of the West of England, Bristol, UK. It is normally a four-year program of study to honours degree level although it is possible, because of the Faculty's Modular Assessment Programme, to spread the period of study over a longer period, if desired.

The course has been designed in cooperation with the governing bodies of both the architectural and planning professions in the UK, hence the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), Architects Registration Board (ARB) and the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) have all been involved. The course has been granted recognition as providing exemption from RIBA Part 1 examinations by the RIBA and ARB. Similarly the course has been accredited by the RTPI as providing full academic qualifications for entry to the planning profession. This joint accreditation has considerable advantages for the student in terms of the range of knowledge and skills gained and the consequent enhanced career opportunities.

Context

The architecture and planning degree at the University of the West of England in Bristol received an award for Planning Achievement from the Royal Town Planning Institute in 2001. The judges were impressed not only because the course, originally established in 1996, is the first undergraduate degree in the UK to combine the two subjects in one degree, but also by the extensive consultation that had underpinned the design of the curriculum. This consultation had revealed that although it was considered important by professionals from both groups to raise the level of design competence in the planning profession it was an equally valid aim to raise the architectural professions understanding of planning and particularly social and environmental issues. The importance of designing directly to meet people's needs was a major consideration.

To achieve these aims the course team adopted three words, namely PEOPLE, CONTEXT and SUSTAINABILITY to act as the key themes of the course. The intention was to try to avoid the simplistic view sometimes adopted by students on modular courses that once an aspect of the curriculum has been taught and assessed it can be dismissed from the mind. Instead each theme would permeate the course. This did not mean that particular modules would not concentrate on teaching knowledge and skills relevant to each theme but it did mean that the key issues would be reoccur for consideration throughout the course.

The people theme broadly corresponds with the principles of a universal or inclusive approach to design. The aim is to ensure that students will constantly be reminded of the importance of the issue of designing to meet the needs of a wide range of clients and users by infusion of the theme throughout the course. Certain modules, such as the Cultural Context of Architecture do impart knowledge and understanding of different cultural perceptions of the built form of towns and cities and others concentrate on ensuring an awareness of the social and economic context within which development takes place. However the intention is that students will design, from the outset in a way that responds to the broad diversity of users. Details of the structure of the course and a fuller explanation of how it emerged can be found in Changing Architectural Education: Towards a new Professionalism. (Manley, S and Claydon, C, 2000)

The most crucial aspect of the attempt to infuse universal design ideas into the curriculum relates to the fact that at the critical reviews of design work the extent to which the student's design scheme considers the three themes is discussed with the student and forms part of the assessment. This is because the activity of design is central to the educational process and occupies the forefront of the student's mind. Unless design studio work acknowledges and assesses the extent to which the student has absorbed and acted on the themes they will be considered to be " add-on extras" that are desirable but not as important as other aspects of the design - particularly the aesthetic.

The next stage in of the process of course development is the development of an effective system of monitoring that will evaluate the extent to which the aims of this innovative course are being met. This recognizes that any innovation is vulnerable to change and over time may be diluted or even lost. The first stage of monitoring has already commenced (Manley, S and Parnaby, R, 2001) but funding to carry this monitoring on into the future is being sought as a means of assessing the impact that this innovative course has on the graduate architect -planner in practice.

Eligibility for Study

Students entering the course have normally studied three subjects at Advanced Level in either arts or science subjects and have obtained passes in Mathematics and English at GCSE level. Applicants with appropriate further educational qualifications and mature student who may not have a formal academic background are also welcomed on the course.

Study Requirements

Students on the program study a common set of six 20-credit modules (or equivalent) each academic year. There is a strong emphasis on design studio work, which has a central place in the study program but students also take part in seminars, lecture programs, field courses, computer based learning and a wide variety of other teaching methods. During the final year a short period of employment based study forms part of the program and students produce a research project as well as their final design project.

Key Faculty

Richard Parnaby, Award Leader Richard.Parnaby@uwe.ac.uk Tel +44 (0) 117 3443361

Sandra Manley, Joint leader of course design team Sandra.Manley@uwe.ac.uk Tel + 44 (0) 117 3443205

Lindsey Worrall, Award Advisor Lindsey.Worrall@uwe.ac.uk Tel +44 (0) 117 3443368

Contacts and Sources of More Information

Full details of the course can be obtained from the University of the West of England, Frenchay Campus, Coldharbour Lane, Bristol, BS 13 1QY, United Kingdom. Alternatively log in the UWE website: http://www.uwe.ac.uk/fbe/courses/ug/index.htm , click on Undergraduate courses, and then click on 'BA (Hons) Architecture and Planning' or contact Richard.Parnaby@uwe.ac.uk

The following publications give detailed discussions of the course philosophy and the approach to monitoring that has been adopted.

Manley, S and Claydon (2000) Achieving richness and Diversity: combining architecture and Planning at UWE, Bristol, In Nicol, D and Pilling,S (eds) Changing Architectural Education : Towards a new Professionalism ) Chapter 15,P.145-176.

Manley, S and Parnaby, R, (2001) Putting people first: comparing vision and reality in the architecture and planning course at UWE.

For more information, contact Sandra Manley at Sandra.Manley@uwe.ac.uk

Read the Forum on this subject

Citation: Manley, Sandra (2001). Putting People First: Designing an Inclusive Curriculum. Retrieved (Enter Date), from Universal Design Education Online web site: http://www.udeducation.org/teach/program_overview/program_infused/manley.asp