Architecture Centre Network

For three years running, The Ove Arup Foundation has part-funded a series of training workshops aimed at keeping education officers within the Architecture Centre Network (ACN) up-to-date with teaching practices. The third of these events was held over two days in April 2007.

The series, ‘Engaging with Pedagogy’, has been developed with the Institute of Education and a group of leading practitioners, to engage participants with hands-on activities and group work. This is interspersed with presentations and feedback sessions, and backed up with examples of good practice and a range of information and reference materials.

The events have:

  • supported government initiatives for the design of new school buildings and cemented the status of centres as consultees for the ‘Building Schools for the Future’ programme;
  • provided education officers with the skills and resources to engage young people and their teachers in exploring the built environment;
  • contributed to the DfES’s ‘Every Child Matters’ agenda that seeks to provide young people with enriching and enjoyable experiences; and
  • strengthened the architecture centres’ overall service.

Feedback from event attendees has been extremely positive. “As always these sessions continue to help us shape and develop our education programme,” commented one centre’s development officer. “Having attended all three, I’ve found the programme comprehensive and extremely useful in keeping up-to-date with the changing face of education and learning from other architecture centres.”

For more about the work of the ACN and the Centres, please go to www.architecturecentre.net.