ef

I work in a local architectural firm and I hope to begin studying architecture this september, in either Bolton St. or UCD. obviously this discussion’s contributions are not very encouraging if I end up in Bolton St., but this is not the first time I have heard complaints of this kind about the place.
I was a student of design in DIT Mountjoy Sq., and it seems to me that the problems experienced in Bolton St. are very similar to those in Mountjoy Sq., so it appears that there is a problem within the DIT in general.
In my opinion, the basic ingredient for a good education is a creative and competent educational staff, whose motivation and brief is to understand and engage with its students in order to challenge them and act as a sounding board for their ideas.
From the top down, the focus of an education should be the students, not the curriculum. If a college believes in its own selection procedures, it should be prepared to be flexible with its curriculum in order to educate.
The key is ENGAGEMENT. An educator should understand its student – that way it best understands how to impact on the student in order to achieve the desired effect: learning. To understand, one must engage.
The students in Bolton St. seem desperate to engage with the college, but the feeling is not mutual. This is pathetic, and can only be destructive for the students and the college. These people are the architects of our society: it’s about creativity.

[This message has been edited by ef (edited 27 April 2000).]