Negotiated Pedagogy: Instigating the acquisition and development of skills for future practice in Nigeria

Architectural education in Nigeria has been criticised for not equipping students and future architects with the appropriate skills to address the critical aspects of both practice and education. The criticism accentuates the assertion that the curriculum of architectural education, notably the design studio, is socio-culturally unfit for purpose. In addressing these concerns, this thesis uses a postcolonial feminist critique to expose and understand the challenges with the inherited curriculum and how it could be decolonised. The use of postcolonial feminist theory is not to replace the western curriculum with an indigenous one, rather uncover how the plurality of methods and sources can be mobilised to develop a negotiated pedagogy that is both inclusive and socially responsive to local needs. The study exercises both qualitative and quantitative methods in gathering, analysing, and evaluating empirical findings in the Nigerian context. The first set of qualitative evidence was curated through conducting interviews with educators, unpicking how they define, construct, and explore the elements that make pedagogy socially-minded. The claims made by educators were re-examined using case studies drawing on students’ views. The sample was drawn from three regional contexts (Africa, Europe, and North America) to develop a comprehensive understanding of how negotiated pedagogy is perceived, speculated, and explored in different contexts. The negotiated pedagogic outcome drawn from the discussions was subsequently evaluated in the Nigerian context in conjunction with educators, students, and practitioners. The evaluation was done with focus groups, workshops, and survey to assess the extent to which negotiated pedagogy can enable students to acquire capabilities for future practice in Nigeria. This thesis makes an original contribution to knowledge by demonstrating the extent that negotiated pedagogy enables students/future architects to acquire practical capabilities such as developing criticality, working in teams, negotiating, self-initiating of projects, and creating jobs without waiting for commissions. The study demonstrates that different pedagogic projects dictate the types of action methods and skills that students need to develop when engaging in each project context, not necessarily the kind of practice. The flexible and inclusive nature of negotiated pedagogy makes it adaptable into the studio repertoire and the Nigerian context in general, as students develop a range of attitudes, capacities, and skills that can be seen to enrich, critique, and address the deficiencies of the design studio model in Nigeria. The structure of the pedagogic framework developed in this thesis provides further evidence that suggests that negotiated pedagogy could enhance dialogue between the design studio, live projects, the profession, and the community at large.