Critically Learning from Practice in Construction Education

Construction practice involves facing the complex physical, organisational and relational situations which create its unique set of problems. In construction education, there is a propensity to simplify these situations and to deal with them separately in different courses in order to allow students to gradually understand this world. This paper argues that this is problematic as the simplification does not give a cognitive facility to deal with the complexity nor the personal skills to deal with the problematic situations. In an attempt to give students an access to these realities, a PG course is described which explores the different perspectives of aspects of construction practice. This involves students selecting an elemental technical topic and determining the codified knowledge of this, then interviewing practitioners about their knowledge, their practice and the problems they perceive of the topic. The approach is supported by theories of ‘personal constructs’ and ‘sensemaking’ which provide an explanation of differences and the consequences of working with them. Examples of students work are presented which demonstrate the depth of appreciation of complex areas that can result which enable students to develop unique approaches to their work and to continue this development through their careers. Students gain an insight into the limits of technical knowledge, the way that this is required and used differently by different roles and the way that construction systems integrate these differences. Students learn about the complexities of practice which is essential for their developing skills but also how an academic research approach can help them in practice.