The Balance, by Dr. Catlin Tucker
Aug 25, 2026 · 1 hr 3 min · 9 segments
In this episode, I chat with Gerardo Martinez, Executive Director of Educational Technology for Westminster School District, about what educators can learn from the field of architecture when…
Gerardo MartinezGuest
Catlin TuckerHost
For everybody listening, so when I went down to work with your incredible innova- innovators group, I just used my teacher as architect metaphor in that session without-
So, um, listeners have probably heard me kind of compare the work of teacher as designer of learning experiences to that work of an architect, and the reason I make that comparison is truly because what I hope teachers will do will, like, take their professional expertise and create a blueprint for a lesson that allows students to be the builders of meaning, right? For students to be the ones constructing the knowledge in the classroom.
... we see this so eye to eye." And what I think is interesting though is I don't know, and maybe I'm curious your perspective, like, I don't think teachers think of themselves that way-
And I don't know if it's adopted curriculum, I don't know if it's something else that has, like, kind of gotten in the way of this idea, or it's simply that so many teachers have created kind of a single experience for everyone for so long.
But I feel like that's something that that metaphor for a lot of teachers is a little bit, I don't know if jarring's the right word, but it's just not necessarily one of the roles they see themselves as having as an educator.
Fir- first, I'll go back to the part where you said where, how did it, why did it resonate with me so much?
Um, so i- in architecture, what, when we're going through school and then when you become an architect, you know, the whole purpose there is that you're designing for some experience that's known, and many times for an experience that's not known, when you're trying to be innovative and design something new that no one's ever experienced.
Um, so it's really about understanding what are those experiences, what is the, um, the moment that you want to create in that space? But more than that, it's about the function of the space.
... make a building function so that it meets the needs of what's supposed to be happening in that organization or whatever it is, or even if it's just a home.
For everybody listening, so when I went down to work with your incredible innova- innovators group, I just used my teacher as architect metaphor in that session without-
So, um, listeners have probably heard me kind of compare the work of teacher as designer of learning experiences to that work of an architect, and the reason I make that comparison is truly because what I hope teachers will do will, like, take their professional expertise and create a blueprint for a lesson that allows students to be the builders of meaning, right? For students to be the ones constructing the knowledge in the classroom.
... we see this so eye to eye." And what I think is interesting though is I don't know, and maybe I'm curious your perspective, like, I don't think teachers think of themselves that way-
And I don't know if it's adopted curriculum, I don't know if it's something else that has, like, kind of gotten in the way of this idea, or it's simply that so many teachers have created kind of a single experience for everyone for so long.
But I feel like that's something that that metaphor for a lot of teachers is a little bit, I don't know if jarring's the right word, but it's just not necessarily one of the roles they see themselves as having as an educator.
Fir- first, I'll go back to the part where you said where, how did it, why did it resonate with me so much?
Um, so i- in architecture, what, when we're going through school and then when you become an architect, you know, the whole purpose there is that you're designing for some experience that's known, and many times for an experience that's not known, when you're trying to be innovative and design something new that no one's ever experienced.
Um, so it's really about understanding what are those experiences, what is the, um, the moment that you want to create in that space? But more than that, it's about the function of the space.
... make a building function so that it meets the needs of what's supposed to be happening in that organization or whatever it is, or even if it's just a home.
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