Introduction

          My father was an architect. Until the day he passed in 2012, he crafted sets of master plans on his drafting board in his upstairs office, with a pencil, a ruler, and a set of triangles and curves. From blueprints to elevations, footers to framing, my father labored over plans for homes he would never live in. After working with clients to draft their dreams, he would take on the general contracting responsibilities and, depending on circumstances and deadlines, could do the work of most of the sub and specialty contractors, as well. Most of my childhood memories with my father are in partially framed homes, pushing a broom or, holding a level, or the idiot end of a tape measure. There he would always stand, plans in hand, surveying the site at every stage to ensure the home being built was the home he designed. A consummate craftsman, he designed, built and lived by a three-word mantra: “Plumb, Square and Level”. Defining the perfect state of position, relationship and connection, these simple terms were anchor points through which my father drew the parallel lines of his professional and personal life.
          I believe, in some small way, my own career path is an extension of the lines my father drew. I am an architect—of sorts. Working in a different age and medium, I plan and construct learning events and also supervise, plans in hand, every phase from analysis through evaluation. I listen to the needs and wants of my clients and, with the advice of experts, translate them into function and form that flows. My builds, from design to development, are a reflection of the same principles my father lived and worked by. Every element of a learning event is strategically positioned to create a scaffolding effect, providing a strong foundation for learners to build on. Learning events are planned as a collection of related objects; understanding their relationship is my primary function because it drives both the development and evaluation of the build.
          Learning occurs as we make connections. Individual pieces of information linked over time create bridges to new pieces of knowledge, skillfully sectioned and placed to produce a cohesive join. As I review the work I do, the projects and curricula I’ve published, I can’t help but think of the unique connection I share with my father and how striving for and building toward a perfect state of position, relationship and connection have become the blueprints of the work I do and the life I lead.