I believe it's my duty as an educator to help drive for a more positive, inclusive and sustainable future within the fashion industry whilst preparing students for the future. “We are all teachers in one way or another. The world is changing all the time. It's up to us as teachers to help nudge things in the way we hope things will go” (KPU Teaching & learning Common, 2020).
Within my teaching practise I often use Nike as a case study for branding with my students discussing their iconic slogan ‘JUST DO IT.’ Together we draw conclusions that suggest the wearer of the slogan is encouraged to push themselves another mile, beat their personal best or simply try harder. It’s my aim to instil a similar theory within my own teaching by promoting the slogan ‘YOU CAN DO IT,’ you can push yourself further, go beyond your personal best and achieve more than you ever imagined.
Marva Collins’ who taught children from deprived areas in Chicago during the 1970’s, discusses in her self-titled book Marva Collins’ Way (Collins and Tamarkin, 1990) the importance of getting to know your students as well as your subject and alludes to the importance of continuing to learn alongside your students.
This really resonated with my own learning experience. I was a hard-working student who would become disengaged with certain teaching methods and often lacked confidence in my own ability. My persona was often perceived as lacking enthusiasm or not having an opinion. It took a teacher who spent time getting to know me and how I learnt to re-engage me with my subject. They used learning pedagogies that I could relate to and more importantly engage with. As a result, for the first time, in a long time, I confidently handed in a submission a felt proud of.
This experience shaped my own teaching theories and educational values. I believe that praxis is essential to developing all round competence in creative subjects. Theory-based information is always essential - you can’t place a student in a factory or a buyer’s meeting and expect them to understand what’s going on. Instead they need to become familiar with a glossary of fashion terminology and theory before they can actively take part in a practice. However, you can only truly comprehend a subject by experiencing it in practice.
Creating a community of practise that is inclusive whilst acknowledging that the neurodiversity and differences in each of its members is at the heart of my teaching values. It's my aim to achieve this by incorporating UDL into my practise making each of my students feel included, valued, heard and most importantly enjoy their education journey with me.
Finally, I believe learning and teaching can’t be assessed exclusively at summative. Instead feedback should be shared continuously with students being provided with the tools to self and peer assess too. I acknowledge that each of my students will be aiming for very different outcomes from their time at university; some to just complete the course and others aiming for a specific job description. I aim to keep each of my students engaged and motivated so they all complete their course with an outcome they are personally proud of. The needs and goals of students are all different and the journey to achieving these goals is as important as the final destination.
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Bibliography:
Collins, M. and Tamarkin, C., 1990. Marva Collins' Way. Jeremy P. Tarcher.
KPU Teaching & learning Common, 2020. Accessible, Flexible, Blended & Online Learning with Ed Tech. [podcast] Beyond the Chalkboard. Available at: <https://anchor.fm/kpu-tlcommons> [Accessed 10 March 2021].
I used this mind map to review my educational philosophy at the end of the PGCert course.
