Week 30 Contemporary trends what is a trend in NZ

Week 30


Contemporary trends what is a trend in NZ

What?

I am HOD of Design Technology and Food and Nutrition at a secondary school in Hawkes Bay with a little over 300 students. I teach in a single sex, female school and nearly half of our students are boarders. These students are not always exposed to local community issues let alone global issues and the bubble in which they (at times) live in is safe, supportive and at times misleading to how the outside world lives. All students and staff share a healthy lunch together each day and the grounds are beautiful, classes are small in all students are driven to various sport, cultural or extra curricular events.

Within the lessons issues are discussed at length, when learning cultural, ethical and sustainable practices and students use online research to gain better insight for ideas and topics being explored. However, I do not believe this is always enough.

The Health and Technology Curriculum allows me to teach a wide range of topics and provide many opportunities for students to engage with critical thinking, as development of designs are developed and outcome are produced. Students use this process to form opinions and understandings of why and how things happen. There are some key predictions for Technology learning and teaching, https://futurefive.co.nz/story/2017-trends-and-predictions-education-technology/. It is the section '4. Collaboration technology', that I want my students to be more adaptable and aware of. Future five Technology quote,'how they like to consume information so collaboration technology will be vital to being relevant to your students. '. This is a key element for my teaching practice and how the trend in collaboration for learning advancement make sense in my school and I believe, in particular the subject area I work in.
One of the key issues that we face when developing products is the 'waste', life expectancy and sustainability of the outcome. Climate change is real, farming practices are impacting resources and raw materials as community sustainability is threatened all over the world. Here in New Zealand we also share the struggles of poverty, poor diet, decline of manufacturing and the impact of FAST FASHION. A trend of self reflection and sustainability for our learners comes down to the core values. https://www.edutopia.org/blog/self-organized-learning-sugata-mitra


So what?
This year I have been chosen to attend the Seed to Self-2018 journey. This comprises six days of learning and self-discovery through the organic cotton regions of South India, and is designed as a professional development opportunity for teachers throughout New Zealand. This is for us to learn hands on the ‘impact of the current fashion paradigm, and more importantly, the way to move forward to a more holistic way’ of teaching and learning with our students. The Seed to Self-organisation (http://www.viva.co.nz/article/fashion/seedtoself/) believe the importance of this opportunity to follow the Indian cotton textile value chain from its source to its final destination, meeting organic farmers, artisans and other workers behind the scenes, is paramount for bringing to the forefront of our curriculum. Many NCEA assessments both internally and externally require insight into both sustainable and ethical understanding. Level 2 has been the target of this focus within the technology and DVC curriculum for many years now.

I believe that we are not supporting our land, employment in manufacturing and like India out Wool industry is declining when our sheep population is growing. Sustainable practices are now in demand and the trend for better practices is a global issue. that. My preferred approach to social change starts with sensing the tension between our values and vision for the future on the one hand, and our business reality (behavior) on the other.

This research I am venturing on is a very specialised investigation, focussing on raw material manufacturing and farming practices, and has been made available for teachers from both secondary and tertiary level. I will be with a group of educators to learn about cotton farming practices and fair trading within the fashion industry. This will be to bring back information, contacts and resources to our learners, with eyes wide open. This will be to strengthen students connections to the world that are living very differently to our students here. Globalization has disconnected causes and effects in supply chains, allowing us to hide behind complexity and a lack of information. I believe that using technology, globalization also creates the fractured reality that the world is smaller because of the ease for access at the tap of a button. Communication that I will have will initiate for students both while I am away and when I get back will show that access gained through online access is readily achievable. Making contact through globalization is just...more easily done and can open the eyes for students that only live in thier own little bubble. Today access on line for communication benefit students all over the world. https://www.edutopia.org/blog/self-organized-learning-sugata-mitra
This is not a conventional approach to transforming industry practices. However, times like these demand unconventional means. This organisation believes ‘the only way to make change sustainable is to have it rooted firmly in our changed worldview’. One of the organisers we meet is, Appachi Eco-Logic which help farmers to convert from genetically modified cotton to growing environmentally friendly Eco-Logic cotton, thereby eliminating harmful pesticides and insecticides. This helps to reverse the damage done to water resources and animal life in the region. The project also educates farmers in traditional and scientific methods of consistently growing sustainable and high-quality cotton. With over 65 years of cotton experience and expertise, Appachi Cotton is preserving the cotton legacy that’s three generations old. Appachi EcoLogic is truly a “Farm to Fashion” story that connects everyone in the value chain, from the farmer to the end consumer. To me, one of the major reasons to teach these values is for purposes of cultural relationships in both trading and industry understanding. Our students have an opportunity to continue this connection and their understanding of ethical trading and the manufacturing of two raw materials. We have many designers here in New Zealand who have made conscious decisions to be part of fair trade and sustainable practices in the development of their products. Many universities of industrial, product and fashion design are requiring experience and knowledge in these areas.

Hole in wall computer, India linking that community, https://www.ted.com/talks/sugata_mitra_shows_how_kids_teach_themselves

Here at our small school, I want to help build these wider connections, by linking our students with people so they become less narrow minded and become more worldly and empathetic human beings.
Willing to make a difference and build more understanding of other females and their (not always chosen) life styles and the challenges that are being faced every day of their lives.
My journey is for encourage students to engage online, with a wider range of cultures, learning of unique styles, raw materials, eating patterns and health practices.

Now what?

Interactions between trends is like a roll on effect. As sustainable practices are being addressed in the Technology curriculum, so are the practices within the professional business sectors.
It is inevitable that class sizes, will grow. In fact schools all over New Zealand are growing today with a diversity that we don't really experience in our school. It will be through effective use of Technology that we can gain insight to these cultures, to understand the customs and background these people, to enable better understanding and support for each other. We already have so many options in the foods we cook and eat and this is because, with the ease of trading, internet access and travel, we can experience dishes from all around the world here in this New Zealand. Technology has become vast and has a huge opportunity that impact our learners.

As the production of textiles is the second most polluting industry in the world, we must consider the future and what we can do to reduce the pollution. What can we do to ensure our students develop a deeper understanding of design technology? This tour provides a rare chance for teachers, as representatives of NZ, to work with leading experts in the industry, from the field to the consumer. All of the teachers absorb the skills they learn and pass them on to the students and wider teaching communities when they return. What I think will be of particular benefit to the learning Community is the national and international contacts between not just India but the world of textiles. Contacts are paramount to be established for further planning and growth and development with trading. I believe raw materials are out taonga and must be taken seriously. Students must learn to look after resources and sustain practices that are considered for a healthy future in mind.

Seed to self ‘Our goal is to create conscious consumerism by offering transformational learning experiences and we want to create a profound systemic change that begins with consciousness as a foundation for sustainability. We aspire for our work in the textiles industry to act as a model for other industries to follow’.

National Intelligence Council. (2017). Global trends: The Paradox of Progress. National Intelligence Council: US. Retrieved from https://www.dni.gov/files/images/globalTrends/documents/GT-Main-Report.pdf

OECD. (2016) Trends Shaping Education 2016, OECD Publishing, Paris. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/trends_edu-2016-en(this publication can be read online by following its DOI’s hyperlink)