Here is a question I was asked after my placement. Can you conclude that in a main stream comprehensive (with a diverse intake) that whilst the 'subject' has value it is almost secondary to the way that is a vehicle for nurturing learning skills? When looking at it with an understanding of Maslow's Hierarchy I feel that yes the subject becomes secondary to the learning skills taught to children but also that it shows an importance to getting all student on to the right level of emotional balance to then be able to apply knowledge to them. With Maslow's theory if a student is not on stage five they will be unable to learn effectively. I would also like to look at this question with a sense of common sense, while observing on placement it became apparent quite quickly that if the students enter the classroom with an issue it can be very hard to engage them into the lesson, and often not at all. This could be a result of their previous lesson or some lingering issues from outside of school, either way it will have a great affect on their progress within a lesson. This is why I feel strongly about textiles as I feel it gives a student somewhere in which they can be as creative as they like as well as creating an environment that they can relieve some of their stress in to a productive outlet. To concluded yes i think that the textiles as a subject is the prime example of a subject becoming secondary to the learning needs and skills of children. It is important to know your subject but first you must be able to conect with each individual student.

Maslow's Hierarchy theory refers to the state in which we should all be to learn to our highest level. It has five stages and each is in itself a building block to the next level. The first stage is physiological, this refers to the psychical state we should first be in i.e. food, sleep breathing, water, homeostasis, excretion and sex. when scientists say breakfast is the best start to the day it truly is. It wakes the brain and body up and provides energy for the rest of the day. We all need these basic needs to progress to the next level, if we do not we fail to learn. The second stage is safety, this is our basic need to feel safe whether it is at home, school or out in society. When in a classroom students want to be able to trust that you as a teacher will act in a responsible manor and provide a safe working environment. This can mean showing you are able to apply discipline to keep the environment this will reassure students and instil a safe place for them to learn. If students do not fell safe they will not work and will disrupt the rest of the class. Stage three is love and belonging, you need to show students that you care about them and their future as individuals. Teachers deal with over three hundred students a week but if they can show that they can at least identify each student as an individuals by knowing their names it can make the student respect and trust you. Also the way in which to act and treat students make a hugh difference to the attitudes of the students. It sounds obvious but while on placement I observed two teachers of textiles with two clearly different teaching styles. One is open, honest, friendly, and trustworthy where as the second teacher was closed off, strict, and would not tolerate noise in the classroom. The results of these approaches showed clearly in the quality of work the students created in these lessons. I feel this is the most important aspect of teaching as students want to know that you care before they want to know what you know. You have to remember that a lot of students come with a lot of baggage and some don't feel wanted and protected until their at school. I have experienced this on placement to with a student that had the worst start to life and rarely made it to any of her lessons. While on placement I observed staff working closely with her to support her through her issues and the result of this was she attend her core subjects. This shows that caring about your students and providing a haven in which they can feel safe and cared about works and helps students get into the right mind set to learn. The forth stage of Maslow's Hierarchy theory is esteem, This refers to confidence and positive reinforcement to each student. Students need to feel self confidents, achievement, respect of others and respect by others.I feel this links in well with stage three as to first get trust from a student you have to first show them some respect and trust them. To give students confidence I feel it is important to be pro-active and give endless amounts of positive reinforcement to each student. With this there work will improve and they will trust you more as a teacher. Stage five is the final stage to achieving the best level of learning, this is through self-actualisation which relates to morality, creativity, spontaneity, problem solving, lack of prejudice and acceptance of facts. Once you have crated a safe, positive, creative environment students will be able to learn to their highest level, show the creativity, problem solve without assistance and truly listen and trust that you are teaching them all of your knowledge for the benefit. Overall I think Maslow's theory is spot on and every stage can relate to any student trying to learn.

Interview

I recently completed my 3 month work placement and within this I interviewed Lorraine March Head of Design and technology department within Allenbourn Middle School.

Question 1: The government states that all children should be given the right to relevant and challenging learning. It states that this should include ICT, language, writing, specking, listening and reading. How do you feel textiles as a subject approaches these areas?

Lorraine's response: Textiles had a massive link to maths, english and science. One of the biggest areas covered was written and specking skills due to students interviewing the user of the products they were researching. This involved using a lot of open ended questions.

From what I observed the school approaches each area within each lesson to an outstanding level. They encourage each student to develop and achieve the best results within each area. The equipment and support available to each student helps them achieve the outstanding results.

Question 2: What effect do you feel removing textiles from the National Curriculum will have on children and future industries?

Lorraine' response: Textiles is a great subject for under confident students as it teaches them skills to make a product they can be proud of. Textiles also teaches them awareness of other people and their needs when designing a product for them. The industry will suffer with a lack of skilled labours. Some of the best british designers will have started out at Middle school, so without textiles we wouldn't have top designers.

I agree with lorraine, I think that textiles is a fantastic subject for teaching the less confident and less academic students. I myself am not an academic student but flourished in a creative environment. I also think it is a great subject to develop skills gained from other subjects like maths, english and science. By measuring their fabric they develop mathematic skills, by looking at the structure and compounds of fabrics they develop scientific knowledge ect. Also one of the major skilled shortages currently in fashion is seamstresses this could be made worse with the removal of textiles from the National Curriculum. Overall I think textiles is a very important subject and with out it many children will suffer greatly in many ways.

Question 3: There are three main styles in which we learn, auditory, visual and kinaesthetic. Do you feel it is important to know and understand when teaching children and why?

Lorraine's response: It is very important to know and understand each learning style otherwise you fail to reach every student. When giving out information she uses videos for visual and auditory students and physical products for kinaesthetic students.

I think this is one of the most important subject to know and understand because if you don't you as a teacher will fail to teach all students and are therefore not providing a relevant and challenging education.

Question 4: What transferable skills do you feel students gain out of textiles?

Lorraine's Response: There are many skills learnt from within textiles that can be applied to other subjects such as researching, ICT, problem solving, time management, planning, presentation, communication, practical sewing skills and also evaluation skills.

I feel that all the above skills are invaluable skills that can be applied to not only an academic view but also in a individual view, they can apply them to home life and develop many skills to prepare them for life later on.

Question 5: How do you feel different learning styles affect transferable skills?

Lorraine's response: It is still important to know and understand each learning style because if you do not teach with each style in mind the students will not understand and will fail to learn.

I agree with lorraine and it shows the importance of understanding each students specific learning needs otherwise you will fail them as a teacher.

Question 6: Where do you see new technology affecting textiles as a subject?

Lorraine's response: Allenbourn is lucky to have a great textiles department in which they have a laser cutter, heat press and computerised sewing machines. This has won over the boys who would normally not respect the subject. It also allows students of every ability to create a product to a higher standard.

I have observed this happening within lessons and in particular winning the boys over. While on placement we had a difficult male student who refused to push himself within the subject but once shown how to apply the computerised technology to a garment he was interested in he achieved an outstanding result. The development of the students product was clear when looking at product from year 5 through to year 8.

Question 7: Do you feel the industry is important to students at middle school level and why?

Lorraine's response: Yes even the students at the age of 9 want to know the purpose of doing something and you can show them with examples of real life.

I feel that yes knowledge of the industry is important but their idea of the industry is different to ours (adults). To children at middle school age a top designer is New Look, River Island, Abercrombie and Fitch and Hollister, which are more or less high street brands. For us as adults we have knowledge of couture designers such as Vivian Westwood, Karl Lagerfeld, Alexander McQueen, Giorgio Armani and many more.

Question 8: Do you think the economy has affected education?

Lorraine's response: Allenbourn is lucky to have a headmaster who supports and funds the Design and Technology department, but knows of schools who are struggling to even do projects they wish to do due to lack of funding.

I have to say Allenbourn is one of the best equipped schools for textiles that I have seen and feel it would be a shame and an injustice to creative students for the government to remove textiles from the National Curriculum. If we loose this subject students who lack confidents or are not academic will fail at education and will become lost in the system as troubled children. Without someone showing them they are good, even great at something they will fail to see the point in education.

Question 9: In ten years time where do you see textiles as a subject?

Lorraine's response: I would like to see it still on the National Curriculum but fears that it will not due to the economy. We have already lost the manufacturing business and with the loss of textiles will loose our future british designers.

I would agree with lorraine but hope to that it will stay on the National Curriculum and would like to see textiles developing the computer aided side within schools as I feel the industry is becoming much more computerised due to the growth in technological advances.

To end I have enjoyed every second spent on placement and have learnt many things. It has opened my eyes to the true role of a teacher which i feel is more of a carers role, by which i mean to teach children you first have to gain there trust, create a warm and welcoming area and listen and care to any and all issues they may have. They are at school to learn but if they do not trust you they will not listen to you. While on placement I learnt that students want to know you care before they want to know what you know.

While on placement i have observed many areas to teaching and one of them i feel has significant influence on the effectiveness of your teaching. There are three main categories for different styles of learning; auditory, visual, and kinesthetic. Auditory means the individual will learn best when instructions are read to them, if there is background noise or they were to read it out the noise would distract them and the information would have been lost. Visual learners achieve the best results when shown visual adds i.e. graphs, demonstrations and even when reading items for themselves. Kinesthetic is when an individual learns best by a 'hands on' approach. By doing the task they will often absorb the information quicker than sitting and listening. While observing on placement I have found that students that excel at Textiles are often students that struggle with academic subjects such Maths, English and Science. By understanding the demonstrations students often enjoy the subject more and push themselves to achieve more. If the government where to remove Design and Technology from the National Curriculum I feel this would have a detrimental effect on the emotions of the student and knock their confidence. This could in turn affect their overall grades as they might feel they are unable to achieve the same grades as their friends and peers.