Engagement fluctuates throughout a student’s academic journey. Understanding, monitoring and improving student engagement is key to upholding student attainment and continuation. (UAL, 2023; UAL 2021) As a post-graduate student I too am feeling the fatigue of study deadlines. Through observation of my practice, I have noticed a lack of engagement to digital studies from minority females students – see Fear. I have also witnessed significant declines in digital engagement as students transition into their final year/unit of study. Conversation with peers has highlighted that this may be a universal problem.
“…the object only exists if it is ‘made meaningful’ through somebody reacting with it; but, at the same time, that somebody only exists, as a social being, as he is in the process of interaction. “
Pearce, S. (1994, p.27) Interpreting Objects and Collections
Working digitally can be isolating. There is a sense of connection to a physical garment which cannot be achieved through a screen. Within my teaching practice, students speak passionately about the design and development process, dedicating most of their time to this work, while leaving digital work to the latter stages as an afterthought. There are of course individuals who enjoy and find working digitally more efficient, but the many outweigh the few.
How can I create opportunities to engage and inspire students?
I began brainstorming activities focused on developing meaning and connection to digital work. Currently, the departments banking style delivery and course curriculum lack student identity. Taught content and unit submission often involve designs un-related to the current unit. This approach is un-inspiring to students, minimising investment into digital studies. Ruth Cook’s work (2023) on dialogic narratives demonstrates the positive benefits of personal storytelling within online teaching spaces. For this reason I have chosen to focus on embedding social theory into my research.
Objects provide an anchor between the past, present and future, helping us to identify our ‘…engagement in the midst of ongoing change through tangible and familiar things.’
Cowan, B., Laird, R. and McKeown, J. (2019)
Question: Can personal artefacts increase student engagement to digital software?
Understanding the context in which people view the world can help us to understand how they engage in the world. Object based learning’s impact on engagement, skill development and imagination have been frequently reviewed in literature, cultivating student centered learning environments. (Marie, J. 2011 cited by M, Hess. et al 2017, p.1) Similar findings have been shown within inclusive practices. This study will examine the impact of social identity, through personal artefacts, to this phenomenon. This study also supports UAL 2022-2032 Strategy (UAL, 2022)
“In contrast, those using a more moderate SIT-approach….counter by saying that people have numerous social identities. Reducing members of Group A and Group B to groups A and B only is simplistic and at times harmful”
Hahn Tapper, A. (2013)
For this research project I will be developing an activity incorporating identity and digital pattern cutting. Students will be asked to provide a garment of sentimental value which will be analysed, reviewed and digitally recreated. This will be targeted at final year students utilising digital software within their course requirements. By avoiding specific categorizations like religion, race, or gender, I aim to establish an inclusive environment. This approach encourages students to express their identity on their terms, moving beyond predefined labels. The open parameter will also provide opportunity for students to incorporate work from their current unit, if they choose to, and/or extrapolate ideas developed within the activity into their current submissions. In designing this workshop, I’ve drawn guidance from Hahn Tapper’s Social Identity Education core pillars.
Social Identity Theory Core Pillars
1: Examination of individual and group identities: The icebreaker ‘Why Fashion?’ and ‘Present Items’ activities are will explore personal and shared identities. Through examining what got them here I hope to highlight common bonds between participants and reinforce student motivation. I will share my own personal stories during the Tutor Examples portion of the session.
2: Intersectionality: Through my examples I will demonstrate ideas derived from intersectionality, exploring heritage, upbringing and personal stories.
3: Experiential Education: Students will work together to explore digital processes to recreate their garments. This will be through group discussion, class feedback and practical experimentation.
4: Responsibility and Empowerment: Whilst presenting my garments, I will showcase creative ways to implement identity into design. This is in the aim to inspire and empower students to rethink their design approach.
I struggled to develop strategies examining links between social inequalities, social identity and the role we play in this (Hahn Tapper, A. p.427), without derailing the aim of the workshop, and so responsibility and empowerment will take a more moderate approach. Instead I will begin to address these topics through a follow up questionnaire, outside of this unit.
Within each section of the workshop I have reviewed how positionality, bias, body Language and Approach[1] may impact the session. The images below show my thoughts in these areas.
[1] Kesington,K. (2023) Workshop 1 – Whose perspective is being documented? – Kemi Kesington PGCERT (arts.ac.uk)
UAL (2023) Attendance Monitoring and Engagement Initiative. Available at: https://canvas.arts.ac.uk/sites/explore/SitePage/211389/attendance-monitoring (Accessed 10 October 2023)
UAL (2021) APP 5 Year Evaluation Strategy. Available at https://canvas.arts.ac.uk/documents/sppreview/5f99bfcc-6140-4031-98a5-e76293566e61 (Accessed 15 October 2023)
Pearce, S. ed. (1994) Interpreting Objects and Collections, Taylor & Francis Group, London. ProQuest Ebook Central. Available at: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ual/detail.action?docID=169958. (Accessed 1 November 2023)
Cook, R.G. (2023) ‘Can Dialogic Narratives and Discourse Engage Online Learners?’ Participatory Educational Research, 10, pp.1-18. https://doi.org/10.17275/per.23.72.10.5 (Accessed 1 November 2023)
Cowan, B. Laird. R. McKeown, J. (2019) ‘Museum Objects, Health and Healing: The relationship between exhibitions and wellbeing.’ Routledge. Available at: https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Museum_Objects_Health_and_Healing/u2SzDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover] (Accessed on 05 October 2023 – via google preview.)
Hahn Tapper, A.J. (2013) ‘A Pedagogy of Social Justice Education: Social identity theory, intersectionality, and empowerment’. Conflict Resolution Qtrly, 30, pp. 411–445. Available at: https://aspireonline.org/aspire2016/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2016/10/A-Pedagogy-of-Social-Justice-Education.pdf (Accessed 22 June 2023)
Hess, M., Garside, D., Nelson, T., Robson, S., Weyrich, T. (2017) ‘Object-Based Teaching and Learning for a critical assessment of digital technologies in Arts and Cultural Heritage.’ The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences XLII-2-W5, pp. 349–354. Available at: https://doi.org/10.5194/isprs-archives-XLII-2-W5-349-2017 (Accessed 15 October)
UAL (2022) Strategy and Governance-Guiding Policy 3: Create a better World. Available at: https://canvas.arts.ac.uk/sites/explore/SitePage/41392/strategy-and-governance Accessed 15 October)