Delivery - Annie's Class
Some of Jess's research into currently available items, plus commentary – see workbook
After introducing the concept of 'memory catchers', Annie had her students explore the idea of a permanent memento of some event or place. Then she introduced them to the context of the unit:
"Tourism is an expanding industry in Nelson and New Zealand. Takeaway items are often purchased to capture the memory of a Nelson experience, culture, or adventure. Local tourist outlets are always looking for innovative memory catchers that will be good sellers – both economically and of the region."
The class brainstormed where they thought tourists came from and some of the likely key factors that would be important to this diverse group of souvenir buyers when making buying decisions.
The class visited the local museum and made a brief (45-minute) 'tiki tour' of Nelson to familiarise themselves with their home city as a tourist destination. While at the museum, the class visited the museum's shop and learnt about the goods for sale and the different types of customers who bought them. The class also visited the World of Wearable Art venue, which introduced the idea of serving an international market.
Internet research and material from the local tourist office gave the students a good feel for the local tourist industry and what it offered visitors. Students were also directed to ponder some of the wider issues involved in global tourism, such as its societal and environmental impacts.
Jo and Annie invited a number of guests to come and talk to the class. One of Annie's guests was a renowned local artist who creates high-end products from wood and bone for both the local and international market. Jo used local companies who specialise in using locally grown produce in their food products.
Annie explained the concept of 'key factors' to the guests ahead of their classroom appearance. In this way the speakers could consciously align their addresses with Annie's desired learning outcomes, and key factors would "suggest themselves" to students, in an apparently natural way. "Otherwise they [the guests] do not really know what is required, what the kids need," she says.
A visiting expert from the World of Wearable Art discussed details about the end-user needs and the cultural differences in their customers. An expert from Simply New Zealand, a nation-wide chain of tourist shops, stressed to students in Jo's class the importance of marketing, packaging, and display.
These identified factors gave the Jo and Annie points to teach to. For example, one of Jo's guests spoke about biosecurity and the food safety requirements her company faced. Jo later had her class examine these in some depth.
"'Directing' the guests [who went on to be clients] in this way and actively involving them in the teaching process helps build the teacher-client relationship," Annie says.
Following each visit, the class discussed the insights they had gained. In Annie's class ideas were written on a whiteboard and later photographed with a digital camera: printouts become class handouts. Acutely sensitive about the amount of written work required of her students, Annie reckons handouts like these save on tedious work for everybody.
After the visit of a representative from the WOW (World of Wearable Art) tourist centre, Annie's class identified two apparent gaps in the market, noting that the centre offered very little for teenagers and babies. They went on to discuss what gives the gallery its uniqueness and its place in the market, the philosophy of the gallery (to celebrate Nelson artists) and the laws and regulations it operates under.
They also considered the practical aspects of the souvenir market, such as the likely point of export for most items. It quickly became clear that large items would have little appeal for most tourists because they would rather not accumulate bulky items on their travels.
Annie presented her students with a choice of four potential stakeholders
- WOW
- Nayland's International student Adviser
- Personal stakeholders
- The school's memorabilia outlet
Students were asked to identify and profile at least two end user groups, outlining their age, gender, interests and what sort of products they could use. Students were also asked to identify a range of memories they would like to explore. Geographical starter points were suggested to get the exercise going, e.g. coastal landscapes.
Annie is passionate about products that are both well designed and of high quality. She firmly believes that Technology must involve hands-on activity and students must be allowed to experience the excitement of working with different materials and processes. "Sometimes ideas emerge out of working with materials," she says.
At the beginning of the unit, Annie had her class experiment with felting, appliqué, free-hand embroidery and quilting. The class also watched demonstrations of some potentially useful processes and skills for their projects, including wood turning, pewter casting and resin casting.
Describing the approach, Annie uses the terms 'play' and 'exposure to materials' frequently. She plans a range of activities aim at getting students to explore the properties of materials and how the materials can be manipulated and transformed. Experimenting in this way helps students understand the changing properties of materials as they are manipulated. The exploration also challenges and inspires students to think about how some more 'traditional' materials can be used in alternative ways and how some 'non-traditional' materials can be used in place of traditional materials.
When an artist visited Annie's class, he spoke about his working philosophy and the importance of respecting one's materials and, by association, oneself.
After narrowing down their choice of target markets, the students went on to write an initial brief, defining their stakeholder and outlining the specifications for their project. To refine this brief, students sought stakeholder feedback on their proposed project. From this feedback, a final brief conceptual statement was created and, in turn, a final design developed.
Some projects were highly personal and this is no bad thing, says Annie: "Students have to own a project." One student embedded some old coins belonging to her father in resin and made them into pendants. Another used resin to embed the golden sand from her sister's favourite beach. A student from overseas embedded 'cats' eyes' in resin and made them into hair bobbles.
