Delivery
Costumes from the 'Alien Princess and Alien Knight' project
The class was given a brief – to create a garment using recycled materials based on the theme Magical Journeys – and decided that Sue was the client setting the task, and that each group's Year 8 model was the stakeholder. It was emphasised to the students that they had to listen to their stakeholder's comments, and that the stakeholder had to be clear when voicing an opinion and giving direction, and ensure, with the rest of the group, that the garment met the specified attributes: that it was comfortable, easy to move in, and had a performance purpose as well.
Sue notes that although the students had talked about clients and stakeholders in their Olympic unit, actually working with a stakeholder who made comments on their design – "I can't move easily", "Actually, that point is too sharp", "This won't work when I try to dance" – cemented the concept, changing it from a theoretical idea to an integral part of their technological practice. The stakeholder also had an investment in the outcome and worked as part of the team to develop the garment which, Sue says, avoided any "oppositional situation" and made it easier for the group to modify their design together.
The class discussed the creation of wearable art for performance and, after watching the World of Wearable Art show on TVNZ on demand considered the attributes those costumes required to be fit for purpose.
After organising themselves into small groups (which had to have at least one Year 7 member), the students discussed the brief and brainstormed ideas for a costume. They selected one concept to develop further as a drawing, and made any modifications before finalising their design. The students listed their specifications for their costumes and decided what materials they would use, and assigned specific tasks for group members before beginning construction.
The Group Costumes
Dragon, Umpa Lumpa Girl, Dracula, Spring Queen, Creature from the Darkness, King of Spades, Good Guy Gone Bad, Lady Dragon, Roses Wrappers, King Cobra, Angel, Queen of Hearts, Alien Princess and Alien Knight, Leprechaun, King and Queen of Music, Alien Knight, Pirate and the Sea, Santa and Elf, Rings of Saturn, Sunflower Girl, Evil Pudding, Wizitch and the Enchanted Genie, Satan's Right Hand Man, and Garbage Girl.
The students could choose between modifying existing garments that had been "rescued" or recycled, or creating a garment from scratch, which might include creating and cutting a pattern, then sewing and gluing. As they developed their costumes, Sue assisted individuals or groups with skills deciding the best construction method for what they wanted to achieve. Throughout the unit she reinforced the links Technology has with other subjects, such as the maths involved in designing a pattern.
When the groups evaluated their work they asked their stakeholders for a formal comment on the final outcome. They also considered their overall project, identifying: what they would do differently next time, any changes they had made from the original design, any challenges or difficulties they had to overcome, costs, what they learnt from the project, and how they helped the environment.
Sue has been introducing the concept of rubrics to the middle and senior students and the Trash to Fashion self-assessment was rubric-based (.jpg file, 132kb), from, "I'm a very beginner and I couldn't do it without a lot of help," to, "I'm a master, and I could take care of brief development, production design, outcome, and evaluation – I could do all that by myself and it was to a very high standard".
Each group presented its work to the judging panel, consisting of fashion designer Megan Douglas and a parent who had worked as a theatre costume designer in London. The stakeholder modelled the garment and the group showed the judges their book, so that they could see the progression of the work, and answered questions about their development. The judges looked at how the garments were constructed and talked to the students about their concepts, realising the concept, and how it had evolved.
The unit concluded with a fashion show, What a Load of Rubbish, attended by parents and other students. Each class had rehearsed their wearable arts presentation with the Performing Arts teacher and the three classes presented their work in the show, which finished with the judges' announcement of the winning teams.
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