Contextual Background. 

I am a Specialist Technician: Learning and Teaching for BA Fashion Contour at London College of Fashion. In my role, I provide technical support to students as they create their final garment outcomes. Technicians are not included in the toile crit sessions. Students approach me afterwards with queries they have after the crit, and I’ll advise them how to update their patterns and garments.

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Evaluation.

Students often don’t have their notes of what was said during their critique, but they’ll summarize key changes and ask me how to achieve the intended outcome. Currently, I support them separately from the academic team, working with the students understanding of what needs to be adjusted to improve the final garment outcome. The separation between academic and technical input can sometimes create mixed messages, with different perspectives on how to refine the garment.

This can cause confusion and complications from the real purpose of formative feedback—helping the students learn and develop by identifying strengths, weaknesses, and giving them clear, constructive guidance.

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Moving forwards.

Moving forward, I plan to collaborate closely with the academic team, ensuring that a member of the technical team is present during toile critiques. This will allow us to work together—academics, technicians, and students—to develop a structured approach that enhances garment outcomes. By doing so, we can ensure that formative assessment is clearly understood by students while fostering a more cohesive and supportive learning environment.

As a technician, I spend evenings and weekends with students during supervised studio sessions. While I do not teach workshops during this time, I am available to answer questions, repair machines, and maintain an efficient workflow. My role allows for more informal, one-on-one interactions with students compared to the academic team, as I am consistently present in the workspace.  ‘’Close contact with teachers, or a special teacher, also has an impact. Students who make it all the way through despite their background often attribute this to an individual teacher acting as a kind of mentor who took an interest in their progress.’'(Gibbs, p. 206). By participating in toile critiques, I can better understand the feedback given on garment improvements, allowing me to mentor and support students through their revisions with a clear grasp of the required adjustments.

Since toile critiques take place at the mid-point of the term and are not graded, the feedback provided is formative. ‘Tutorials also generate huge quantities of feedback on assignments… most of it immediate, oral, and highly personalised feedback. All of this assessment is ‘formative only’- for learning and most assuredly not for marks. (Gibbs, p.197). My involvement in these critiques will enable me to suggest appropriate construction techniques and methods suited to both the students’ skill levels and the specialist machinery available. This ensures that the personalised oral feedback is both practical and achievable, allowing students to confidently approach their work.

Ultimately, students must be able to interpret feedback and implement changes independently. ‘These discursive situations prompt critical thinking and self-evaluation and develop the language of the discipline.’ (Orr, Shreeve, 2017, p.94). By taking part in toile critiques, I will gain a deeper understanding of the academic team’s expectations, allowing me to step in and provide targeted support during supervised studio sessions, helping students bridge the gap between critique and execution.

References (additional to word count) 

Gibbs, G. (2015). Maximising Student Learning Gain. In H. Fry, S. Ketteridge, & S. Mar-shall (Eds.), A Handbook for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (4th ed., pp.193-208). Abingdon: Routledge.

Orr, S. and Shreeve, A. (2007) Art design pedagogy in Higher Education: Knowledge, Values and Ambiguity in the creative curriculum. London: Taylor and Francis Group.

Contextual Background. 

I conduct technical workshops that focus on demonstrating methods for constructing contour-based garments, with students actively participating, replicating the techniques to complete their own sample. The primary learning outcome is to equip students with a foundational understanding of industry-standard sewing practices, enabling them to apply and demonstrate these skills in their final garment projects.

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Evaluation.

The students have varied sewing experience, which makes it challenging to find the right pace that works for everyone. I deliver a 15-minute demonstration, and then give the students 45 minutes to copy the steps they have witnesses. During that time, I walk around, checking in with every student.

If a student is caught up and waiting for next steps, I introduce more advanced techniques to keep them engaged. Students who need extra help get more one-on-one guidance, whether that’s through verbal encouragement or an additional demonstration. The more experienced students complete their projects within class time, while others might need to use studio hours outside of class to wrap things up. This setup gives everyone the support they need while keeping the workshop flowing smoothly.

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Moving forwards.

I want to further explore how I can ‘scaffold’ students who need additional support and time but also allowing more experienced students to engage with advanced techniques. ”Hussey and Smith (2010) argue that the most appropriate response to diversity is a flexible approach that enables transition from dependent to autonomous learning.’’ Bamber and Jones (2015, p.153)

To facilitate this, I will create handouts and sample packs covering basic and advanced sewing methods. These resources will allow students to learn at their own pace, in class or supervised studio sessions. This approach encourages autonomous learning at any skill level while ensuring that a technician is available to provide support and scaffolding when needed.

This strategy will also help manage the workload of technicians, who often struggle to provide individualized attention due to time constraints and the number of students requiring assistance simultaneously. Preparing instructional materials means that students can independently revisit the methods demonstrated in class or learn more advanced methods at their own pace. ‘’What needs to happen is that the students are supported and feel confident in their own learning, so that they don’t hang around the corridors waiting to see already overloaded tutors with a vague sense that somehow, the tutor holds the ‘right answer.’” Brooks, (2008, p.4)

I aim to foster independent learning whilst ensuring that students who require one-on-one support can seek help as needed. I want to cultivate a social learning environment where students support one another, enhancing collaboration. ‘‘Students create a social learning environment discussing amongst peers and enabling the tutor to explore progress and work and to hold group or individual tutorials.’’   Orr and Shreeve (2017, p.90)

With these resources readily available in the sewing studio, students can independently revisit techniques when constructing their final realized outcomes. As a technician, I do not dictate to students how they should create their final submission garments; it is a collaboration. A technique learned in the first year may need to be revisited in the final year, and having a readily accessible ‘catalogue’ of methods empowers students to refresh their knowledge. This approach fosters autonomy in decision-making and helps eliminate hierarchy in the workroom, allowing all students to take ownership of their learning.

References.

Bamber, V. and Jones, A. (2015) A Handbook for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. Edited by H.Fry, S.Ketteridge, and S.Marshall.Abingdon: Routledge.

Brooks, K. (2008) “Could do better? Students’ critique of written feedback,” Networks. eprints.uwe.ac.uk.

Hussey, T. and Smith, P. (2010) The Trouble with Higher Education: A Critical Examination of our Universities. New York and London: Routledge.

Orr, S. and Shreeve, A. (2007) Art design pedagogy in Higher Education: Knowledge, Values and Ambiguity in the creative curriculum. London: Taylor and Francis Group.

Contextual Background:
I deliver technical workshops to year 1&2 BA Fashion Contour. I demonstrate how to make a sample to industry standard, and the students create their own. The purpose of the workshops is to understand industry standards, which is implemented in their final garments independently.

I teach students with diverse needs. For this case study, I am going to focus on language diversity.

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Evaluation:

I email the week before class, so students know what equipment to bring, and what to expect in class, with the handout attached. This allows the students to prepare physically and mentally and can be engaged and ready to participate in class. This allows students who do not speak English as a first language to digest the information ahead of time, at their own pace.  I allow the students to record demonstrations so they can play back as and when they need.

I want to slow down the number of steps delivered during demonstrations. We have recently updated our sessions from 2 x 3.5-hour classes to 3 x 3.5. I think that by delivering less steps, breaking up the demonstrations, and accommodating comfort breaks, this will help the students to stay engaged.

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Moving forwards.
Every student is unique and has their preferred method of learning. I want to champion ‘Universal Design for Learning’ and ensure that my workshops are as varied as the student’s needs. ‘’In the past two decades, neuroscience has demonstrated that learners are highly variable in the ways they learn and that this variability is the norm, not the exception.’’  Glass, Mayer, Rose (2012, p.99).

I want to continue to offer multiple strategies to access the learning material in a manner of ways, to accommodate all students’ needs in a way that best suits them; ‘’the most appropriate response to diversity is a flexible approach that enables transition from dependent to autonomous learning.’’ Bamber and Jones (2015, p.153).

In BA Fashion Contour, we use complex and unique words to describe how to construct a bra. Clarity is important to ensure that all students understand the task at hand. ‘One important consideration when teaching international students is the clarity of explanations. This means providing a clear outline of what is required, providing models of successful practice, and aligning objectives with teaching and assessment.’ Bamber and Jones (2015, p.154). I will create a glossary of terms with photos and drawings to ‘scaffold’ students with language diversities. This will be attached to all weekly emails for ease of access, and allow them to build on their language, confidence, and ability to participate wholly in workshops.

Embracing ‘Universal Design for Learning’, all students within the class will be able to access this with ease, ensuring that everyone can pull from this document when required. I want to make sure that all supplementary information is easily accessed by all, regardless of diversity.  

‘’What is critical is not to make education more accessible to students with disabilities, as has often been argued, but to ensure that UDL options and alternatives are exercised broadly across the whole range of students’’ Glass, Mayer, Rose (2012, p.117)

References. 

Bamber, V. and Jones, A. (2015) Challenging students: Enabling inclusive learning In H. Fry, S. Ketteridge, & S. Mar-shall (Eds.) A Handbook for  Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (4th ed., pp.152-168). Abingdon: Routledge.

Glass, D. Meyer, A. and Rose, D. (2012) Universal design for learning in the classroom: practical applications. New York: Guilford Press.

Hussey, T. and Smith, P. (2010) The Trouble with Higher Education: A Critical Examination of our Universities. New York and London: Routledge.