Education for Gen Z.

My teaching experience comes from a place of adaptability and constant learning. My entrance into academia was not traditional; I first entered teaching when I was young and fresh out of university myself.  One of my first roles was to work as an intern for a charity in London.
Very early into this role, I was left in a ‘sink or swim’ moment. I was asked (with no prior warning) to present to an all boys school in Camden to a class of 13-year-old boys who were on their last day of term. I very quickly realised the content I had prepared and previously presented to a group of younger students in a countryside school was not going to resonate with the group of learners I had in front of me. After mild panic, I quickly scrapped what I had planned and made the lesson a learner-centred lesson, asking the boys their experiences and building out from this. The lesson was still not as successful as I would have hoped, but I learned from this.

I have been teaching in South East Asia now for six years and this lesson from a school in London has been a constant in my approach to teaching and that adapting and changing in-line with your learners is key as a cultural leader. In those six years, Sri Lanka has changed rapidly and exponentially and along with it, the type of student we taught had also changed. Every new academic year I found myself faced with a more switched on group of students who are demanding more from education and as a cultural leader, my team and I have had to adapt to this.

The ‘generation Z’ are a very present in the classrooms of today. Students have everything at the touch of a button, so they are asking themselves why should they come to university? What is university going to give them that they cannot access online?

To first be able to motivate, we have to try to analyse the contributing factors to inspire someone to continuously move forward. Fundamentally it is ‘want’ or ‘will’ that pushes one forward to succeed in a task. As Adair writes, ‘A want is a need that has become conscious. Conscious or unconscious, our needs are closely linked with our motivation – why we do things.' (Adair, 2006)
As a cultural leader and in my role as Programme Leader, I adapted the course to motivate the students to want to learn and for AOD to create a learning experience extending beyond the classroom. Using my experience in the industry, research from my MA in how to successfully manage creatives and teaching experience, I identified two key areas to focus on.

1. ‘Design with Meaning’ In 2020 design has to have a conscience. Fashion brands can no longer afford to be surface-level, consumers are demanding more.

2. ‘Industry Driven Projects’ The students want to be employable and ready to enter the job market as soon as they graduate.

An example of this point one in practise is the ‘Sri Lanka Heritage Craft’ module. This was a second year module I wrote, taught and re-developed over five years at AOD, using my past experience in the textile field.
In 2020, I re-wrote the module brief  and changed the title to ‘I Want A Future’. This was in direct response to the identified the gaps students had shown in their first year of study and a result of responding to student feedback. The modern student seemed to be searching for deeper meaning in the current climate of chaos and there was a question of ‘why?’ surrounding their studies. The focus of this module was for them to take something they felt passionate about, examples of this included politics, gender, sustainability, anything causing a ‘stir’ in the world and the use this to link it to their design concept. ‘Design with meaning’ was an ethos created to engage the students with a larger global narrative and to allow students to reflect on how fashion can be a powerful tool.

A key element of the craft project is an introductory exploration of the crafts of Sri Lanka and a five day study tour where students are introduced (or reintroduced) to Sri Lankan textile crafts in a design context. The students are familiar with the crafts (namely wax painting, lace making and textile weaving), but on this trip they have to reimagine the craft and re-interpret it in a trend-driven direction. This trip was vital to support the development of a sense of community among the students and their engagement with a broader artistic context.

The module was taught as a team-taught activity. I managed the team to ensure students were exposed to the range of specialties of AOD Fashion team members to support and fully prepare a wider range of students, with varying levels of prior experience/study, to engage with and succeed on the programme.

The students worked in pairs initially, as this allowed them to have peer-to-peer support. I also engaged a member of AOD alumni and she worked with the students individually alongside me to provide another perspective. The module teaching was based on inclusiveness, so I wanted all students to feel as if they had different academics to turn to and opinions. I also organised guest lectures from the World Health Organisation and a representative from WHO Sri Lanka initiated workshops for the students.

Students learned through weekly lecture content, I worked with the students to show projects, fashion campaigns and literature that was inspirational. We then discussed these topics, to encourage critical thinking. Individual feedback which was given to the students on their projects each week, where progress was closely monitored and group critiques for peer assessment once a month. During the module and at end of the module the students were also asked to self assess their own progress and learning.

The outcomes of this project were successful; the students engaged well and sensitively approached a number of interesting subjects, creating dynamic and high-marking portfolios. Northumbria University staff in the UK commented on the project and plans to implement areas of the brief for teaching in the UK in 2021.
Some good examples from this project can be seen here:
Suhini
Shanelle
Pubudi­
One of my main aims as a HE teacher is to create ‘industry ready students’, equipped for employment in the industry and I focus below on some examples of the ways I develop learning environments to engage students with the broader industry context.

Study tours contributed to engagement with industry and I regularly organised visits for students of all levels to garment manufacturers, artisans and buying offices within Sri Lanka, selecting locations on the basis of what can be learned and gained in addition to what lecturers can provide. These visits benefitted the students, and myself as a valuable source of CPD by providing an insight into the industry where graduating cohort will be employed and an understanding of the manufacture of some of the biggest companies the industry. As future designers these tours help to engage the students with a wider and authentic Community of Practice (Wenger, 1991) which extends beyond the Academy and includes a wider understanding of type of products manufactured, textile techniques applied, companies manufactured for and where design work should be focussed, which skills should be honed. I also engaged the students with regular guest speakers, from international creatives visiting Sri Lanka to local experts and alumni from AOD now working in the local industry or working in other design capacities. Prior to these talks I initiate discussions and meet with these speakers on delivering the lectures/seminars and what to focus on. We discuss how they can impact and have beneficial input to the department focussing on furthering student understanding of a subject area that may not be covered in core curriculum.

I also attempt to ‘bring industry in’ and I have initiated and written a number of collaborative student projects with industry. The students then proceed to work with these companies, often alongside visits. Students design for specific companies who produce garments in Sri Lanka and I provide informative and interesting lectures on these companies, such as an introduction to their product, their customer, rationales as companies and areas of expertise. Chosen students then proceed to work with companies to manufacture final garments, working alongside in collaboration and these are presented in Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Sri Lanka. One example of this is the first year denim jeans project, a project I developed during which the students work with Hirdaramani, the biggest supplier of Levis in Sri Lanka.  Another example of this is the students working with MAS a leading manufacturer in sportswear, lingerie and swimwear. Some examples of those projects can be found here:
Ruwanthie
Nishaka

Engaging with industry, as I say above, is also an important feature of my personal CPD. I have also benefitted from on-going engagement with a UK HE community, through regular visits to Northumbria University (and other UK Institutions) where I have experienced peer review of my practice. As these visits often coincide with assessment periods I engaged in discussion in terms of grading, quality assurance and parity of work with the learning outcomes of each module discussed.
The most important aspects of my teaching are my ability to work with and adapt to the group of students in front of me. I teach through lecture content, group work and individual feedback and inclusivity is key in my classroom. I make sure the class has clear directed learning for the following week and I feedback on their progress regularly. The student takes the lead at all times and I guide them and through all of the discussed means, the students who graduate are generally determined, critical thinkers who design with meaning.