During 1988/9, Banking Information Service (BIS) commissioned post-graduate research 'To identify the educational and business perspectives of economic awareness and to suggest an effective programme of involvement with respect to BIS.'

Part of the methodology was to conduct standardised interviews with representatives from Education & Training, Industry & Commerce and Other Agencies. An executive from the British Knitting & Clothing Export Council (BKCEC) spoke convincingly of the burgeoning design talent amongst young Britons on the one hand, and their deficiency in financial planning and management on the other. 'Trading with Textiles' was one specific outcome of the BKCEC interview.

This resource has been produced to assist Home Economics teachers meet the 4 Attainment Targets by encouraging students to:

evaluate an existing garment; 
identify needs and opportunities for a garment of their own; 
generate a design; 
plan and make the garment; 
evaluate their garment. 
Production took eighteen months and involved a team of professionals from business and education. The paper addresses this process

B. Gleave (7150895)

G. West (7150901)

R. Speed (7150898)

English

Loughborough University Institutional Repository

   This item was submitted to Loughborough’s Institutional Repository by the author and is made available under the following Creative Commons Licence conditions.      For the full text of this licence, please go to: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/  106'Trading with textiles' - how to plan,make your designs at home andabroad(An example of Curriculum Development to meet the requirements ofNational Curriculum Design & Technology Key Stages 3 & 4)Gleave B, Speed R, West GBIS Technology Associates, Oxfordshire LEAAbstractDuring 1988/9, Banking Information Service (BIS) commissioned post-graduate research 'To identifythe educational and business perspectives of economic awareness and to suggest an effective programmeof involvement with respect to BIS.'Part of the methodology was to conduct standardised interviews with representatives from Education& Training, Industry & Commerce and Other Agencies.  An executive from the British Knitting &Clothing Export Council (BKCEC) spoke convincingly of the burgeoning design talent  amongst youngBritons on the one hand, and their deficiency  in financial planning and management on the other.'Trading with Textiles' was one specific outcome of the BKCEC interview.This resource has been produced to assist Home Economics teachers meet the 4 Attainment Targets byencouraging students to:* evaluate an existing garment* identify needs and opportunities for a garment of their own* generate a design* plan and make the garment* evaluate their garmentProduction took eighteen months and involved a team of professionals from business and education.  Thepaper addresses this process.A Partnership between Business and EducationBanking Information Service (BIS) is a specialist education unit, neitherrecruiting staff nor carrying out direct banking transactions. The Unit's role isdevelopmental in establishing partnerships between education and the bankingindustry to their mutual benefit. Its principal function is to support activity inthe classroom through the provision of relevant teaching material on the onehand and practising bankers on the other.There was a clear dual-purpose in the origination of this particular piece ofcurriculum development. The first criterion was to produce case-study materialwhich would accurately reflect the realities of business life. The second was todesign a resource which could be used effectively and flexibly by teachers andwhich might encourage them to invite representatives from business toparticipate in the classroom.107'Trading with Textiles'The aim of this teacher resource is to use the design, planning, making andmarketing of a chosen garment as a vehicle to raise the level of economic andindustrial understanding amongst students. It is particularly appropriate forstudents in years 7-9 and 10-11, who are working in National CurriculumDesign & Technology at Key Stage 3 and 4.The pack has been designed specifically to assist teachers of Home Economics,who use textiles and fabrics in the classroom and of Business Studies, to meetthe 4 Attainment Targets for Design & Technology competence:AT1: Identifying Needs and OpportunitiesAT2: Generating a DesignAT3: Planning and MakingAT4: EvaluatingThe 4 stages of the Design Process are separated only for ease of communicationand understanding. They continually overlap and merge into each other, sothat the process can be described as genuinely holistic. A financial dimensionpermeates the whole of the design process, as many professional designersand manufacturers have discovered to their cost. It takes more than innovativeideas and creative talent to produce a garment which is commercially viable.four out of five businesses fail within the first 2 years of operation – oftendespite full order books – because of lack of adequate financial planning andmanagement.ContentThe eight resource cards within the pack provide not only factual informationabout the textile industry but also advice based on personal experience fromsuccessful business people operating within the industry.The pack's basic subject matter is the Design Process. Rather than deal with thisin the abstract, the resource uses a 'Rohan' SHAMAL jacket as an introductorycase-study. 'Rohan' was chosen as an example of a young, thrusting Britishmanufacturing company, which is also making considerable inroads into theexport market. The SHAMAL jacket is an actual garment, marketed by'Rohan'. It was felt that this particular product would be universally acceptableas case-study material to a student audience (price-tag notwithstanding)because it was a uni-sex item of leisure-wear, representative of a sector of theclothing industry with which young people identify. The jacket itself has manydistinguishing features which helps to stimulate discussion about 'good'design.Having introduced a garment, and through it, a vehicle for explaining theDesign Process, the remaining resource cards examine issues pertinent toexporting as a business activity and to Germany as a potential export market.Germany was selected because of its position within the clothing industry as108Britain's number one export market amongst trading partners in continentalEurope.The topic headings contained on the resource cards include:IDENTIFYING NEEDS AND OPPORTUNITIES* Targeting Germany: identifying your market and range* Targeting Germany: making the prospect attractive* The German Market: league table statistics* World Trade: clothing import statisticsGENERATING A DESIGN* Deciding on your garment* The importance of economic awareness* Protecting your designs* Some textile terms and definitions* LabellingPLANNING AND MAKING* The importance of being business-like* Exporting to Germany: ways to do business* Investigating marketing opportunities* Appointing an agent* Contracts* Methods of paymentEVALUATING* How to approach a buyer* What makes a good salesperson* What makes a good garment* Glossary of financial terms* Design Process wallchart* National Curriculum notesTechnology as the Focus for the BIS Educational ResourceThere are three main reasons for focusing on National Curriculum Technologyas a target for BIS resources. Firstly, Technology potentially offers the mostscope for developing economic awareness as an integral thread. The dynamicswithin this subject are similar to those for a cross-curricular theme. Secondly,within the published Programmes of Study, elements of economic awarenessfeature explicitly, particularly under the heading of 'satisfying human need'.Thirdly, and finally, there is a direct call within the Orders for industry andcommerce to become close partners with education in the delivery ofTechnology.'Trading with Textiles' is one practical outcome of academic research in thedegree of Master of Philosophy in Social Policy 'to identify the educational and109business perspectives of economic awareness and to suggest an effectiveprogramme of involvement with respect to Banking Information Service.'Thisresearch was carried out by Brenda Gleave, Manager (Resources) BIS. Therecommendations addressed to BIS included suggestions for increasing therelevance of resources by way of content, format and usage in differentcurriculum models.The research study undertaken by BIS deliberately sought the views ofrepresentatives from Education and Training, Business and Other Agenciesfor their perceptions of Design & Technology. The precise question posedthem in a standardised interview schedule was as follows:'What relationship exists between economic awareness and the area of activitywhich could best be described as Design & Technology?'A cross section of responses are given below:EMPLOYEE * ' how to market design effectively and economically,both as employees and, if they so wished, in a businessof their own.'EMPLOYER * 'A design company has to be concerned with its cost-effectiveness and not just design for its own sake.'The 'financial dimension' related to the costing element of Design & Technology.What emerged was an insistence on the part of interviewees that the financialconsiderations were integral to the whole design process and not simply anoptional extra.FINANCIAL * 'The balance between design and cost is an area thatDIMENSION * traditionally has been left out of planning projects.'However, it was the interview conducted with a representative from theBritish Knitting & Clothing Export Council (BKCEC), which was the genesisof the specific title, 'Trading with Textiles'.The comment which was central to the idea for 'Trading with Textiles' was:'In my experience, economic awareness and creativity are poles apart. Economicawareness is generally not a part of a designer's mentality. Many creativepeople aren't, for instance, very good at communicating on an everyday level,can be somewhat inadequate as far as business procedures are concerned.One well-known designer attended an international trade fair and camewithout business cards, stationary and other essential supplies!'According to the BKCEC, the major pitfall for British exporters is their attitudetowards export as a business activity. The majority of textile/garmentmanufacturers regard export as a hobby or sideline: they turn to export only110when the home market is depressed. This approach is doomed to failure.Detailed Research for the ResourceResearching the textile industry led, inevitably, down many different avenues.The major constraints were labour and time. The research task fell to the BISManager (Resources) and the time-scale to which she was working (sixmonths) within a crowded work schedule was clearly limiting.In order to render the task containable, the researcher chose 'Labels andLabelling' as a start point. Legal requirements led directly to the Departmentof Trade & Industry (DTI) and it was here that she obtained a wealth ofinformation and names of further contacts.Coincidentally, the Patent Office, in collaboration with the DTI, were mountingan exhibition at the Design Council entitled, 'Fit for the Queen'. Attendance atthe launch of the Exhibition led to a personal contact with the Design Registry,with responsibility for textile patents.As a trade association, the BKCEC was invaluable in providing facts about theindustry nationwide and the status quo as regards export potential. They werethe source for statistics, both national and international, and also alerted theresearcher to individual companies which might be helpful in the presentationof case-study material. Although not represented in the resource pack itself,the International Wool Secretariat provided material which was stimulatingand fostered ideas. Companies profiled with the pack include: 'Rohan', 'CockneyRebel' and 'Andrew Wilkie'.On the banking side, factual help and advice was provided by a number of thebanks investing in BIS. The Export Credits Guarantee Department (ECGD)also supplied helpful information about export finance.Linking 'Trading with Textiles' to the 4 ATsHaving collated and sorted the volume of source material into different topicareas, it was edited into manageable 'digestible' pieces of information. At thisstage in the production process Graham West, County Adviser for Design &Technology, Oxfordshire and his erstwhile colleague, Richard Speed of'Technology Associates', were commissioned to help in the organisation ofmaterial to target teachers who were teaching students at Key Stages 3 and 4of the National Curriculum.Graham West and Richard Speed brought to the resource design process aconsiderable amount of INSET experience in the training of students, teachersand college students in National Curriculum Technology. They had trialledthe AT4-AT1-AT2-AT3-AT4 approach in more than 20 Design & TechnologyINSET sessions and were convinced of its value in assisting individuals'delivery of the design process.111'Trading with Textiles' INSETAt the time of writing, two separate INSET days have been run successfully atLeasowes High School, Dudley LEA and the County INSET Centre, NorfolkLEA. The sessions were fronted by Richard Speed, with support from tutorsfrom the host centre. Approximately 30 people attended the Dudley sessionand 40 the Norwich one. The make-up of the groups differed significantly, inthat the Dudley group included six practising bankers who acted as industrialadvisers within the small group work. The participants from education weremainly teachers of Home Economics and Technology Advisers. The Norwichgroup was heavily-weighted towards TVEI and involved teachers from arange of disciplines.The outcome of the INSET was not only the teachers' familiarisation with theresource pack but also the drawing-up of extension ideas to provide, in manyinstances, a term's work in Technology. Teachers require National CurriculumTechnology support NOW. As with any educational resource, 'Trading withTextiles' has its limitations. However, its major advantage is that is isCURRENTLY available and provides an impetus for further imaginative workwithin the field of education/business partnerships.

'Trading with textiles' - how to plan, make your designs at home and abroad

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'Trading with textiles' - how to plan, make your designs at home and abroad

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