Feedback from peer to peer presentation meeting – with Ulrike and Janice:

As mentioned in the 1500 word blog, the feedback that I received from the peer to peer meeting that I had with Ulrike and Janice was based on my initial proposal rather  than the final video. It was based on the feedback from Montana and my blog team that I decided to change the concept. 

One of Montana’s suggestions was to think about focusing on one aspect of intersectionality rather than trying to create multiple videos. When I discussed this with Ulrike and Janice they shared the same opinion. It was very useful to meet in real life with Ulrike and Janice to discuss my ideas as it was the first time in this unit where I felt like we could have open and honest discussion in person. They both shared their different experiences at UAL and how they have worked to embed resources previously. I was able to hear what they had learned from these experiences and what they would do differently next time in order to have better success with my first attempt. 

The most important takeaway from this meting was that it is essential that this video is not created and then buried and as such there needs to be a strategic plan for creation, promotion and implementation. One of Ulrike’s key points was that in order to truly embed something (based on many experiences of other colleagues) a resource must have a structure and approach for others to easily understand, adopt and use it. Finally, I learned that it was important to place this video not as a stand alone video but it could be framed as the first step in a series of resources or events on the topic.  

Feedback from wider Careers and Employability team:

I sent out an email to some members of the C&E team who I had worked closely with on IP I’m the last few months. I proposed a time for a mini focus group to discuss the video I was going to create to get some feedback prior to creating it and I had three responses. At this point it is worth noting that I had already spoken to my line manager about the video multiple times in the earlier planning stages and in order to add it into our video budget for the team, I have included some of her comments below. I took notes during the online focus group and I have summarised and anonymised my colleagues responses below. 

What were your key takeaways from my overview of the proposed video? 

• It’s hard to give full feedback without seeing a finished video but it seems like a great idea to show copyright in context and help students to start to understand some of the complex ownership and legalities behind designs. 
• The video resource would be useful for the Careers and Employability team especially those who are working with students directly to share with them and help their undemanding. 
• It sounds like a good idea as many teams in C&E are starting to create more video resources so that they can reach more students. 

Do you think that it will be a useful resource for students?

• Useful video that will help students understanding of copyright and IP thinking about different cultures and who they are inspired by – might help them think from when the start to gather mood board images through to final design ideas. 
• I was able to really understand the ideas around cultural appropriation by hearing the interview questions and I think the final video would useful for staff too. 

How might you use this resource in your teaching / work with students? 

• I work closely with students as an Employability Practitioner and often I hand students with IP concerns, as the students might not be ready to have an IP 121 with you or someone else in the IP Education team I could share this resource with them as well as directing them to the IP Module. 
• I work with LCF students and I think it’s really important for all fashion students not just design students to understand cultural appropriation as it’s something that as future designers and those in industry can really make change about. 
• I can direct students to the video either before or after I meet with them 121 if it feels like their enquiry is focused on IP and cultural appropriation. I could also use the video I’m some of the weekly sessions that I deliver to different courses during term time, if it ready I can put it into some of my fashion design teaching in block 1? 

What might I consider when creating the video and implementation plan? 

• I definitely think you need to create something that goes alongside the video content such as reflective questions as you have shared, this would be useful to staff using the video with students if they didn’t have as much knowledge of IP. 
• I have used the IP module before and sometimes have shared this with students before they have come to a 121 meeting. However, I sometimes have questions from students that I am unable to answer as my IP knowledge isn’t that strong, is there a way that you can support staff too with these resources? 

Key action points / feed forward: 

It was very useful to receive two sets of feedback at different points in the journey I’m planning my video resource. The initial conversation with Janice arms Ulrike really helped me to think about the type of video that I was creating and who it might be useful for – in terms of staff and students. 

I had a few key action points for the video creation following my meeting with Janice and Ulrike, which focuses on :

• Develop a strategic plan for creation, promotion and implementation
• Create a structure / approach that staff can use when using the resource 
• Frame the video as a first step in a series of collaborative events 

Following the wider feedback from the Careers and Employability team I chose to add a few additional action points and further considerations: 

• Consider how I can support staff using the resource in further developing their IP knowledge. 
• Think about how I might make the resource more useful or relevant to those students who are not studying fashion design. 

In this blog I have developed a critical reflection of an artefact that can be used as an intellectual property teaching resource across UAL that highlights the issues surrounding cultural appropriation within education. I am a recent graduate of MA Fashion Design Management at LCF and now work as an Intellectual Property (IP) [1] Educator at UAL [2]. There are a multitude of ways to define IP and I have chosen the definition from Roxanne Peters ‘IP law reflects the authorship and ownership of any creative, innovative and cultural capital of an individual and their impact on and for society’ (2022). The approach of the IP Education team that I work in is underpinned by a duty of care to support our creative community through educating about why IP matters, what and who is being represented and who benefits.  

My artefact –  

The artefact is creating a video interview of a student sharing their personal understanding and experiences of cultural appropriation from the perspective of intellectual property (IP). Table 1 outlines the planned structure for the video. I chose to focus on cultural appropriation as historically IP has been taught to business and law students based on colonial enterprise being Western-centric in governance and application. Teaching IP to creatives at UAL must be driven by graduate experiences, personal values and cultural capital. Hence, developing a critical understanding of cultural appropriation is central to the future development of UAL’s fashion designers and others. There is a huge amount of work to still to be done in decolonising legal education across different specialisms. Silbey outlines that the role of OP today is much ‘more than markets and money… what it means to be treated equally and with dignity’ (2020).  

Topic focus	Interview questions
Understanding cultural appropriation in fashion	How might you define ‘cultural appropriation’? What is your experience of cultural appropriation?
Experiences of communities that have been exploited	Are there any examples that you can share of cultural appropriation in fashion? What has the impact on your community been following these experiences?
Appropriation within fashion education	What is your experience of fashion education, and do you think that cultural appropriation is something that is discussed?  If you were to consider what needs to change in fashion education regarding appropriation what would it be?
Approaches to tackle cultural appropriation	Do you think that it is possible to provide a ‘solution’ to issues such as these you have discussed?  Are there any preventative steps such as education and case studies/stories that you think would impact change here?

Developing accessible IP resources is a key pillar of my work this year; resources that can be adopted and utilised by a wide range of different staff members and students. It was important to me to create a resource to facilitate student understanding of cultural identity and misappropriation to inform their future design work.  

My experience in law and understanding of fashion teaching at LCF meant that I was well positioned to consider the introduction of this topic area. As white, privately educated graduate it was central to this piece of work that it wasn’t only my voice, or my research and reading projected in the video. It needed to be driven by others’ personal experiences and reimagined and delivered collaboratively, I needed to showcase these students’ voices as informed by the research of Finnigan (2009). Table 2 demonstrates the series of reflective questions that have been developed as tool to support embedding the video in teaching and learning. This further development of the resource was informed by the feedback from my blogging group meeting in early July 2022 (see below).  

	Reflective questions	Reflective prompts
1	Based on Kat’s experiences how might you evaluate your design process going forward?	You may want to consider what you are inspired by and how it inspires you.  It might be important to think about the different steps involved when you are designing something and how you might build in awareness.
2	From Kat’s examples of misappropriation of tribal symbols, prints and artefacts what might you take forward about understanding different cultures?	Have you considered whether any of your previous work has been inspired by any similar elements and this impact?
3	From listening to Kat talk about the experiences of the community she is part of what have you learned about the impact of cultural appropriation?	You might want to consider the differences Kat talked about between cultural appropriation and cultural misappropriation.

The development process –

On commencing my PgCert in January 2022 the first article that I read was Dieffenbacher’s ‘Is fashion education guilty of contributing to the problematic discourse around cultural appropriation’ (2018). Dieffenbacher’s primary research findings demonstrated ‘examples of problematic terminology and methods that inadvertently reinforced challenging stereotypes and appropriation within the design process’ (p.32). A useful starting point in my reading but ultimately limited by its lack of diverse and informed options on the subject. Pham (2014) outlines cultural appropriation in fashion as ‘white western domination over and exploitation of culture at the expensive of everyone else (p.8). When I began to further explore existing literature, my focus was two-fold: (1) decolonising arts education and (2) cultural appropriation in fashion education. 

From my experience in legal education, I had an extremely limited understanding of ‘appropriation’ and in all honestly probably even less of an understanding of ‘cultural appropriation’ before starting LCF as a student. It was during my time at LCF that I really began to understand how designers were inspired and where one might look for inspiration. I come from a very academic background so understanding creative processes was new to me. Within my reading and research in this unit is was central to this project for me to consider what identity, ownership and collaboration meant for creative fashion students and how this fitted into understanding and discussing cultural appropriation.  

Following an initial literature review I outlined some aims in creating this artefact: (1) to create a resource underpinned my critical pedagogies that was accessible and could become a central resource for beginning critical conversations around cultural appropriation within fashion (informed by Freire, 1970 and Cowden and Singh, 2013); (2) to facilitate the beginning of a shift in the teaching and understanding of IP through a lens that is not informed by traditional educators and policymakers; and (3) to support the work of UAL teams in decolonising the arts curriculum to ensure a strategy for transformative education.  

Alongside my literature review I sent an email to the IP Education team who work with students on a 121 basis to ask if they had worked with any students to support with cultural appropriation cases. I received several responses from my colleague who kindly introduced me to a few students who were happy to share their experiences with me. From the three graduates and students that I spoke with I chose Kat’s story to tell in my video as I loved the way that she talked about her design process and explained how she worked closely with her tribe leaders in New Zealand to avoid any appropriation of their culture within her designs.  

My experience and feedback –  

Initially, in the early stages of developing my artefact I proposed an enterprise related video to tell the story of a black, disabled UAL graduate in setting up her business. I felt drawn to Lizzie’s story when I first met her through my IP work as it was almost the opposite experience that I had when setting up my own business as a UAL graduate in 2019. Similarly to Lizzie I began to build up freelance consultancy work after graduating but that’s where the similarities in our experiences end. It was from hearing Lizzie’s experiences that I was able to fully appreciate the extent of my privilege. I thought that the enterprising focus of this report could best help me reflect on my positionality but realised that I did not necessarily need to adopt the most obvious route with this assignment. It was important for me to explore something that I would not normally approach and this informed my topic change.  

The initial feedback that I received from Montana suggested I explore how my race affects the social context of my role and pointed me in the direction of Gillborn’s ‘whiteness, critical race theory and education reform’. It was here that I began to consider whether I should shift my focus to the wider reach I could have with the development of new IP resources across UAL by exploring the topic of cultural appropriation. How could I reach a wider audience with my resource and help staff and students develop a critical understanding of a fundamental element of IP?  

Following my tutorial with Montana I met with my blogging group to discuss our artefact progression. It was an extremely useful session which helped me to consider how I might embed a video into curriculum and whether I needed to develop any additional resources in order to facilitate a critical understanding of the topic (see Table 2). My colleagues helped me to understand how the artefact might be used in practice and shared their experiences of creating resources that had not been utilised as well as they could be. My key takeaways from this meeting were:

1. it is important that this video is not created and then buried and as such there needs to be a strategic plan for creation, promotion and implementation;
2. in order to truly embed something (based on many experiences of other colleagues) a resource must have a structure and approach for others to easily understand, adopt and use it; and
3. in order to see real impact from the development of the resource it could be framed as the first step in a series of resources or events on the topic.  

Based on these key takeaways I create some key action points for implementation:  

1. Write a supporting document to accompany the video which outlines how it can be used and includes some reflective questions to begin discussions.  
2. Develop a Teaching and Learning Exchange blog post introducing and explaining the resource which could include an interview with Kat who features in the video.  
3. Consider organising an event that links with this video that would continue the conversations started through hearing Kat’s story.  

Conclusion –  

Overall, designing this artefact has helped me to further understand the underrepresentation of people of colour within IP and how this has created a huge problem of misappropriation and misrepresentation for a wide range of communities. I hope that this resource is the first of many that the IP Education team at UAL can facilitate to enhance further decolonisation of the arts curriculum. I recognise that there is so much more to understanding complex areas of the law than presenting case saw and statutory facts on slides and beginning to tell the stories of underrepresented communities through listening to UAL graduates experiences is one step towards changing this. 

[1] – In this report I have used ‘IP’ to mean ‘Intellectual Property’ rather than ‘Inclusive Practices’ due to the nature of my role at UAL.  

[2] – Link to positionality statement – https://eleanorrockettpgcert.myblog.arts.ac.uk/2022/05/09/ip-positionality-statement/.

References:

• Cowden, S. and Singh, G. (2013) ‘Acts of knowing: Critical pedagogy in, against and beyond the university’. London: Bloomsbury Publishing.  
• Decolonising the Arts Curriculum: Perspectives on Higher Education, zine 2, (Autumn 2019). Available at: https://decolonisingtheartscurriculum.myblog.arts.ac.uk. (Accessed on: 20^th July 2022).  
• Dieffenacher, F., (2018) Fashion design pedagogy: Is fashion education guilty of contributing to the problematic discourse around cultural appropriation.  
• Finnigan, T (2009) ‘Tell Us About It: Diverse student voices in creative practice’, ADCHE Journal 8(2) Available at: https://engagingimagination. files.wordpress.com/2014/03/tell-us-about-it.pdf (Accessed: 20^th July 2022). 
• Freire, 1970 
• Gibbs, G., (1998) Learning by doing: A guide to a teaching and learning methods. Oxford, Polytechnic: Further Education Unit.  
• Gillborn, D., (2005) Education policy as an act of white supremacy: whiteness, critical race theory and education reform. Journal of Education Policy, 20:4, pp.485-505.  
• Peters, R., (2022) From idea to industry: amplifying the voices of the next generation. WIPO Magazine. March 2022.  
• Pham, M-T., (2003) Fashion’s cultural appropriation debate – pointless! Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.  
• Pham, M-T., (2014) ‘Fashion’s cultural appropriation debate – pointless’, The Atlantic. Available at: https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2014/05/cultural-appropriation-in-fashion-stop-talking-about-it/370826/ (accessed on 20^th July 2022).  
• Silbey, J., (2020) Intellectual Property in the 21^st century will be shaped by the values of justice and equality. News@Northeasten. Available at: https://news.northeastern.edu/2020/10/14/intellectual-property-in-the-21st-century-will-be-shaped-by-values-of-justice-and-equality/. (Accessed on: 20^th July 2022).  

Shades of Noir website resources:

When entering the website, I was first drawn to the ‘creatives’ tab at the top of the homepage which took me to a creative database. I started to have a look through some of the stories of fashion designers and jewellery designers and was drawn to Basmah Malik’s story of incorporating her South Asian heritage and working-class background into her graduate collection.

As case studies and designer stories feature heavily in my teaching practice, I think that the creative database is an extremely useful tool for my own practice. When I am looking for examples to feature in a session, I can use the database to share stories with my students. Further to the creative database I also found the ‘conversations’ tab a fantastic space for interviews and conversations with designers. It was great to read Aisha Wafic’s story of being inspired to work in fashion and how they tell a story through their own designs.

Hanh Tapper, A pedagogy of social justice education: social identity, theory and intersectionality (2013):

Prior to reading this paper my understanding of the term ‘social justice’ was built on what I learned at law school. In my time there we often discussed human rights and social justice together and I remember focusing on human rights advocacy to look at people, communities, systems, and policies for an assignment. This paper looks at social justice education and my question for future consideration would be whether the definitions of social justice given would vary if students or staff from differing disciplines were asked.

From reading Tapper’s article I was able to position an understanding of students’ identities within my understanding of social justice. The concept of ‘identity’ regularly features in my IP sessions when we are exploring why students make certain decisions related to their ideas or designs. The second key takeaway from the article was learning about why ‘depositing’ information doesn’t work as a teaching method due to its detachment from students realities, identities and experiences of the world. This is a clear distinction between the way I was taught on my MA at LCF and the way law is taught by ‘deposit’ approach at most universities.

Witness Unconscious Bias YouTube video:

When I was initially learning about research methods during my time at LCF we looked at explicit and implicit bias and how to be aware of these types of bias to reduce them within a research context. One of the main elements that this video highlighted to me is how concerning it is that so much has been said, done and written yet people are not listening or becoming more aware. In just a few short minutes this video is a useful introduction to the issues around unconscious bias and has made me consider the resources that I choose for teaching bias during a Research Methods unit. I talk about a few examples of bias when I am discussing different elements that might feature in a student’s research project but could do more to discuss biases related to race.

Retention and attainment in the disciplines – art and design:

Section 4.2 on Art and Design pedagogies was an interesting overview of pedagogies from the recent past and explored how methods and approaches are swiftly shifting. It was interesting to hear the students’ voices share concerns about a lack of timetabled and structured approaches in arts teaching and how project-based work relies on students self-motivation. It clearly highlighted the differences between year groups, for example first year students wanting more ‘certainty and reassurance’ (p7). The second interesting element of this short report was the exploration of ‘identity’ and how students’ identity and getting a good grade might be viewed from different perspectives. I have recently worked with a student who wants to explore their cultural heritage with a focus on prints from their hometown and community and she was initially advised to steer away from this influence by her tutor in the first crit. The subject specific practitioner guides outlined on page 8 would have been a useful resource to share with this student following the initial crit.

The assessment in art and design section of the report is succinct but outlines different ways that a student might be assessed. With most of my experiences based in business teaching the idea of a ‘crit’ is still quite new to me and we often provide our initial feedback in group sessions with lots of students and staff members. The question I would propose after finishing the report is to further explore different forms of assessment in art and design and how these impact retention and attainment.

SoN Terms of Reference around Race:

I chose Aisha Richards article ‘White Academia: Does this affect you?’ (pp.26-31) to reflect on for this exercise. As soon as I read the first few questions, I started to think about what I would answer if asked these same questions. However, unlike the interviewee I have a diverse direct reporting line in my immediate team and wider team. It’s interesting to compare this to friendship groups and experiences at other institutions. In the courses that I teach on at MA level we tend to have a large percentage of Asian students and few white home students and it would be interesting to ask course leaders in similar teaching positions these questions.

I think the question that looks at where diversity and social justice sits currently in higher education would be an interesting question to pose to my small IP team within the context of their own work and how that work supports meaningful change.

Reflections on Religion, Belief and Faith identities UAL website

On the Religion, Belief and Faith identities site I was drawn to the Pen Portraits case study. A crucial thing that I have learned so far on the PgCert Inclusive Practices Unit is about creating space for conversations, and the Pen Portraits case study again highlighted this for me. It pushed me reflect on this question – How do you create space within your teaching practice to have difficult conversations?

At first glance I loved the initial simplicity of the activity, easy to set up and quick to get going. But in fact it was actually a great activity to get students engaging with one another, share surface level aspects of their lives and begin to introduce discussion around belief. This is the perfect activity to be introduced as an icebreaker with lots of different groups of students that I work with. I think it would best suit my MA Fashion Design Management group early in their studies when I first start to work with them. I often like to feature a quick ‘off topic’ activity or ice breaker after the midway break in a 3-hour seminar so this would be the perfect fit. It’s a great starting point for further discussion or to help facilitate these discussions regarding faith and belief between students themselves outside of a classroom setting.

Reflections on Religion in Britain: Challenges for Higher Education

Multiculturalism:                      

In this article I learned that multiculturalism is beyond neutrality and involves active support for cultural difference, I liked the ‘active element’ of this being discussed in the article. Secondly, I learned about the different ways that someone can ‘respect’ something from respect for difference but also through learning, listening and funding all building together. Something that stood out for me in this first article I read was ‘creating a sense of being French that Jews and Muslims, as well as Catholics and secularists, can envisage for themselves’, it made me consider what it means to be British and how people from different backgrounds might view being British and how they would describe it.

Minority identities:

Here it was interesting to learn about what it means to be Christian and how there is a shift in understanding one another’s religion when it is expressed only in terms of personal beliefs – as opposed to how you dress or diet etc.  In addition to my first point it was also interesting to learn about how a sense of belonging fits into people’s faith and the outward expression of their faith. The article makes me question how people would describe their belonging to Christianity and whether they associate certain outward decisions and portrayals as part of this.

The ‘vaguely Christian’ UK:

It was interesting to learn here about the hundreds of small sects and new religious movements in the UK which I was unfamiliar with, and how these often are well attended and ‘architecturally unassuming’ a term I like. Before reading this article I wasn’t familiar with how religion is taught in schools and universities other than my own experiences in a UK school, so it was interesting to see that it is unevenly taught and knowledge is generally poor. From this article I would question why religion is something that is so ‘unevenly’ taught where in most schools there will be a diversity of different religions and often Religious Studies is offered as a GCSE option.

Religion and knowledge of religion in UK universities:

Here I learned of the need to develop broader learning communities in which religion is a central topic for discussion and enquiry and how this can sit alongside work on ethics and values which is a substantial feature of my IP teaching. Additionally, this section helped me to understand the wider and important role of Chaplains within universities as prior to reading this I was aware they existed, but I wasn’t totally aware of the full scope of their provision of support. This section makes me consider, if it’s not chaplains or academics who are providing students with the pastoral support and engagement with their extracurricular life then who is it?

Kwame Anthony Appiah Reith – lecture on Creed

It was extremely interesting to listen to Kwame’s lecture on Creed. One of the key elements that I took from this podcast was the explanation of a balance between scripture and practice and how these can be managed in different ways in life, and also what this means to others and how they find their balance. In all honesty I think that it would difficult to directly apply this resource – e.g. asking students to listen to it – within my own teaching practice. In a wider sense of the subject and topic areas within my own teaching I think exploring ones background and the complexities within it that inform your own practice are ever important in IP management. From the combination of resources that I have explored for the blogs posts this week I think viewing belief and religion alongside values and ethics will be an important shift following these learnings in my PgCert.

Higher Power: Religion, Faith, Spirituality and Belief – Saffron Mustafa (pp. 28-31):

I chose to reflection on the Interview with Saffron Mustafa within Higher Power: Religion, Faith, Spirituality and Belief. Of the interview my favourite question was ‘do you feel like religion increases creativity or decreases it?’. It was integrating to read Saffron’s response to the question as she first recounted a story of her mum and the impact that religion had on her art practice before considering its impact on her own. As I discussed in my positionality statement, for me personally, religion doesn’t form a substantial part of my life so it was interesting to hear about the impact Saffron considers it to have on her practice in art. How mythologies, symbolism and belief can be questioned and represented through the different ways that she works.

I chose this resource because I thought it could help me to reconsider some of the questions I ask graduates in Intellectual Property support 121 meetings. I often explore what inspires their practice and ask them about the role of culture within their work or businesses. Prior to reading this article I hadn’t considered the impact that religion and belief may have on students and their creative practice so I will consider these elements to inform my future 121 discussions. Sometimes conversations around culture and appropriation come up in IP discussions (in classroom sessions and 121) so having a collection of resources such as this one that refer to inspiration can be really useful to refer students to for further reading.

• Film by Christine Sun Kim

It was fantastic to watch how Christine used sound to connect audiences and see, feel and touch what you can’t hear. The idea of a people possessing or claiming a sound was an interesting concept that I hadn’t considered before, but I could instantly understand Christine’s perspective in presenting this.

The film helped me to realise the importance of looking at more than a two-dimensional perspective on things. For example, in Intellectual Property there is a lot of information to absorb, and I know that my teaching is all about presenting the information in a digestible and applicable way. Christine’s video reenforces that people understand and reinterpret things in their own way and that as a facilitator I can give them the space to do this.

I can easily integrate these learnings into my teaching through scheduling in giving students a day between my lecturers and seminars to absorb and reinterpret the learnings from the lecture in their own way. In order to further the inclusive education provided by the Intellectual Property Education team working with UAL leadership teams will provide the organisational lead on making substantial changes (Ainscow and Sandill, 2008).

• UAL Disability Services webpages

There is clarity and direction in all of the information provided on the Disability Services webpages, I think the direction is important as students can be shown exactly where to go to receive the support that they need. I have noted that the initial emails we received from the teaching team for Inclusive Practices have also directed us to the Disability Services team – taking this into my own practice, it is a simple thing that I can do at the beginning of my modules to redirect students to the support offered.

One of the students that I am working with on an Intellectual Property and Collaboration video project has created The Accessibility Project – a social enterprise formed to research, challenge and create change to the barriers to accessibility faced. They are currently consulting for LCC regarding access to the building which is a huge issue for many students. Through this student I have found out more about the accessibility issues faced by students which often aren’t presented to us as staff facilitating sessions. I have learned a lot about how I can further support students as a unit leader from this student and I am to write up our story into a case study for Canvas to share with other staff members.

• #disabilitytoowhite article Vilissa Thompson

Vilissa’s story highlights the underrepresentation of disabled POC and the widespread impact of this as demonstrated by the retweets of their hashtag. Their story further demonstrates the importance of representation. Last year I saw hundreds of posts across social media about the impact of Disney’s Encanto. It featured an all-Latino cast with tributes to Colombian Culture showing that representation is more than similar skin colour – it’s about culture, language, history, upbringing, values and heritage.

In my teaching practice I provide a lot of media examples and I welcome students’ reflections on the examples that I choose. For example, a case of Dua Lipa and the paparazzi to highlight a copyright issue isn’t relatable or representative of the students I am speaking to so instead I may focus on a cultural appropriation case from a minority group (Hatton, 2003). I will look at any potential examples I can use to be inclusive and accepting of disabled POC in my sessions.

• Deaf Accessibility for Spoonies by Khairani Barokka

The quote that stood out for me in Khairani’s article was ‘to her credit she saw through my skin’ and describe the feeling of the doctor understanding the pain that she was in. I am sure that for all of us at UAL it is important for us to help students feel comfortable and confident within the classroom or studio environment.

In fashion there has been a lot of research as to stores as ‘third spaces’ with first space being home and second space being the office – a theory that is also hugely useful in academia (Soja, 1996). ‘Place-making’ has also become a buzzwork within the arts and cultural sectors in the UK (Meskell-Brocken, 2020). Whether I am delivered a series of lecutres, running a unit or acting as a ‘guest lecturer’ for an IP session I strive to facilitate a setting that allows students to be in the best position to learn. This might mean moving furniture, creating a circle of chairs to share stories or using post-it notes to get anonymous input. Irrespective of students disabilities, ways of learning or what is currently going on in their lives outside of the classroom I hope to create safe spaces for them to learn. Aiming at a comfortable ‘thirdspace’ my favourite definition of which is ‘merging students’ at-home and cultural experiences with their educational understanding, creating an open, flexible environment where the two can merge’ (Yahya and Wood, 2016).

• Disability Terms of Reference from Shades of Noir

I read and reflected on Claudette Davis-Bonnick’s article ‘Understanding Visual Impairments’ (pp.106-109). It was heart-breaking to read about those who feel they must self-select out of studying fashion due to their visual impairment (Barer, 2007). I love the quote ‘it is understanding the disability we are challenged with, not the person with the disability’ and supporting the participation of all students irrespective of their disabilities.

When I was in school I interned every summer at my local Optometry practice and part of this role was working with visual impaired people in the community. I went on house calls with Occupational Therapists that supported visually impaired people with day-to-day tasks and provided them with tools to support this. A story that will stick in my mind is that of an older gentleman struggling with sudden blindness due to glaucoma who could be supported with cooking and watching TV but when he asked for any tools that could help him with his painting, they said they couldn’t help. There are so many ways to participate in something and as facilitators and educators we have to do that and create a space for everyone to participate. I wish I could go back in time and help this man in finding ways that he could participant in his hobby of painting.

• Mental Health Terms of Reference from Shades of Noir

I read and reflected on the words of Kei Maye, ‘it’s ok to say you don’t feel ok’ (pp.62-63). My favourite quote from this section of the Mental Health Terms of Reference was ‘if your battery level is low, you’re allowed to take breaks and shouldn’t feel guilty in doing so!’. It was intriguing to read Kei’s words on conditioning ourselves to overwork and that breaks will lead to failure as this is something that I have struggled with personally over the last few years.

I studied an MA in Fashion Design Management and LCF and now I am a lecturer and dissertation supervisor on the course. As the units that I supervise are related to the final dissertation I regularly deal with students who are very stressed and feel under immense pressure. When I am facilitating sessions, I try to create a space where they can ask questions, feel calm, vent about their stress and have an outlet for their pressure. I love the words that Kei has written in this article, and I think it would be very useful to share this with my students in a session. Previously I have trialled a quick mental health or stress check in at the beginning of sessions which can work to help people share their worries about the dissertation. On refection of this article, I am considering trying an anonymous stress level activity during a session using post-it notes so I can understand how the students are feeling about their projects and workload. This will help me to facilitate the session to support their needs.

References:

Ainscow, M. and Sandill, A. (2010) Developing inclusive education systems: the role of organisational cultures and leadership, International Journal of Inclusive Education, 14:4, 401-41.

Barer, R., (2007) Disabled students in London: A review of higher and further education, including students with learning difficulties. London: Great London Authorities.

Hatton, K. (2003) Multiculturalism: narrowing the gaps in art education, Race, Ethnicity and Education, 6:4, 357-372

Meskell-Brocken, S. (2020) in Development a Sense of Place: The Role of Arts in Regenerating Communitites. Eds. Ashley, T. and Weedon, A. pp. 240-254. London: UCL Press.

Soja, E. W. (1996) Thirdspace: Journeys to Los Angeles and other Real and Imagined Places. Malden, MA: Blackwell.

Yayha, R. and Wood. A. (2016) Play as third space between home and school: Bridging cultural discourses. Journal of Early Childhood Research, Vol. 15., pp. 305-322.

My name is Eleanor Rockett, and I am an Associate Lecturer at LCF and the Intellectual Property Educator at UAL. My chosen pronouns are she/her. I am a driven and hard-working white British educator working in Intellectual Property and Fashion Business. Education has been a central factor and value in my family and upbringing. Both of my grandfathers have PhD qualifications and my parents both hold a masters degree. Both from a personal and professional perspective learning to find something outside of work and learning is something that I have had to work on independently coming from such a work driven family background.

I come from a small town in Shropshire a mostly white middle class neighbourhood, but I went to school in Wolverhampton, a culturally diverse area. I was state educated until sixth form where I won an academic scholarship to study at a private grammar school. I am very aware that I come from a privileged background, but I feel grounded by the fact that I have always had to work for what I have gained, and nothing has been given to me. I have worked since age 14 in a variety of service and customer facing roles. I think that my collective, collaborative, and open approach has allowed me to learn from others from differing backgrounds and be aware of my potential biases.

Within academia I have 2 years of experience in a diverse classroom delivering fashion business and intellectual property sessions. My research and teaching are informed by a commitment to independent, self-funded fashion designers and brands and facilitating their access to facilities and connections within industry. Collaboration and working with others forms a central part of my academic practice and I hugely value those that I work with.