In this article Matthew Etherington shares his experiences, successes, and challenges in implementing a 7th-grade fashion design unit in which he attempts to realize his curricular vision through critical visual culture pedagogy and role-playing. During the 4-week lesson period, Etherington's instructional checkpoints were broken into three main…

In this article I weave together the relevance of narrative textile work in therapeutic and human rights contexts; showcase Common Threads, an international nonprofit that uses story cloths with survivors of gender-based violence; outline a master's level art therapy course in story cloths; and relate how textiles helped build a sibling…

When the author's high school students explored the work of artist Teri Greeves, they accomplished several good things. They learned about a living contemporary artist and saw the potential of art as a pursuit that is pleasurable and potentially profitable. During studio work, students tried new needlework techniques to add to their toolbox of art…

In the author's experience, sewing projects have consistently led to a quiet, engaged artroom full of busy, motivated students. Maybe it's the gradual fusion of pieces of fabric to make a tidy, compact unit, or the magic of the thread holding cloth together, or the repetitive action of making stitches. Whatever the reason, the rhythm of sewing a…

In this article, the author describes a unit on the exploration of line. The unit was composed of two individual line lessons. In the first lesson, students were introduced to line as an element of design. They were asked to describe different types of lines, and look for them in art reproductions. The second lesson in the unit involved painting…

Writing about the teaching artist practice should mean writing about art making. As both teacher and artist, the authors are required to be cognizant of their own art-making processes, both how it works and why it is important to them, in order to make this process visible to their students. They also need the same skills to write about how and…

Employment preparation and life skill development are crucial in assisting students identified as having emotional and behavioral disabilities with successfully transitioning to adulthood following high school. This article outlines four initiatives that a school counselor developed with other school personnel to promote work skills, life skills,…

Gee's Bend is a small community near Selma, Alabama where cotton plantations filled the land before the Civil War. After the war, the freed slaves of the plantations worked as tenant farmers and founded an African-American community. In 2002, the women of this community brought international attention and acclaim to Gee's Bend through the art of…

This article examines the relationship between skill acquisition and the constitution of economic selfhood in Trinidad. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork among garment workers in a context of industrial decline, I show how their formal, informal, and illicit means of acquiring sewing skills are inextricably linked to the fragmented and unstable…

A high school fashion design teacher has much in common with the ringmaster of a three-ring circus. The challenges of teaching a hands-on course are to facilitate the entire class and to meet the needs of individual students. When teaching family and consumer sciences, the goal is to have a learner-active classroom. Revamping the high school's…

This paper profiles Faith Ringgold. The opening line of the beloved story "Tar Beach" resonates with the optimism that characterizes author-artist Faith Ringgold's outlook on life. Faith Ringgold has always cherished the inspiration found in stories of overcoming adversity--and her own family history is a revelation of strong women figures.…

As the world economy continues to evolve, businesses and industries must adopt new practices and processes in order to survive. Quality and cost control, work teams and participatory management, and an infusion of technology are transforming the way people work and do business. Employees are now expected to read, write, and communicate…

This paper draws on Anglican mission archive material to uncover the extent to which girls' schooling in early nineteenth-century West Africa developed as a response to male interests and perceived male needs. The founding of the colony of Sierra Leone in 1787 as a home for freed slaves followed by the arrival of Protestant missionaries in 1804…

The Alabama Cooperative Extension Service transformed a traditional textile/clothing program into a home-based business program. It was delivered by multiple methods including meetings, printed materials, audiovisual resources, and, in the second phase, videoconferencing. (SK)

Home economics is often denigrated for requiring little intellect. There is a strong cultural bias that undervalues sewing and relegates it to "handedness" instead of the loftier "headedness." According to Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences, the two do not stand in opposition. Handiwork is a spatial intellectual…