SEE BEYOND: Enhancement – Strategies in Teaching Learning as a Stimulus to Creativity in Fashion Design

Abstract

The creative capacity of the brain is a valuable aid to learning. Studies of the Neurosciences when applied to the area of teaching/learning, provide an understanding of the cognitive processes of the brain; the mapping and formation of images; human behaviour; and the support tools for teachers and students. This kind of assistance, to a great extent underpins the assimilation of information that is conveyed in the classroom and the consolidation of knowledge in the memory, so that it can be elicited by the students on future occasions. Against this background and based on the Neuroeducation’ studies, the SEE BEYOND method has been incorporated as a means of including sensorimotor stimuli in the progressive stages of the project and as a result, enlarging the methodological framework that is traditionally employed for higher education training courses in fashion design. This paper addresses the main results and benefits obtained from the application of this method to the ¨Enhancement¨ module. This module covers studies of shapes and volumes as well as colours and surface textile design. Its parameters were determined by the course taught to a group of students with visual impairment in the city of Sao Paulo (Brazil), in the period August–December 2015.

1 Introduction

Learning takes place as a result of the formation and consolidation of links between the nerve cells. It is the outcome of chemical and structural alterations in an individual’s nervous system which require energy and time to be fully manifested. It is a personal and private phenomenon which conforms to individual historical circumstances [1].

According to Damásio [2], mental maps are not static as in classical cartography. They are unstable and shifting all the time to reflect the changes that are occurring in the neurons which supply them with information. These maps, in turn, also reflect the changes that occur within our bodies and in the world around us, as well as the fact that we ourselves are also constantly in a state of movement.

This means that it can be said that learning takes place by means of the same changes that occur in the neurons, as well as in an awareness of our surroundings and everything that forms a part of it.

The study of neuroscience is becoming an essential research endeavour for the understanding of the mechanisms of learning insofar as it throws light on the following: the cognitive processes of the brain; mapping and image formation; human behaviour; and support tools for teachers and students.

The field of neuroeducation combines research in the areas of neuroscience, neurology, psychology, pedagogical studies and teaching methodologies concerned with planning lessons and offering a wide range of opportunities for the application of lesson content from the subjects of the students. These studies have emerged as a continuous activity and subject of interest for an increasingly large number of teachers devoted to assessing the effectiveness of a new teaching model.

It is against this background that the “SEE BEYOND” method is employed. This method seeks (a) to broaden the scope of stimuli experienced by the students, whether with or without visual impairment; (b) enhance the teaching/learning process; and (c) raise an awareness of the design features needed for compiling collections in fashion design. Didactic materials are employed that are of a wide-ranging nature and generally not adopted in higher education institutions in Brazil. In other words, there is a recognition of the value, conception and application of instruments and activities that are geared towards the sensorimotor and cognitive stimulation of the students (whether blind or with normal sight), for teaching the methodology required for the fashion design project. For this reason this study is structured in three modules: (A) Foundation; (B) Enhancement; (C) Materialization. In the domain of (A) (Foundation), the aim is to concentrate on outlining the basis of the knowledge of design and fashion in a way that it can represent a theoretical framework for undertaking projects. With regard to (B) (Enhancement), this is devoted to teaching all the stages related to carrying out projects in fashion design. In the case of (C) (Materialization), all the knowledge acquired in the two previous stages is summarized and applied to a fashion collection project [3].

This paper focuses on the main results obtained and the benefits of the Enhancement module for (a) the training of the students with visual impairment and the students with normal sight; (b) the inclusion of the results in Higher Education Fashion Design courses in Brazil; and (c) the recognition of the value of self-esteem and attainment of well-being.

2 Neuroeducation: Strategies for Active Learning

During the teaching/learning process, passive students who do not take part in the set activities in the classroom, will definitely achieve unsatisfactory results. “Learning is partly based on the capacity of the brain to create” [4]. In view of this, it is essential for students to be stimulated to creativity and proactivity or rather to become players in a process that encourages them to stimulate their own learning with a view to nurturing the mental states related to pleasure and achievement. These are directly linked to the limbic cortex and play an essential role in the area of teaching.

In these conditions, the teacher is not just someone who simply transmits the lesson content of the classes; what is required is cooperation between the teacher and students in devising teaching methods and techniques to ensure the learning objectives of the course are carried out effectively.

In light of this, the recognition of the value of individual features can also foster learning. The particular nature of each individual and his/her most pressing needs are of paramount importance. In other words, if certain conditions or skills cannot be properly explored in the face of pressing needs that arise, the teacher must be aware of how to adapt the teaching method in an appropriate way so that the knowledge is provided to all the students in the same class in an equitable manner.

Tokuhama-Espinosa [4], draws attention to 14 key drivers of Neuroeducation as providing an essential framework in the teaching-learning process, and should be combined with closely related studies on neuroscience, psychology and education. These are as follows:

(a) students learn better when they are highly motivated than when they have little or no motivation; (b) stress impacts learning; (c) anxiety blocks learning opportunities; (d) depressive states can impede learning; (e) other people’s tones of voice are quickly judged in the brain as either threatening or non-threatening; (f) people’s faces are judged nearly instantaneously in the brain (i.e. as good or bad intentions); (g) feedback is important for learning; (h) emotions play a key role in learning; (i) using movements can enhance learning; (j) humor and laughter can enhance our learning experience; (k) nutrition impacts learning; (l) sleep is vital for memory consolidation; (m) learning styles (cognitive preferences) are due to the unique structure of individual brains; (n) differentiation (allowing students to learn at different levels and paces) in classroom practice can be justified by the fact that students have different intelligences and cognitive preferences”.

It can be seen that to some extent the principles are narrowly confined to teaching models because they show that the active involvement of the teachers in effect interferes with the learning of the students, as expressed in principle ‘a’. Some of the other principles - ‘e’, ‘f’, ‘g’, ‘i’, ‘j’ - are closely linked to how the degree of attention and observation of the teacher in the classroom is able to alter the way a class is handled and hence, affect the behavior of the students.

Every student has his/her own perceptions and by addressing the question of learning styles, principle ‘m’, underlines a number of different points bound up with cognitive absorption and memorizing capacity or conversely, the difficulty of retaining what has been learnt. With regard to this last point, weariness, sleepiness and anxiety can also lead to poor student achievement, as highlighted in ‘l’. Finally, principle ‘n’ is worth pointing out as a means of understanding how abilities and skills can be added to the factors of intelligence and creativity to assist in carrying out activities.

Damásio [5] underlines the importance of body-brain-object interactions, “mapped in neural patterns and constructed in accordance with the capacities of the organism”, on the basis of four domains which can bring about reactions and attitudes in the body and brain that can be either positive or negative to the students [2]. These are as follows: (i) sensitive motor patterns when looking at the object (such as movements of the eyes and neck or the movement of the whole body, when applicable); (ii) the sensitive motor pattern linked to touching and handling the object (if applicable); (iii) the sensitive motor pattern resulting from the evocation of previously acquired memories related to the object; (iv) the sensitive motor patterns caused by the triggering of emotions and feelings associated with the object.

In summary, sensations, motor reactions and emotional stimuli interfere with behavior and, as a result, in the learning process, as is indicated by principle ‘h’, since “emotions are essential for pattern recognition” [4]. In other words, learning can be supported as a body and brain-based skill for detecting patterns, “if it involves self-correction and learning by experience through data analysis and self-reflection” [4].

In this physiological recruitment order, in which the body/brain have a mutual effect and control on each other, creativity plays a crucial role in the consolidation of learning and hence, in the enhancement of the subjectivity and identity of the individual.

3 Strategies of the Mind for Creative Learning

Creativity has always captured the attention and interest of authors in various fields of knowledge. Abraham [6] points out that there have been a significant number of research studies in this area, although they have not managed to narrow down the concept to a definition that can cover such diverse areas as “musical creativity, visual creativity, synesthesia and creativity, divergent and convergent thinking, insight, scientific creativity, problem solving”; among others. With regard to research studies concerning the Neurosciences, the concept of creativity has followed several directions, some of which are divergent [6,7,8,9,10].

Dietrich [8] believes that “creativity is a fundamental activity of human information processing”, and in her view, two features define the term as a productive act which includes shaping something new that can be appropriated by the individual. This position is shared by Fink et al. [9] whereas in the case of Pinheiro [10], creativity is regarded “as an attribute and process that is determined and evolves at both an individual and social level”. On the basis of the definitions of these authors, creativity can be understood as the capacity of the individual and this is also expressed in the results of the activities he/she carries out.

Despite the need for further advances in this investigation, Dietrich [8] sets out from a neurophysiological perspective and highlights the prefrontal cortex as the important region to observe with regard to creative thinking, since it “harbors a person’s cultural system, values and beliefs” [11].

In the opinion of Dietrich [8], “novelty production can occur in emotional structures or in cognitive structures and crossing the type of information with the two modes of processing (deliberate or spontaneous) yields the four basic types” which are an intrinsic part of her concept of creativity. On the basis of these crossings, the following descriptions can be noted: (a) Deliberate mode – cognitive structures; (b) Deliberate mode – emotional structures; (c) Spontaneous mode – cognitive structures; and (d) Spontaneous mode – emotional structures [8]. It should be stressed that as well as the prefrontal cortex, the working memory and the interconnection with the Parietal-Temporal-Occipital lobes, act together to shape what is described as creativity.

Damásio [11] broadens this brain-creativity relationship to another sphere between the mind and body and states that the mind carries out several tasks that are useful to the body. These include (i) the controlled execution of automatic responses with regard to a determined goal, (ii) previews and the planning of new replies, (iii) the creation of more varied circumstances and the presence of objects that can be beneficial to the survival of the body [5].

This kind of body-mind-brain interconnection ensures that the contacts of this body are embedded in the surroundings and stimulate the creative process, as well as the survival of the body itself, on the basis of a dialogue between an individual’s memories and all the objects, space and time that nurture this knowledge and these emotions or feelings [5, 8].

Munari [12] links this perspective to design processes and believes that when carrying out a project, creativity should take account of all the necessary operations that must be followed for the data analysis, before deciding on a solution. Moreover, with regard to this field of knowledge, creativity can be harnessed to aesthetics, which “stems from the Greek word aisthesis which means some kind of sense perception” [13].

The path followed here lays emphasis on the complexity of the concept of creativity and provides clear evidence of an equivalence between the body-mind-brain relationship and the design process, since “some of the ideas of the body (…) are to a great extent determined by the prior design of the brain and by the general needs of the organism” [5]. In other words, when creativity is viewed as something that is planned in the context of design, it takes place as a result of a continuous interaction between the mind of the designer, cerebral mechanisms and all the stimuli – whether external or internal - that react on or affect its organism.

From this perspective, it can be understood that combining the principles of neuroeducation with the stages of a fashion design project, can enhance the skills and the creative abilities of a new generation of university undergraduates, especially with regard to the inclusion of people with visual impairments in the higher education training courses. It is against this background and aligned to this objective, that the SEE BEYOND method is put forward, as outlined in the following section.

4 Body-Brain-Object: Strategies for Creation and Creativity in Fashion Design Based on the “SEE BEYOND Method: Enhancement”

Designing a collection project follows clearly distinguished stages. Fashion Design students are expected to have certain knowledge before they embark on creating and producing garments. In the opinion of Rech [14], the clothing supply chain consists of six stages, which can be categorized as: “(a) the production of raw material; (b) spinning; (c) weaving; (d) processing/finishing; (e) manufacturing; (f) the market-place”.

The fashion designer can begin the process of carrying out the project in different ways. Generally, it takes place by determining a particular subject based on research studies centering on the collection. The fashion designer follows a sequence in defining the planned formal features which are wide-ranging and varied, as well as being interwoven. Jones [15] describes the key features of creation in fashion as being silhouettes, lines and texture, and the forms as those features that can be used – repetition, rhythm, shades, radiation, contrast, harmony, balance and proportion.

The embodiment of these features takes place in parallel with the choice of fabrics - color displays, modelling techniques, sewing, and processing/finishing for each planned garment. This choice is made together with the definition of the target public or the person who will wear the product, while taking account of their attitudes, values and life-style. This means that “the ideas should be creative based on the conceptual principles and in line with a profound analysis that involves a diagnosis of the problem and corresponds to (…) a genuine demand” [16].

Before the project reaches its end, the designer must follow each stage. The sequence of these stages might vary on account of the different features of each collection. On the basis of a definition of the formal design features, the following are generally taken into account: (a) model design; (b) modelling; (c) piloting; (d) garment testing standards; (e) model approval; (f) showcase replication; (g) sales; (h) production (in accordance with the specifications regarding size, color, fabric and processing); (i) distribution for the retail sector. There may also be intermediary stages if improvements are made to the garments.

The purpose of the SEE BEYOND method that is being examined here, is to broaden the structure of the planned methodology that is conventionally employed for higher education training courses in fashion design so that sensorimotor stimuli can be embedded in the planning of each stage.

In the case of the students, a clear understanding of the stages of a project sometimes requires a teaching model that can assist in their data abstraction [3]. Moreover, this is a stimulus to creativity or rather can make it more comprehensible with regard to the particular features of the project and hence provide a wider range of potential solutions to the problem that has been detected. Encouraging students to learn to think like designers is probably the key motivational factor. Thinking like a designer means noticing, analyzing and understanding the reality of situations so that products and processes can be created that address real needs [17].

With regard to the application of the SEE BEYOND method in particular, a continuous stimulus leading to abstraction and creativity represents a strategy that is essential for the consolidation and evocation of memories throughout the whole design process.

The focal point of this paper is on the results obtained from the Enhancement module, when this was applied to students with visual impairment who took part in fashion design training course in the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil, in the period August–December 2015.

4.1 Results and Discussion

The main results that make up the Enhancement Module are organized in two sets, and comprise studies related to: [1] forms and volumes; [2] colors and textile surface design, as follows.

4.1.1 Shapes and Volumes

(a) The Achievement of the Two-Dimensional Plane

According to Damásio [2], the human brain maps any object outside it, any activity that takes place outside it and all the interrelations that objects and activities form in time and space, and relatively to each other, as well as with regard to the organism.

Traditionally, the teaching of fashion design has adopted distinct ways of representing garments, in particular free-hand design drawing based on visual studies of shape. This method has proved to be effective when applied to a class that is wholly made up of students with normal sight. However, this is not the case when the class includes students with some kind of visual impairment, such as low vision or blindness (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1.

Source: the author’s collection.

The recognition of shape and counter shape, as identified in E.V.A plates.

Since it is faced with the challenge of including this group in the learning, the SEE BEYOND method is concerned with other modes of perception such as touch, which can allow the recognition of lines, points, angles, contours and texture. As well as ensuring that the two-dimensional plane can be achieved by the students with visual impairment, this strategy also enhances the creativity of the students with normal sight by heightening their sensory awareness through tactile perception. With regard to both types of students, this merging of the senses of touch and sight (the latter in the case of students with normal sight), is essential for carrying out future projects which will combine design, shape, fabrics and texture to create garments for a collection.

Thus the first stage of the procedure involved working with E.V.A. sheets already outlined with geometrical removable shapes. By doing this, it was possible to study the shape and counter shape, as well as the handling of the objects (both separately and in sets), in a way that can reveal the inner lines or those of the contours, as well as the angles and texture.

After these had been recognized, these shapes were enlarged on paper by using string and pins so that they could be filled in with colors (Fig. 2).

Fig. 2.

Source: author’s collection.

The study of shape from a design made of yarn and pins.

(b) Shapes that Drape Bodies

Souza [18] believes that reproducing the physical dimensions of the human body - on either a natural (1:1) or reduced scale – has been extremely useful for the sizing of the products since it (i) allows a greater control and knowledge of the body; (ii) helps make one familiar with its proportions and morphology; and (iii) provides a clearer idea of scale.

The modelling of garments is generally carried out through different techniques, the most common being flat patterns and molding. Regarding the latter, the item of clothing is created directly from a bust or someone’s body, which means it is worked on a human scale. In the case of someone with visual impairment and who relies on touch the sense to assist in identifying objects, the proportions of a bust very often make it very difficult to fully recognize the object itself and hence create a mold from the bust (Fig. 3).

Fig. 3.

Source: author’s collection.

Two-dimensional and three-dimensional features - the study of parts of the mould of a garment on a body.

At the same time, the students with normal sight also faced a difficulty in the process which was largely linked to the problem of recognizing the body as a means of supporting the creation of a garment. With the aim of overcoming these kinds of limitations, which are evident in both situations, the SEE BEYOND method, first and foremost, envisages modelling an item of clothing when it is carried out on an articulated dummy which represents the proportions of the human body on a smaller scale. This miniature figure allows both students with impaired vision and normal sight, to recognize the proportions with regard to the shape-object-body and on this basis, try out different ways of draping the body of the articulated dummy, before carrying out the task of converting it to a human scale. The successful two-dimensional plane which is obtained in the previous stage, is an essential factor in enabling the students to understand how this kind of surface plane is able to wrap round and drape a body, while bearing in mind its use in the future production of molds for garments.

(c) Silhouettes Under Construction

Sacks [19] argues that some objects may be recognized immediately after birth or soon afterwards, such as, for example, faces. Apart from these however, the world of objects has to be learnt from experience and activities: looking, touching, handling, and correlating the impressions given by objects through their appearance.

During the teaching/learning process in fashion design, forming the silhouette of a body basically takes place by means of observation and by making drawings of the human figure. In this situation, the silhouette is represented from the standpoint of the two-dimensional nature of the design. In the case of the students with normal sight, this represents a constraint to the perception of the three-dimensional nature of the body that must be dressed (Fig. 4).

Fig. 4.

Source: author’s collection.

Modelling technique for constructing a body on a small scale.

However, with regard to the students with impaired vision, this limitation is imposed by the impossibility of visual perception or of making a representation by means of a drawing.

In the light of these kinds of constraints, the SEE BEYOND method provides a modelling technique for constructing a body on a small scale (i.e. mini sculptures), through the use of plastic material with the aim of making a tactile and visual perception of the body feasible at 360°.

This allows the creative process to abandon the two-dimensional figure and move towards the three-dimensional plane, which is an essential domain for students when creating items of clothing for a collection. It is important to understand the relationship both inside and outside and that introducing three-dimensional concepts provides an opportunity that cannot be ensured by the drawing.

The two exercises (b, c) are planned to be complementary within studies of shape and volume. In this sphere, the perception of the silhouette of the female body was given priority because the group of students involved only comprised women.

After completing each of the exercises (a, b, c), the students shared the results they had obtained with each other. Everyone was able to touch and note the following: (a) in the first exercise – that the designed shapes were still only outlined by string and pins, together with a texture obtained from crayons; (b) in the second exercise – the different ways of dressing a body; (c) in the third exercise – the volumes of the mini sculptures (Fig. 5).

Fig. 5.

Source: author’s collection.

Studies of shapes represented in upper images and studies of volumes represented in lower images.

4.1.2 Colors and Surface Textile Design

(d) Sensory Color Perception

The study of colors is an essential feature of design projects. In the case of fashion, colors are indicators of the nature of a collection and establish a key relationship with a particular epoch since, together with shapes, fabrics and texture, they are able to define the distinguishing characteristics of a historical period (Fig. 6).

Fig. 6.

Mosaic of images with objects selected to represent the magenta color. Source: author’s collection (Color figure online)

According to Guimarães [20], “the objects of our sensory world, particularly those that are chromatic, preserve their appearance in a latent state and are conveyed to the eyes by rays and beams of light”. But, of course, the perception of light is impossible for someone with total visual impairment. What at first is characterized as a constraint on the apprehension of visual features, or rather, the image of a garment, can be overcome through a broadening of the concept of the image itself. Damásio [11] stresses the fact that images are not only of a visual kind but can also be auditory, visceral or tactile.

On the basis of this understanding, the SEE BEYOND method provides both students with normal sight and with visual impairment, the opportunity to form sensory panels geared towards the study of colors. The sensory panels consist of objects of different kinds and trigger tactile, olfactory, auditory and taste stimuli with the aim of heightening their perceptions and broadening the domain of the chromatic scales for the students (Fig. 7).

Fig. 7.

Sensory panel for yellow color. Source: authors’ collection (Color figure online)

An interpretation of the theoretical framework with regard to the physical factors involved in the visual perception of color, is suggested as an initial stimulus [20]. Following this, the choice of the objects is made by the students themselves who are guided by the link between the theoretical framework and its individual reference-points for an understanding of each color in the principal scale – cyan, yellow, magenta – and of the secondary scale – green, violet and red.

By carrying out this exercise, the students managed to learn the meaning of the concepts of hue, saturation and intensity with a view to defining the palette of colors in a collection which would determine the course of the surface textile design and their choice of trimmings and finishings.

(e) The Textile Surface Undergoing Change

The impossibility of students with visual impairment seeing the fabrics or the difficulty experienced by those with normal sight in feeling and differentiating them, should not be regarded as an obstacle to identifying the range of textile products and the opportunities for changing them. In the opinion of Saltzman [21], texture is linked to the sense of touch as much as vision and thus can be created either by visual effects or by being definitely tactile.

Thus when touch is regarded as the key factor in this process, the SEE BEYOND method recommends the study of stamping as an initial strategy for tactile perception and hence visual perception, since it allows the surface fabric to be identified and transformed by both students with normal sight and those with visual impairment.

In the light of this, two exercises involving hand-painted designs were carried out to enable students to recognize the differences between the prints - rapport and localized distribution patterns. The first consisted of a stencil which involves using a kind of mask made from a plaster cast which is covered with ink by means of paint rollers or airbrushing – often found in graphite in the street (Fig. 8).

Fig. 8.

Source: authors’ collection.

Studies of printing by hand, with a stencil (upper images) and free hand print (lower images).

The other technique, which is freer, entails painting with a brush and seeking to make use of the expressive gestures of the students to explore geometric shapes. Learning both techniques can significantly heighten the awareness of the students with regard to the opportunities for creation provided by a direct intervention with the fabrics, which to some extent, involves making alterations to both the visual and tactile appearance of the garment.

5 Conclusion

By making use of the resources available for undertaking all the exercises put forward to stimulate the sensorimotor system of both students with normal sight and those with visual impairment, the Enhancement Module of the SEE BEYOND method is able to achieve its first objective. This is to include higher education students with visual impairment in fashion design, as well as, to set out strategies for stimulating creativity by immersing students (with normal sight or otherwise) in the teaching/learning processes required for this field of knowledge.

These strategies are intertwined with patterns of repetition, that is of doing a particular exercise or activity again and again so that the students assimilate the information in their brain, consolidate it in their memory and are able to draw on it when required.

Creativity plays a significant role in this module. According to Damásio [5], “once you form an idea of a certain object, you can form an idea of the idea, and an idea of the idea, and so forth”, which suggests that creativity can result from a process that once set in motion, can be continuously expanded.

The notion of the ‘idea of ideas’ lies at the heart of the creative process. Forming ideas of ideas paves the way to the awareness of countless opportunities for interaction between the designer, design features and the potential capacities of the surroundings.

Dietrich [8] states that perception assessment can be employed to make sophisticated representations that serve as the basis for cognitive processing.

Thus, by drawing on the theories of the Neurosciences, it can be said that the creative processes are not confined to the act of designing or creating an object or garment. Creativity is shaped through a continuous interaction between the individual, his/her body (understood in terms of the body-mind-brain triad) and the surrounding environment. During this interactive process, the stimuli triggered by the body and surroundings act by nurturing and advancing the creative processes, either in the sphere of fashion design or other areas of knowledge.

These kinds of interactions – body-brain-surroundings – pervade all the pedagogical activities set out in the Enhancement module.

By experiencing these interactions in the different processes involved in modelling the body, while studying shape and volume, the students with visual impairment or normal sight can gradually assimilate the increasing complexity of the two-dimensional and three-dimensional shapes that represent the body. This corroborates the fact that this experience has been consolidated in their memory. The knowledge acquired in this way strengthens the neural architecture which is an essential requirement for planning the structures, forms and volumes that will comprise the collection projects in the future.

Together with the studies of colors and surface textile design, the body-brain-surroundings interactions engender sensorimotor dialogues between the students (whether with normal sight or not) and the sensory panels, as well as the textile substrates. By supporting the personal body of work of these students, the memory of these dialogues can be enlarged and bear fruit in the planning of ideas which when instigated, can be turned into a project collection.

Both the studies follow a pattern of gradually building up the self-esteem of the students – those with normal sight as well as those with visual impairments. Little by little, the feelings of fear, shyness, vulnerability and insecurity are turned into self-confidence, loss of inhibitions, satisfaction and well-being. In other words, the commonly observed patterns of stress, anxiety and depression which are all responsible for negative and pent up feelings and are obstacles to learning, are gradually replaced by a positive kind of behaviour that is relaxed, light-hearted and carefree and this leads to significant benefits for the health of the students.

As a result, the particular and personal constraints that each of them face are at the same time overcome in the successive repetition of exercises and when this is applied to the activities of their everyday lives. This means that they follow a pattern that begins within the context of a classroom but then spreads out so that each individual is strengthened when confronted with the everyday challenges of human survival.

In further investigations in the future, the research will examine the stages that comprise the Materialization module of the SEE BEYOND method, and the way it can provide guidance to the students on creation and what is strictly speaking, the correct way of carrying out a fashion collection.