Editor’s note:
At the end of March in the spring of 2023, the curious learning community launched a creative week with the theme of “clothing design”. The curious playmate Gao Shan recorded the huge changes before and after the participation of the curious members in this goal-oriented project from the perspective of an educator
The Curiosity Learning Community has always advocated “learning in the real”, and specially set up “doing projects” and “drama projects”, as well as engineering weeks and creation weeks, allowing members to design and create a “work” in person for a whole week , it can be transforming an abandoned bus into a library, or building amusement facilities for children…The Curiosity Learning Community has always advocated “learning in the real”, and specially set up “doing projects” and “drama projects”, as well as engineering weeks and creation weeks, allowing members to design and create a “work” in person for a whole week , it can be transforming an abandoned bus into a library, or building amusement facilities for children…
In the creative week of the spring of the gap year project in 2023, we will take “clothing design” as the main line task, start from scratch, learn the basic knowledge of fashion design, design, cut and sew by ourselves, create clothes that belong to “me”, and respond to the “me and me” self” is the big question. (The 2023 Gap Year Project is divided into four quarters, spring, summer, autumn and winter, each quarter is a theme, each responding to a big question: “I and myself”, “I and others”, “I and society”, “I and the universe”)
During these 5 days, members of the Curious Learning Community need to complete two pieces of work – a group theme work in the form of draping, and an individual work in the form of plane cutting, and on the last afternoon of the creation week, a A “me” fashion show
When we first planned to create content for the week, we were worried that it would be a “mission impossible”. After all, the time is too short, and the vast majority of people have zero foundation. Can curious members have enough ability and patience to complete it? In the end, whether it is the performance of the members during this process or the final fashion show, the members of the curious learning community undoubtedly created their own “very likely to succeed”, turning the impossible into possible
“I hesitated for a long time and decided not to participate”
One night before Create Week started, I got a message from Creation Week leave from Curious member Xinran. The reasons for her leave are:
Don’t want to do it, not interested in fashion design;1. Don’t want to do it, not interested in fashion design;
The priority of this matter is not high, and I want to use this week to learn programming, read books and do other more important things;2. The priority of this matter is not high, and I want to use this week to learn programming, read books and do other more important things;
I have time anxiety recently and may not be able to do everything3. I have time anxiety recently and may not be able to do everything
Since the tasks of the creation week need to be completed in a team, in order not to affect other members, I gladly added:
Since I decided too late and was unfair to my teammates, I will help my teammates
It is hard for me to disagree with this well-founded, affectionate and righteous request for leave. But when I was about to reply, the picture of several playmates discussing the content of the Creation Week on Jiguan Mountain in February this year kept appearing in my mind. At that time, several partners mentioned the difficulty of realizing the Creation Week. After a heated discussion, we finally agreed that it is better to do it than not to do it. If you don’t try it, how do you know it won’t work?
Furthermore, in order to allow members to experience fashion design more immersively, we invited a professional fashion designer Xiaoxiao to lead the whole process. Invite guests from different fields such as fashion art, music, and classic men’s clothing to share, including: graffiti artists, painters, hand-dish performers, visual artists, Tibetan trendy brand designers, and participated in “Trendy Playing Human Beings” as a fashion designer Where is Turia from the show; Musician, Rapper, Sponge, the protagonist of “Waste Story”; Wang Yuanhang, a classic men’s wear lover who works at FABRIC SHOP, a traditional tailor that insists on classic aesthetics
With such a lineup and arrangement, I really don’t want any members to miss it easily. So I replied Xin Ran like this:
Don’t rush to refuse if you haven’t tried it yet;1. Don’t rush to refuse if you haven’t tried it yet;
You don’t have to do everything, just treat it as an experience, and do as much as you can2. You don’t have to do everything, just treat it as an experience, and do as much as you can
In short, I hope you can try it first and don’t give up all of it. If you still insist that you don’t want to participate, write an email to apply for long-term leave
That night, Xinran didn’t reply to me again. I expected to get an email from her asking for leave. As a result, at nine o’clock in the morning the next day, I met her in the far home studio
Visiting the Yuanjia Studio is the first official activity of the Creation Week. On that day, under the leadership of the co-founder of “Far Home”, Wen Ya, we learned what a clothing brand is and saw how a piece of clothing changes from a design manuscript to a real object The whole process has a clearer and professional understanding of the process of clothing design and production
At 11:30 p.m. on the second day after I returned to the community from my distant home, I received another message from Xinran. She asked me “how good is the team’s clothes” and “when to buy fabrics”. When everyone was purchasing fabrics at the Hehuachi Market on weekends, Xinran appeared again. She brought her design drafts and searched for the corresponding materials in the store.
Later, it officially entered Creation Week, and I happily participated in the whole process without any suspense. At the fashion show, she made her own makeup and hair, took off the mask she wanted to wear, and confidently showed off her own handmade clothing
From the initial refusal to the final “Xin Ran” participation, I asked Xin Ran the reason for the change. She said that it was what she saw and heard when she visited a distant home that made her decide to participate in the Creation Week. It comes down to curiosity. Yuanjia satisfied her curiosity and brought her more curiosity
“I don’t want to see this pile of stuff again”
At first, the clothing concept design seemed to be the biggest problem. After entering the practical session, I discovered that threading needles, threading, cutting, sewing…every step can stump a large number of peopleAt first, the clothing concept design seemed to be the biggest problem. After entering the practical session, I discovered that threading needles, threading, cutting, sewing…every step can stump a large number of people
On the first day of Creation Week, a boy was very frustrated with tailoring. When cutting the fabric, he cut it wrong every time, and even cut a lot of fabric wasted. In the end, he almost broke down and said to me, “I don’t want to see this pile of things again.” And another girl, Huiwen, after 300 rounds of fighting with needlework, posted n circles of friends in succession to express her anger
Challenges in new areas are more frustrating than normal difficulties. When new challenges come, in addition to excitement and excitement, we also have anxiety, anxiety and timidity, and even want to stay in a familiar and safe environment. However, the process of growth is the process of achieving countless leaps in unknown fields. From small leaps to big leaps, from quantitative changes to qualitative changes, every leap is a test of our will and spirit
Hui Wen, who has been tortured thousands of times by needlework, chooses to continue to hand-sewn patterns on the shirts she designed. In the end, she not only learned to use the sewing machine, but also learned to repair the sewing machine, and became a “sewing machine repairer” unanimously recognized by everyone
The original intention of planning Creation Week is not to cultivate professional fashion designers, but to hope that curious members can experience the entanglement, frustration, excitement and sense of accomplishment in goal-oriented actions. The process is far more important than the result. We have reason to believe that this real experience of collapse and reconstruction will eventually turn into the courage to face challenges in the future
“At three o’clock in the morning, I’m making clothes”
There is a popular documentary in the education circle, “Highly Likely to Succeed”, which tells the story of High Tech High, an innovative school in the United States. The school’s most attention-grabbing PBL learning method is popular all over the country. In order to complete the project, the students in the documentary took the initiative to work overtime, showing great enthusiasm and autonomy. Creation Week, the same scene happened countless times in the curious learning community
The most exaggerated one is that on the day before the Creation Week, from 6:30 in the evening, 9:00 in the evening, 3:15 in the morning… until 6:00 in the morning, different figures appeared one after another on the first floor of the community. Work – step on the sewing machine and rush to make your own clothing worksThe most exaggerated one is that on the day before the Creation Week, from 6:30 in the evening, 9:00 in the evening, 3:15 in the morning… until 6:00 in the morning, different figures appeared one after another on the first floor of the community. Work – step on the sewing machine and rush to make your own clothing works
At the end of the film “Extremely Likely to Succeed”, there is a boy who voluntarily returns to school during the holidays to complete his work. In the last two weeks of the creation week, Zu Yue still sewed her leather skirt in her spare time. According to her statistics, she sewed for a total of 153 hours, and the craziest thing was from 9 am the previous day to 4 am the next day
The task that was considered impossible at first is being completed by the curious members in a “crazy” way
You know, there are no high rewards and no penalties during the creation week. Behind full autonomy is the desire of students to complete one thing and achieve an achievement
Clinical neuropsychologist William Stixrud, author of the American bestseller The Self-driven Child, believes that “a strong sense of autonomy is key to developing the healthy self-motivation that enables children and adolescents to pursue their goals with enthusiasm.” And enjoy your accomplishment.”
In a project, whether students have self-awareness depends on whether the learning content is actively selected or passively accepted. In the final analysis, whether students have the initiative. The difference between active and passive is actually the difference between controlling and being controlled. The question is, who would want to lose control of their ego?
Picture: The circle of friends posted when the team work is completedPicture: The circle of friends posted when the team work is completed
During the Creation Week, curious members can use elements such as “life and death” and “games” that they are interested in as creative themes, create unique artwork according to their own aesthetics, and purchase favorite fabrics… When they see the most The original fabric gradually becomes a complete work in their own hands, and the sense of accomplishment brought by this process will make them more motivatedDuring the Creation Week, curious members can use elements such as “life and death” and “games” that they are interested in as creative themes, create unique artwork according to their own aesthetics, and purchase favorite fabrics… When they see the most The original fabric gradually becomes a complete work in their own hands, and the sense of accomplishment brought by this process will make them more motivated
Figure: Members independently build a group notion space
The ancient Greek philosopher Socrates said, “Education is not to indoctrinate, but to kindle a fire.” Now the curious members have entered the summer phase in full swing. Thinking back to the Creation Week in spring, although it was only 5 days, the experience, feeling and growth brought by this experience will be turned into an important force to challenge the next impossible