‘Comfort zone vs Threat’, Where is the ‘Magic Zone’?

 CSM vs St. Gallen

Here I am comparing my teaching experience of two similar courses, a fashion design short course at CSM and a fashion workshop at the Propädeutikum (foundation level course) at the GBS in St. Gallen, Switzerland. In both courses I lead a fashion project with the focus on the creative process over 5 days.

At CSM most students ‘move towards the school’. They often leave their country or city of origin. They are aware of the reputation of the school. They are eager to learn something new, at least like the idea of it. Through the reputation of the school there is already ‘the proof’ that it works, at least for a lot of students.

There I find it easy to lead the students into a creative process, taking risks to learn new processes, new skills, new techniques, new processes. I have the experience of guiding the students, building connection to the students and supporting and encouraging them on their individual learning journey. I see myself as a guide and co-explorer, pointing out what and where it works well.

This is evident in the eagerness to stay after class, the engagement during sessions, the excitement and pride they have at the end of a project during a presentation.

In St. Gallen most students are from there and a number of the students are still living at home. They chose to take part in a fashion workshop, which they could learn more about through a workshop outline. Most of the students were not aware of CSM or that creative high-end level of fashion design, so where this process potentially can lead to. Most students are assumingly surrounded by a very sleek, minimalistic (comfortable) aesthetic through a narrow cultural diversity.

With these students I experienced the teaching as hard work. I found myself ‘pushing’ the students.

This was evident in their less eagerness in staying after class, coming a bit late to class, wanting breaks, lack of focus during class (students chatting during class to comfort themselves?), moderate excitement at the end presentation. Just a few students left with a sense of ownership of their work at the end of the project.

What are the different needs of these two groups of students in a very different context?

	Central Saint Martins	GBS St Gallen
Comfort Zone / safety	Most students are already out side their comfort zone. They already took a step outside their comfort zone and have some experience of ‘the magic zone’.	Mostly their comfort zone is quite small and experience a sense of ‘unsafety’ quickly. More need for comfort and safety.
Stake / commitment	The students made a bigger investment, financially, physical and organisationally to come to the course. Most students WANT to make it work.	If it doesn’t work they have not invested much. Greater need to point out what they can gain from the course.
Trust	The reputation of the school, the alumni of students create a trust that allows them to take a risk and venture out into an unknown creative process, even if they don’t succeed the first time.	The students don’t know why they should take the risk and venture out into a creative process where the outcome is unknown. More need to build trust that allows them to venture into an unknown process.
Willingness for risk taking	Through the trust in the image/idea they have of CSM and the potential gain they can get from it, they are more willing to take risks. Risk taking in their career, most students have great visions where they see themselves in the future	As the students don’t have much at stake and are not familiar with a risky unknown process. They are less willing to take risks. Professionally the students saw themselves in ‘safer’ professions or were not quite clear yet.
Sense of direction	The students are usually very ambitious and have a strong sense of where they want to go professionally.	Most students did not have a clear sense yet where they want to go. They had a greater need to see what are the potential directions they could take this process.

Looking at the students’ needs, would I need to adjust the expectations of the outcome of the course?

Bullet points and thought from the two different teaching contexts

-Painting the bigger picture, why and how, examples of designers (proof that it works)

– Do the students have choice of course? Do they know what they get themselves into?

– Comfort zone, What situation are the students in in their personal life i.e. home, country? What do they have at stake i.e. investment of family money in their education? What drives them to the course and beyond?

– the diverse aesthetics they are exposed to in their surrounding, environment, their interests

– Building trust in the unknown, unfamiliar process

– building bridges to their aesthetic

– What agenda do I bring? What do I need from the students?

– my over-proportionate sense of responsibility, taking away their ownership

– How to bring this learning experience to a conclusion, final check out

– Building relationships to the students, i.e. acknowledging where they are at every day, remembering something that they have shared …

– What is their general experience of taking risks? Moving outside their comfort zone?

What effects it has on me?

• When the students are reluctant to take risks, I doubt my confidence quickly
• When I push, what are my needs? Need to show my skills to them and course leader. I need to rush a conclusion that is visible to someone else, yet I don’t believe in it myself full and that this process really works.
• I have fears that I am found out that I don’t know, that I am a fraud, that I don’t know what I am talking about. I judge myself quickly.
• I think the outcome needs to be presentable and fit in.
• I shoehorn, try to make a necessary messy process to bring it to a quick and neat conclusion.
• I do that with myself. That’s what I have experienced with myself in school. I felt very big pressure and now put on myself to fit in neat.
• My ownership, what does that possible messiness mean to me?
• This draws me away from kind teaching