Module 5 (Week 2)

Fashion is a very personal thing. Well, at least it is to a large swath of the population (including me). Fashion assists us in so many ways. The way we look at any given time says a lot about us as people. Whether we accept it as truth or not, we are a very visual society. But how does fashion intertwine with the profession of teaching. On the surface, the two seem to share very little, if anything in common. Fashion is after all, influenced by a particular segment of the population right? Now with that being true, isn’t it safe to say that a particular segment of the population influences the educational process as well.

Much of what defines contemporary fashion are trends. What’s hot today in clothing and accessories may not be as valued tomorrow. It’s a fickle environment. Although it lacks the flexibility to change so fluidly, how teachers teach is also influenced by what is trendy. Take for example the fact that we live in a virtually connected world. Almost everyone is accessible via the Internet. Teachers understand this trend and as a result, many of them are now required to be connected to the net in some manner. They do this because it meets the needs of their audience – their students. The same can be said for fashion designers who try to stay on top of the latest trends to meet the needs of their intended audience.

Ironically enough, the very idea of how trends are tracked has evolved considerably. According to writer Jeremy Caplan, “"People all over are having this international conversation about what's next, what's trendy. The concept of cool hunting—tracking urban trends—dates back more than a decade, but the rules of the game are rapidly changing. Over the past three years, an explosion of blogs, podcasts, websites and newsletters has pried cool hunting from the grip of professional marketers, shifting it to the text-message-happy fingers of amateur trend trackers. Some independent sites focus on broad trends and generational shifts in consumer habits. Others home in on specific styles, foods, brands and gadgets popular among trendsetters.” Maybe it should probably come as no surprise that there are an equal number of educational websites as there are fashion ones.

Furthermore the most important feature that teaching and fashion share is an ongoing drive to meet the needs of their core audience. Schools and fashion houses are businesses and they use data to gain a greater understanding of who their consumers/students are. According to research conducted by Michigan State University in 2005, data identifies customers’ interests. “It’s a universally recognized truth that you can’t manage what you can’t measure,” said Bonnie Knutson, one of the study’s researchers and an MSU professor. “Now businesses will have the measurement tools to identify their strengths and weaknesses in order to manage their customers’ buying experience and help increase sales.”

There are seven dimensions of the consumer’s buying experience identified in the study:

·         Driving benefit. This entails the understanding of how to use a product or service and its consistency, benefit and value.

·         Accessibility. A product or service must be readily available or easy to acquire.

·         Convenience. The entire shopping process should be fast; products or services easy to locate.

·         Incentives. Offering incentives increases the chance of buying the featured product or service.

·         Utility. Practicality is important; there should be no surprises surrounding a product or service; safety is a major concern.

·         Brand trust. Satisfaction with a store or product or service is critical.

·         Sales environment. Surroundings should be entertaining, stimulating and educational.

Schools use similar sets of data to determine how to attract students to their school and to help them meet the needs of current and future students. And why shouldn’t they? Making a commitment to properly serve their students is what every teaching is all about.

References:

Caplan, J. (2005). Trendspotting: Messengers of Cool. Time Magazine.

White. R. (2005). Researchers at MSU, Publicom identify seven dimensions of consumer experience. Newsroom.MSU.edu