Pedagogy and Professional Development

Teaching “The True Cost” of Apparel: Using Video to Enhance Business and Ethics Connections in a Fashion Marketing Class

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Abstract

Textile & clothing educators are shaping tomorrow's industry today. A portion of this responsibility includes teaching ethics and sustainability as components of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Flipped classrooms can be effective in this mission, since they have been found to spark students' creativity and critical thinking skills. Further, video is an impactful medium to deliver learnings to students, since it provides room for students to reflect on topics. In this exercise sixteen (n=16) students were presented with a 30-minute lecture covering CSR concepts then were shown the documentary The True Cost and asked to write a two-page paper detailing their feelings and experiences on the subject. The papers were then coded and themes emerged from the data relating to Awareness, Marketing, Production & Consumption, Policy, and Professional Activism. Findings indicate that students attained deep levels of learning regarding CSR concepts.

Keywords: teaching, business ethics, critical thinking, CSR, marketing

How to Cite:

LORANGER, D. P., (2022) “Teaching “The True Cost” of Apparel: Using Video to Enhance Business and Ethics Connections in a Fashion Marketing Class”, International Textile and Apparel Association Annual Conference Proceedings 79(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.31274/itaa.15899