Zeal towards fashion and learning new skills every day is important to succeed, says IIFT Assistant Professor

In a conversation with Shiksha.com, Assistant Professor Hemavathi at IIFT Bangalore - Indian Institute of Fashion Technology shares the importance of industry-relevant curriculum to prepare students as per the latest trends and practices in the industry. She also elaborates on the institute-level initiatives to help students stay abreast with the latest technology and face the corporate world.

Read the excerpts of the interview below:

Q: What are the salient features of the teaching methodology adopted by your college? How does this differ from others?

A: Our teaching methodology is different and unique. We follow a student-centric approach which makes concepts easy to understand for students. Few of these initiatives are:

• Classroom discussion: It is a democratic way of handling a class, where each student is given equal opportunity to interact and put forth their views. A discussion taking place in a classroom can be either facilitated by a teacher or by a student. A discussion could also follow a presentation or a demonstration
• Debriefing: Debriefing refers to conversational sessions that revolve around the sharing and examining of information after classroom session has taken place. Depending on the situation, debriefing can serve a variety of purposes, like sharing the experiences and facilitates reflection and feedback regarding the class
• Classroom Action Research: Classroom Action Research is a method of finding out what works best in your own classroom so that we can improve student learning. We know a great deal about good teaching in general, but every teaching situation is unique in terms of content, level, student skills and learning styles, teacher skills and teaching styles, and many other factors

Q: How are you preparing your students to be industry-ready?

A: Although the first year is the same for everybody in most institutes, the change sets in our institution from the third semester when colleges start to focus more on industry-ready activities. The fact that students are exposed to visiting industry experts gives them a ringside view of the workings. A lot of industry trends and needs get picked up with such interactions. Such interactions help students get an idea of what electives they could choose and shape their careers accordingly.

• Encourage teamwork: One of the most important things our students need to learn is to be able to function as a team. They must learn how to interact, negotiate and share credits so that they can play a part in projects. This, we teach by encouraging teamwork on some projects and assignments.
• Be future-focused: In many ways, real-life begins at graduation for students. They begin to put their knowledge into use and manage their own finances and life plans. So, we focus on not just making them learn theory concepts but also experience the practical aspect of it.
• Teach complex thinking skills: To make it to the right destination is important, but more than that the right path matters. This is possible if students are trained properly on decision making skills and problem-solving skills
• Preparation for college and career: Although college is extremely important to many careers, it’s not for everyone or every career. For that reason, we offer courses that will prepare students for wherever they are going in life, and that means offering both college and career preparation.
• Round out the curriculum: There is no one magic solution that will prepare students today for tomorrow’s workforce, but giving them a well-rounded education including arts, Science, Technology, history of fashion, technical knowledge and communications will help their courses.

Q: What are the qualities you are looking for in student applicants? What qualities do they need to do well in your course?

A: We always welcome creative and innovative students onboard. They need not to be perfect in drawing or have strong knowledge of the material but what matters to us is the zeal towards fashion and learning new skills every day. Fashion is the most dynamic industry with ever-changing trends. One has to adaptive and versatile to adjust.

Q: How do you ensure that your course curriculum is up to date and meets industry requirements?

A: We have a general practice of involving industry people during the Board of Studies meetings and design the curriculum with their inputs. With industry involvement, we feel that we can prepare students as per the latest trends and practices of the industry. We design various models in this context for the students.

• In the first model, the industry designs the course as per its requirement and deliver the same in the partnering institutes through their trainers. The students need to write the final examination and those qualified will be absorbed in those industries.
• In another model, the industry selects the candidates for employment and then provide tailor-made courses to those candidates through the faculty, who have undergone special training through Train the Trainer workshops conducted by those industries.

In today’s educational system, the participation of industries in curriculum design and delivery at institutions and universities is very much essential to prepare the students for employment. This will bridge the gap between the industry and institutions and we will enable the students to become industry-ready. This will also reduce the time, effort and resources spent on the students at industries before they will take up the real projects.

Q: Is your college receptive to innovation, technology, science & entrepreneurship? How? Could you cite some examples of these?

A: Yes, our college is receptive to innovation, technology, science and entrepreneurship. We conduct guest lectures and workshops from industry experts regarding current practices and latest trends; conducting placement specific trainings such as Aptitude Skills Training and many more; encouraging entrepreneurial skills by touch base with existing entrepreneurs.