Curricular Content, Pathway Affiliation, and Selected Characteristics of Teachers of Secondary Fashion Courses

Abstract

Teachers from three Midwestern states who taught clothing and textiles content within the previous two years were surveyed in this pilot study to explore the extent of coverage of five subject areas in secondary-level fashion courses. Pathway affiliation, teacher age, length of time teaching, and fashion industry experience, respectively, to the extent of subject coverage were examined. The subject area covered most extensively was “apparel or other textile product construction or alteration.” No difference in the extent of subject coverage between teachers of pathway-affiliated and pathway-unaffiliated courses was found. While neither teacher age nor teaching experience was related to the extent of coverage for any of the subject areas studied, teacher fashion industry experience was positively related to coverage of the subjects “fashion design or illustration” and “fashion merchandising or general apparel-related topics.”