Specific Learning Goals

Throughout the formulation and implementation of this project I have adhered to the following learning goals:

• Through the process of experiential and collaborative learning, identify my own strengths and develop areas for personal growth. 

• Demonstrate (through personal reflection and evidence gathering) that challenges have been undertaken, and that new skills have developed in the process.

• Demonstrate engagement and understanding with issues of local and global significance.

• Recognize and consider the ethics of choices and actions

Reflection 1 - The Beginning

My initial observation is that when you are working with other people, it often quite hard to agree on one approach or a collective 'route to success'. People in my group had different ideas about how the project should operate, so it was therefore quite difficult to agree a consensus from the outset. What we did agree on is that the project would take a skill that can be measured by producing a product, which can then be sold for the benefit of others. Our mantra was therefore refined to:

i) Lead by deed - in our context this meant developing and enhancing our knitting skills to knit clothing (primarily woolly hats). We had various levels of knitting experience already within the group, plus the aid of a knitting machine owned by one of our group members.

ii) Dollar - our intent was to sell the knitwear to make money which we could donate to support a local charity (Phuket Sunshine Village).

iii) Donation - the donation would be made to the further support the Phuket Sunshine Village to meet its aims, which are:

• Protect children from Phuket province from body, mind and sexual abuse.

• Bring immediate help and support to endangered children.

• Inform children and the community about their human rights.

• Provide education and give access to public health services to underprivileged children.

• Cooperate with other charity organizations for the benefit of the community.

iv) Make a difference - by supporting the charity we hope to make a positive difference (however small) to the lives of children at the Sunshine Village and fulfill our goal to support a local community who face issues of global significance (ie - in relation to the charity's aims and the global UN Sustainable Goals 1, 3, 12.)

One of the most enjoyable topics for discussion became our marketing strategy so as to attract and retain student interest in the project. We decided to customise a well known acronym 'KFC' (standing for Knitting For Charity) and piggy back on the corporate brand by adjusting the tag line to 'Finger Knittin' Good'. Our marketing materials (recycled bargain buckets) and graphic design for our posters were designed to appeal to our target audience (students).

The collective enthusiasm from our group members was reassuring and we felt pretty confident as we moved into the 'production phase'. Unfortunately our Extra-Curricular Activity (KFC Club) did not draw a large following so we became reliant on our own team to produce the merchandise with limited manpower.

Reflection 2 - The Midpoint

We have now completed knitting over 20 hats of various designs and they have turned out much better than expected. We have decided to sell the hats at the Christmas Fair at School and our target market are the students who are attending the School Ski Trip in February. As a group we have actually divided responsibility for the production of the hats pretty evenly, and surprisingly the quality of the merchandise has not suffered. I have actually found that I have quite a creative eye for detail and decided to design the 'pride hat' using rainbow colours. Our hats are produced using ethically sourced wool (from Julapan Stationary in Chalong - https://www.facebook.com/julapan1995) and reach a wide audience with different fashion tastes - perhaps our motto should be 'finger fashion good'..!

I do feel that there is a good community ethos around this project - utilising the community to knit; selling to the school community; and then supporting a further underprivileged community through the revenue made by hat sales. Whilst this is a small scale social enterprise project, it has supported my understanding of such ventures as studied in my Business Management Studies course within the IB Diploma.

Here are some images of the resources used in the project and some of the outcomes.

Reflection 3 - The Way Forward

The Christmas Fair was a resounding success. We sold all of hats within 30 mins, and on reflection we perhaps could have increased the price point from 500 bht to a higher figure. Regardless of this it was really pleasing to see how popular the hats were and sales in total were in the region of  12,000 bht - some parents paid more than the asking price as our market stall advertised the plight of students at Phuket Sunshine Village. 

My reflection on the project as a whole, and in relation to my 'specific learning goals', is as follows:

1) The process of experiential and collaborative learning - my strengths and areas for personal growth. 

This project was a good example of experiential and collaborative learning. We learned a lot about the Phuket Sunshine Village organisation and this helped our team to have determination; a clear purpose; and a strong mission to support this community. I also learned a lot about working in a team, including how to communicate effectively, delegate tasks, and resolve conflicts (and we had a few!). Above all I think I became a better collaborator as the project developed and I realised how important it was to share out tasks and resources (especially wool!), and to compromise when necessary. I also learnt that things don't always go according to plan, and then it is important to be flexible and adaptable (eg when the knitting machine breaks!)

2) Demonstrate 'challenge', and that new skills have developed in the process.

One of the challenges I faced was learning how to refine my knitting skills so that I could stick to the design pattern. I watched tutorials online and read books on knitting, but it still took me some time to get the hang of it. I made a lot of mistakes at first, but I kept practicing and eventually I got better. Another challenge I faced was staying motivated. Knitting can be a slow process, and it was sometimes discouraging to not see much progress. However, I kept reminding myself that I was doing this for a good cause, and that helped me to stay motivated.

In addition to the challenges I faced, I also learned a lot of new skills in the process of completing the KFC project. I learned how to cast on, knit, purl, bind off, and increase and decrease stitches. I also learned how to read knitting patterns and how to troubleshoot problems. I am proud of the fact that I was able to persevere through the challenges and complete our project. This experience taught me the importance of hard work, patience (with others) and determination, but it was certainly worth it as our success enabled us to truly 'give back' to the wider Phuket community.

3) Demonstrate engagement and understanding with issues of local and global significance.

The original plan to knit for charity came from our desire to make a difference to others. Our mantra of deed + dollar + donation = difference, was our path to provide financial support to the Phuket Sunshine Village. This was particularly important to me as I am very interested in service-learning and the necessity to provide authentic and sustainable service to others, and to understand how issues of child protection, human rights and education for underprivileged children are relevant in a local as well as global context.

Even though our contribution was small I do feel satisfied that we had to work hard together to make a genuine difference to the welfare of children in our local community

4) Recognise and consider the ethics of choices and actions

This project forced me to think about the ethics of my choices and actions and the impact on others. I had to consider the potential impact of our fundraiser on the local community and on the people we were supporting at Phuket Sunshine Village - would they see our donation as tokenism..? Would they be insulted if our financial donation was minimal...? Would they see our donation as insulting...? Luckily none of these responses were received, and the organisation was highly appreciative of the donation we made and our efforts to conclude the project.

One of the most important ethical considerations during the development of our project was the choice of materials. We wanted to choose wool that was environmentally friendly (produced with minimal environmental impact) , but found that this was difficult to source in Phuket. Eventually we found a supplier at Julapan Stationary that sold the most ethically sourced wool, and luckily our parents offered to purchase this at their rather inflated prices (when compared to cheaper stocks of wool in the same shop).

Our last ethical consideration was perhaps the most important to us as a team of amateur knit enthusiasts - would the quality of our work be of sufficient standard to sell to others..? On completion we were confident that our woolly hats were well-made and durable, meeting the standards that we had set ourselves. Certainly the purchasers seemed very happy with their new acquisitions!

Overall, this was a valuable learning experience. I learned new skills to master the knitting tasks; I found the marketing of our team and product to be fun and rewarding; and of course it was humbling to see that our efforts had directly (and positively) impacted people less fortunate than ourselves. I am also grateful for the opportunity to have worked with such a dedicated and talented team of student knitters!