Sources of Ideas

The questions about who or what most influenced their ideas about making away from school revealed family members were an important source o f ideas. W hen citing a family member, they mostly talked about parents, showing how important they are as role models. They also sometimes mentioned brothers, sisters, cousins and grandparents:

M y Dad really, he got m e into making them, because he used to m ake a few . (C C I)

U m , I think m y Mum, because m e and m y M um 's got a lot in com m on, so if w e get stuck w e just ask each other. (N A l)

U m , m y M um does a lot o f sew ing, like cross-stitching and sewing and m aking things. (N A 8)

Peers were also a very significant influence:

U m , w ell the m odels I buy from shops and som e friends from school m ake them as w ell and introduced m e to them. (MG2)

Television was another important source o f ideas, especially for KS3 pupils. Younger ones specified children's programmes such as 'Blue Peter' :

....program m es on TV like art programmes, you know , like Tony Hart used to do Heartbeat and Smart. And Blue Peter som etim es. (RF3)

Many o f those who claimed to be influenced by television were inspired by cartoon iconography:

U m , I just like watching, like, cartoon type programmes and get m y ideas from it. ( C C ll )

U m , m ostly do something o f f TV , or something o f f cartoons. .. (KY4)

For many, pre-packaged kits played an important role. For example:

I found it in the shop and fancied a go. (LN5)

W ell, m e and m y sister used to collect all the match sticks o f f the flo o r...b u t w e couldn't get enough and so m y M um said if I could save the m oney, I could get on e [a kit], I paid five pounds and she paid three pounds. It's quite cheap. (N A 2)

For many pupils making in school often influenced making at home:

W ell, um, I made this dress because I saw the picture o f it in our T extile lesson . (IV5)

W ell, som etim es when teachers say um , what, how to make th in gs....an d I just think: I'd like to make 'em. (CC6)

. . . i f w e make things at school, I probably want to try it at hom e. (N A 9)

It's a mixture o f stuff, you know , the things you do at hom e relate to the things you do at school and it's the same thing, innit, it's connected, innit? (BG4)

For some pupils it appeared the source of inspiration was real world objects such as aeroplanes or cars. For example:

It's m ainly because I like cars, so I want to make som e. ( H A ll)

Others reported that ideas were self-generated. For example:

I just think o f things. (IV9)

I haven't really got that many influences. I just use m y head and if it don't w ork, then it don't work. (BG7)

U m , w ell, I just made one up one day and m y sister said I should do som e m o re...a n d I just did 'em. (CCIO)

A few mentioned consulting books or magazines, but specified this was for the pictures:

I get som e pictures out o f books and m agazines and things. (KY9)

Books ...encyclopaedias, I like the pictures. (RF5)

Some female pupils reported that their ideas came from shops.

5 .2.4.4 Family Influence

Pupils were asked if a family member did any making. Normally those pupils who were making at home had a family member who made things, or earned a living from a manual occupation. Some o f their fathers earned their living as: tailors, mechanics, decorators, architects, agricultural engineers, designers, furniture restorers, D&T teachers, builders, carpenters, factory workers and one child each mentioned walling and fencing contractor, sign maker and heating factory owner. Only a few pupils said fathers made things for reasons other than earning a living. They mentioned that they engaged in DIY activities, carpentry, upholstery and made plaster and Airfix models:

M y D ad's a D IY freak ...h e loves D IY . The day he has off, I can guarantee h e 'll be doing D IY . ( B G ll)

It was much less common to talk about mothers in relation to making. W hen they did the following leisure activities were mentioned: sewing, picture making, doll making and ceramics. The jobs mentioned were: framer, upholsterer, factory worker. A few pupils said their mothers used to make dresses for a living, but did not do this any more:

M y M um used to make wedding dresses but this was before she had m e and m y three brothers, so she stopped that. (KY3)

Many pupils also reported that grandparents made things and these responses revealed a similar gender divide. Grandfathers did carpentry and metalwork, while grandmothers sewed, embroidered, or made tapestries. Other family members mentioned were uncles, brothers (but not sisters) and cousins.

M ore pupils knew somebody who earned a living making things than did not. The former appeared to interpret making in this context as manual labour. This included working in factories, or as mechanics. In many cases the person they knew was a family member, usually a father. Pupils from schools located in an area with a developed tourist industry mentioned expressive or traditional craftspersons, for example a blacksmith or potter.

5.2 .5 Comparison o f Making in and out of School

Pupils were asked in what ways the making they did at home was the same, or different from at school. Responses to this question clustered around those who stated a preference for home and others who preferred school. For some, resource issues were important.

5.2.5.1 Preferences for Home

Pupils valued making at home because they could do what they wanted. As one girl put it: 'A t home you do it because you want to and at school you do it because you have to do it' (LN8). Another said: 'A t school you ju st get picked things to do and you do 'em ' (RK5).

At school they set topics and you have to make certain things but at hom e I can m ake what I like. (LNIO)

They emphasised that at home they produced work to please themselves, not their teachers:

Y ou don't have the teacher around telling you what to do all the tim e and you can be free and do what you like [at hom e]. (LN4)

A t h o m e ...I don't have to make it and I don't have to do what I'm told and what and w here and h o w ...I like it better at hom e because I can ask for help w hen I want it and need it and not when the teacher thinks I've done som ething wrong. (HB5)

[At hom e] it's m y ow n time I do it in. It's something what I, m yself, wanted to do m yself, since it might upset m y teacher or anything, you know. It's com pletely m y ow n idea. ( T D l6)

A w ay from sc h o o l...y o u can put your ow n ideas into it, because at school you have to do it the w ay the teachers want you to do it but away from school you can do it on your ow n. (N A l)

Some stressed how much they disliked the restrictions on making at school, such as having to work in a prescribed way:

U m , at school w e're m ore restricted, sort o f and at hom e I enjoy going from one thing to another and scrapping it if I'm bored. At hom e I have time and space around to decide how and what to m ake, but at school w e're told how and what to make and I don't enjoy that m uch. ( H B ll)

Another important factor in favour of making at home was not being subjected to peer pressure:

I don't know , I feel m ore relaxed [at home] and I feel as though I can do things different, because when you're at school and use something and do som ething really outrageous people w ill start taking the m icky out o f you because it's different and th ey've never seen it before. Whereas at hom e you feel m ore free and can anything you want. (BU5)

They repeatedly said they disliked the time pressure and deadlines at school:

W ell, I suppose you don't get quite so much time to do som ething, at school, or you don't really have long periods o f time to do it. Y ou just have blocks o f lessons but at hom e you can spend a couple o f days on something and you can just keep on going instead o f stopping and starting. (MK5)

....a t school you tend to try and do things quicker, because you're working to deadlines and som etim es your quality isn't so good. (RF3)

W ell, w ell at school it takes m ore time because if you need help it takes m ore tim e for the teacher to get around, what with big classes and it's just quicker and easier if you do it in your ow n time. (N A l)

A t hom e, it's easy because I have time, but at school w e have to make it quickly, because w e don't have m uch time. (CC3)

At hom e ... you can make them better, because you don't have to rush it. (HB7)

At sc h o o l... y ou only have a certain amount o f time to make it in and you have to make it good and quite quick and at hom e you have as long as you want. (B G l)

It was common for pupils to voice satisfaction at not having to follow set stages in the design-and-make-process at home and, in particular, not to be obliged to provide written evaluations:

A t school w e have to do it, but at hom e I can choose what to do and w e don't have to go through all the stages I do at school. I m ight go through som e o f the stages [at hom e], but I don't go through m ost o f them. I do som e designing, but not m uch. (CL4)

W ell, at school, w e're, like, given, told what to make, they tell you in steps, but at hom e you get to decide what you want to make in your ow n time and what and h ow you do it and at the end, you don't have to do an evaluation and hom ew ork. (RF3)

A recurring theme was the greater ownership over both processes and outcomes that making at home affords pupils. This was mentioned obliquely in many o f the above quotes and more directly in others:

I prefer at hom e because I do m y ow n decisions and everything. (BG4)

I enjoy doing it at hom e because I can, you know , make m y ow n designs or m ake m y ow n ideas up and things. ( C L ll)

At hom e, because it's m y ow n - it's m ore personal to m e. (CC8)

At hom e, because in the end, the stuff I make at school's no use to m e, it's just stuff I make for projects. ( B G ll)

A reason several pupils gave for preferring making at home was because they could work on their own:

D oing it at hom e, because I like being on m y ow n a lot. (CC9)

They regarded the lack of noise and distraction at home as a positive factor:

I like making thing at hom e, because it's quieter. (BUIO)

....[ a t school] you can't just sit down and work at it, because y o u 'v e got p eople interrupting you, people m essing about... (CLIO)

W ell, say like at school it's all n oisy, but away it's quieter, like you can concentrate m ore. (R F l)

One girl (KY8) said: 'your Dad can help you more [with making things] than the teacher can at school'. Being in the company of a family member, especially a father, was a common explanation for preferring to make at home.