Research Teaching Linkages

As with much of the textile industry in the United Kingdom, carpet manufacturing in the West of Scotland was once thriving. Powder was ground, paint mixed, design papers painted, yarn dyed, spools set and carpets woven. The history of the carpet manufacturing innovators, Stoddard Templeton, dates back to 1845 when James Templeton, a Scot and then Alfred Francis Stoddard, an American, began to produce carpets from disused Paisley shawl mills. The story is one of growth, expansion, worldwide prominence and unfortunately eventual decline. Stoddard Templeton produced carpets for a highly prestigious array of events and interiors including royal coronations and weddings, ocean liners such as the Titanic and Queen Mary, for the Festival of Britain, for cathedrals, palaces and other significant residences including the White House. Carpets also graced the floors of many homes, hotels and offices. However, consumer trends and preferences for other flooring surfaces led to a decline in Scottish carpet manufacturing. Stoddard International PLC entered into receivership in 2005, with assets liquidated in 2009. At this time a consortium formed to purchase and safeguard the historically significant company archives. Within the remains were unique books, rare portfolios, textiles, intricate design sketches and exquisitely painted design papers. This paper describes a project that utilised this resource and in particular The Stoddard Design Library held by The Glasgow School of Art. By examining the past it has been possible to establish the workings of the Stoddard Templeton design studio, explicate the carpet design process, evidence utilization of design library items within the creative process and examine the impact of digital technology. Dissemination activities have been used to tell the story of this once significant industry and provide inspiration to learning, teaching and research. Examining the past continues to influence the designers and design researchers of the future.

As with much of the textile industry in the United Kingdom, carpet manufacturing in the West of Scotland was once thriving. Powder was ground, paint mixed, design papers painted, yarn dyed, spools set and carpets woven. The history of the carpet manufacturing innovators, Stoddard Templeton, dates back to 1845 when James Templeton, a Scot and then Alfred Francis Stoddard, an American, began to produce carpets from disused Paisley shawl mills. The story is one of growth, expansion, worldwide prominence and unfortunately eventual decline. Stoddard Templeton produced carpets for a highly prestigious array of events and interiors including royal coronations and weddings, ocean liners such as the Titanic and Queen Mary, for the Festival of Britain, for cathedrals, palaces and other significant residences including the White House. Carpets also graced the floors of many homes, hotels and offices. However, consumer trends and preferences for other flooring surfaces led to a decline in Scott...

Learning to practice is central to undergraduate and the majority of taught postgraduate art and design programmes in the United Kingdom. Therefore, the creative practice of educators employed to teach, including part-time and visiting lecturers, has long been recognized as contributing to student learning. An emphasis on undertaking research has prompted educators, initially employed due to their expertise as creative practitioners, to formulate and adopt practice-led and practice-based approaches to research. The benefits of educator research to learning and teaching are also recognized. The higher education (HE) system is in a continual state of change, higher education institutions (HEIs) and educators respond to government policy and initiatives. Operating in the United Kingdom HE system together with pressures encountered can be counterproductive to educator creative practice. While research can involve creative practice activity there are issues, for example, with adoption of appropriate methodologies and difficulties with explicating tacit knowledge through writing. As a discipline, textile design exists on the periphery of design and design research discourse. The research project featured in this article responds to the context described and the deficit of literature surrounding contemporary textile design HE and educator creative practice and teaching linkages. The focus is on the textile designer educator role in the United Kingdom and examination of creative practice activity, to establish the means by which educator creative practice informs teaching and therefore influences student learning. The investigation used a combination of self-case study, survey, interview and case study methods. Findings indicate that textile designer educator creative practice is important to HE due to the positive impact that engagement has on teaching. However, issues are encountered and these are discussed in order to propose suggestions to improve the existent situation and to highlight areas for further investigation.