Integral Studies and Quadrant Theory
Exterior, singular, he/she/ it:
The legacy project is an informative guide for new students from older students. According to the rubric this is mostly achieved. The format of the project was a book, which was designed, printed, and bound by a group of 5 students. It has a very hand crafted look since it was made with a low budget. This is a guide that tells about 5 Fashion students’ personal experiences in the course. By including information which would help future students, we compiled a book which resembles a student’s notebook with blank pages for the owner to include notes and ideas about their own experience. The project was successful according to the rubric and specific requirements were met. There was an honest response from our lecturer with regards to flaws or improvements which could be applied to the book. The outside of the book is covered in different swatches of fabric collected from the students that is involved with this project, It makes it personal for the students that will use these books. There are sections about the lecturers, how to tackle a history project, how to do shading, pattern techniques, sewing tips, examples of design board layouts and a whole lot more.
What are the four quadrants?
According to the integral theory there are four quadrants or dimensions in which one can experience the world and they are subjective (I), inter-subjective (It), objective (We) and inter-objective (Its).
The ‘subjective’ and ‘objective’ deals with the individual experience. The objective and the inter-objective deals with the exterior experience. The ‘inter-objective’ and the ‘inter-subjective’ deals with the collective experience. The ‘inter-subjective’ and the ‘subjective’ deals with the interior experience.
Looking at the four quadrants separately starting with Subjective- this is the world of the individual, and the interior experiences: our thoughts, emotions, senses, state of mind, memories, perceptions, spirituality and everything to do with the ‘I’ experience.
The inter-subjective quadrant- this looks at the world of our collective, interior experiences: our culture, shared values, interior relationships, families, language and cultural background, this quadrant deals with the ‘we’ experience.
The objective quadrant deals with the world of individual exterior; our bodies, anything that you can see and touch or observe. This quadrant deals with the ‘it’ experience.
And lastly, the inter-objective- this is where you find the world of collective, exterior things such as systems, networks, government, Ecosystems, shared behaviours and the natural environment, this quadrant deals with the ‘its’ experience.
These four quadrants are essential and very important tools to aid us in understanding our world. We understand that the quadrant is an evaluation of what is being said. It helps to read in between the lines of what is being said by other people. In situation of a designer trying to know his/her client better in order to create the best design to suit the client’s personality, using the quadrants evaluation helps to evaluate and understand the client better without having to communicate in every single details of what the client likes. The quadrants make us more aware of what is being communicated. It also helps to cultivate the listening skill.
Tamsyn:
The objective of the legacy assignment was to leave behind something which would either help those students who would follow us or act as a guide which would improve their experience as a fashion student at CPUT.
I feel that we thought it out well and presented a book which connected on a personal level because only the students in our department could experience the same situation as us. I believe that by being honest we allow for students to relate on a very personal level. The process was one which went along without any problems because as a team or group we shared most of the views. This helped us to insure that we could make the most of the problem within a limited time frame.
Once the marking rubric was returned to us we had to accept and evaluate the flaws with our legacy book. Personally I feel that the book was something to be proud of but I also agree with the fact that our information about the lecturers may be misinterpreted or have a negative effect on the perspective of the students.
Beatrice:
When I heard we were going to make the book, at first the idea did not strike me. The idea was not very clear since I could not picture a book which aim was to help the fashion student. I think why the reason why I was not excited about this idea was because it was vague; I could not picture it since there was no reference to it. My feeling at this stage was to get the book done since time was running and I had many other hand-in at the same time. However when I finally took the time to start putting my tips down on a piece of paper, I was drawn into this project.
I felt like I had an overwhelmed first year entering the fashion building right in front of me. In that situation my role was therefore to guide that new student through all the things she should know about the fashion and design course at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology in order to get her prepared and strong to achieve her goals. All my tips written were basically from my experience of being there for nearly three years as a fashion and design student. I was indeed excited about this book the feeling of passing on some acquired knowledge made me feel proud of what I learnt during my studies. Although it was exciting I still could not picture how it would look all together. However, when everyone from group brought their sections and we worked out how to put the book together it worked out well.
The book is a little sacred book with extremely useful tips directed to students that I wish it was given to me when I walked in the first time for my studies. I call this book the survival guide to three years in Fashion and Design course at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology specially.
Laryne:
My experience of doing this project was interesting; I had a lot of fun helping the group put the book together. I stitched the book’s covering and helped with some of the content in the book. I felt that the time we were given to make up this product was too short. I think if the group had more time we would have created a better looking product. I wish that I had made the cover fabric neater and taken more time with that. I definitely enjoyed working on the assignment because it was something completely new and I enjoyed working with the members in the group. I feel that we are all very different people with different ideas and tastes but we worked together very well and I think our product shows that.
Jacqueline:
The objective with this book was to guide students into the right direction while studying and to help them a little by giving my experiences, showing examples and giving tips on how to do things.
The process involved while creating this book left me feeling to some extent, nostalgic. I sensed this feeling of unity, belonging and a comfort zone where I have gathered all of this information – this is MY experience and MY little world – that I will be leaving soon. I have struggled, I have been angry, extremely tired, but mostly I felt joy within these past few years while studying at CPUT. This is exactly what the book embodies. For me, it guides you through all of you subjects and the advice is relevant, necessary and straight to the point. The fact that I demonstrate and clarify elements and facets on how I have experienced it makes it very personal for me and I am handing this over to someone else so that they can identify my emotions but still experience it for themselves during their studies, going forward.
The book symbolizes exactly what I needed to know when I arrived at CPUT. I was lost and disconcerted and had to find a way and experience and struggle on a first hand basis. I do however believe that it is good to make your own mistakes and feel puzzled in order to gain proficiency on your own terms, but I feel that these guidelines should be presented to students – just to make life easier.
All that is missing from this book is how to really cope with the work load and stress and to stay true to that which exists within oneself during the mayhem of Fashion Design – but this is not something you can teach somebody. You have to experience this for yourself in order to determine who you are, what you stand for and what your design philosophy is. This is the time to connect with your inner self, to find out who you are, but to take this book and use it as your guideline to help you on your new journey.
Heili:
The intension of this booklet was to give fashion design students of CPUT some insight as we perceived it throughout our three years of studying. From my point of view I wanted to be able to give advice and tips to students who will be doing the same in the future. This is my own perception of the design faculty thus others might feel differently. This does not mean the booklet serves as a warning since some things may seem negative; it is simply things I remember that happened more often than not. Some of the events were on a more sporadic base, but the outcome was big enough to write about it.
I want people to enjoy this book as well, not to see it just as a hand guide or “rulebook”. This is not what it is for me. It is a helping hand toward my future. After reading this booklet I hope people can dig into their consciousness and give their own opinion and understanding when they are done with their studies. This should help people to eliminate the unwanted surroundings in your positive, creative space.
Individual Exterior: Behaviour / Actions (IT)
The legacy project is meant to be an informative guide for students. According to the rubric this is mostly achieved. The format of this project is a book designed, printed, and bound by us as students. This is a guide that tells the personal experiences of students studying Fashion and Design. The project was successful according to the rubric and specific requirements were met. There was an honest response from the lecturer with regards to flaws or improvements which could be applied to the book. A book was created by 5 students as a guide to a fashion design student in CPUT.
The book’s cover is made from fabric from each of the 5 students range fabric that has been sewn together in a patchwork style. Inside the book are notes about all the different aspects of the course. There are sections about the lecturers, how to tackle a history project, how to do shading, pattern techniques, sewing tips, examples of design board layouts and a whole lot more.
It looks very hand crafted since it was made with a low budget. Its appearance is appropriate with the content of the book. It also appears important to the people that made it since it is covered with fine squared pieces of fabrics all stitched together to form the entire cover of the book. Different colours blended together, colours such as shades pink, green, black, silver lace, beige and others.
This book consists of different sections. Each section is a subject or a reference for tips on behaviours to adopt by the students in general to ease the difficulties of the course. The tips included in the book seems to be focused on difficult areas of the course that student often struggle with. Such as Garment construction, Pattern making and Design. Each new chapter is divided by a series of brown thin paper. Some sections are very detailed like a real book whereas some sections gives the real handcrafted feel since it is written by hand then printed somehow in an A5 format. Looks and feel like a guide book perhaps directed to the fashion student. One of the sections is not very legible unfortunately. It seems to be specifically been directed to students only since tips is given for different lecturers as well. The cover really makes people want to have a look through it. The book definitely looks like it would be useful of new fashion students. It tells you a little about good habits since one of the sections is about time management.
It has been viewed as useful, personnel tips on a human level. The book is seen as personnel guide. Some section in the book could be taken in the wrong way from some lecturers perhaps. One section is not very legible. Theory of clothing tips is missing especially for the first year students.
There are pages that are scrap pieces of pattern paper collected from the pattern room for students to make their own notes and perhaps keep a journal. They will be able to hand this over to someone else as well to share the knowledge and insight.
People may misunderstand what the students are trying to carry over as they translated this book into their voices and views. This book will be able to guide a student throughout him/her studies. He/she will have instant access in their bag, as this small book can be carried with them everywhere, and be able to acknowledge and comprehend challenges, but also to appreciate what the group has put together to make life easier for the student. At some stage they will be able to relate to the shared meanings of this book.
Collective interior: (WE)
In any situation there are bad and good things. We spoke about some things in this institution that might sound very negative, but we only speak the truth from our point of view. These are things that are wrong from our perspectives and needs some rethinking in the future to ensure a good outcome of the students leaving CPUT as fashion designers.
Our shared culture exists in the fact that we worked as a team and come from the same 3rd year fashion group. We’ve been through a shared experience and dealt with similar problems with regards to our studies. As a group we agreed that the legacy book title ‘We Wish Someone Told us…’ was something to be proud of and that we actually enjoyed the input we could contribute as individuals. We felt strongly about this project because we could share views which have been affecting the students for a few years already and we had the opportunity to slightly improve the experiences of the following groups.
We are composed of both South African and international students and have tried to accommodate our collective worldviews through our book, despite the fact that we do not always have shared religious and philosophical beliefs. Because of the diversity in our group, we feel that the book would be appropriate for readers from different backgrounds. We expressed our knowledge through this artistic book and hope to inspire other students to follow our acquired experiences. We feel that the book was satisfactory, however if time was not limited we would definitely improve some of the areas that are not sufficiently detailed.
We think that writing our experiences base on honesty will help the student to gain much more knowledge out of the book. This made us feel very relieved knowing that this project is taking in consideration our general issues that concerns studying fashion and design at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology and helping to improve those issues for the next group. We also feel a sense of nostalgia, passing on our experiences and knowledge to the new group of students reminded us that we are leaving the student life and about to enter the working world.
The outcome of the booklet shows that each section is done by different people, so when reading it, students can understand that it is not rules we set, simply our opinions and our experiences. So our advice can be taken into consideration or it can be challenged.
Collective Interior Culture (ITS)
This book is a prototype which should be supplied to fashion design students at Cape Peninsula University of Technology to aid them as they complete the course. The course itself is a comprehensive yet complex system of subjects which all come together in order to prepare students for the fashion industry. There are however many aspects which cannot be taught from a textbook or a prescribed curriculum and only exist as a result of collective individual experiences and knowledge. It has been viewed as useful, personnel tips on a human level. The book is seen as personnel guide. According to the feedback, some section in the book could be taken in the wrong way from some lecturers and one section is not very legible.
Within the creative student environment in the design faculty there should be equipment and tools which enable students and designers to fully express their skills. These tools would enable students to carry forward a task such as the legacy book and production can occur on a very personal and interactive level. The department should be equipped with book binders and printers because students from 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th year need these on a weekly basis. With this type of equipment the legacy book and various other projects and systems of self education would become feasible.
Sustainability
This book will enable students to participate in creating a sustainable project for the Cape Peninsula University of Technology. This project will create a shared behaviour, as students collect and keep old scraps of paper and fabric to cover and make use of in the book. This manner of sustainability is creative, innovative and supports recycling – cradle to cradle and all students should be encouraged to reuse, recycle and remake with existing materials that can be found around them on a daily basis to prevent basic materials going to waste. This will also create a sustainable working environment within the University.
Statistics
Through the gathering of marks of students, a statistic can be established to see where people are struggling and where people do well. It students record their marks throughout the year, it can be written anonymously in the book to see where a need for improvement lies. Marks given to groups will also help indicate how well people work together and give a guideline for students to follow.
Systems theory
This book forms part of a bigger picture. It is an added small system in a big process in order to help the student to achieve and see the system theory which is the successfully finish three or four years of studies in fashion and design at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology.
A better understanding of systems theory can be seen through the definitions of the terms which are used often when describing the theory. These are words we use on a day to day basis, but it is sometimes described in a different way in systems theory itself, in order to form the bigger picture.
Conclusion
We conclude that after completing this legacy project, we all feel confident to say that we have a very good understanding of the four integral quadrants. Our listening skills and communicating skills have improved and we are able to apply the four quadrants to any challenges that we come across in the future.
The quadrants have enabled us to understand our own point of view as well as the perspective of others. It helps to break down the context into different sections in order to have a better understanding of what is being discussed.
As a group from different backgrounds and experiences throughout our studies, we performed well for the legacy project as well as the integral quadrants. The process of the quadrants has helped us to improve our legacy project to help the new group of students. We think that the integral quadrants process is very important especially for designers as it helps in the design process to identify their client’s needs.
