Bullers Wood and Sebastian Conran

Duration: 1 day
Teacher: Jo Kempster (Head of Department)
Students: Year 11

Product designer Sebastian Conran was matched with Bullers Wood by the Design Council.

Activity

Sebastian began with a presentation on his work and methods. Then the students, in groups, presented the results of their research on litter - a pressing school issue.

One group fed back the results of a site survey on the litter 'hotspots' and their causes, another presented product analysis of litter bins, recycling bins and crushers. A third focused on the litter itself and the fourth group had conducted interviews with different members of the school.

Sebastian then led a whole-class session pulling out themes from the four presentations listed under three headings: 'psychological', which the students equated to factors such as laziness, peer pressure, pride, incentive, punishment and motivation; 'physical', under which they grouped factors such as location and size of bins and how easy or not bins are to empty, and 'consequences', which led the class to consider hygiene, smell, cost, effect on wildlife and reputation of the school.

After a break, the groups brainstormed the three headings looking for a single issue to tackle. The rest of the day was spent sketching and making prototype models, culminating in presentations to the whole class.

Results

One group had designed a picnic-style table with a central opening connected to a litter bin. They felt that as students simply had to push the remains of a packed lunch into this opening they would not drop litter.

Another group had designed a transparent bin to appeal to younger students who could watch their litter fall through a series of internal mechanisms.

The last group had designed a bin which kept the contents fully hidden and minimised the smell.

Feedback

Designer

'It's good to have to explain what you do - it makes you think about it,' Sebastian said. He had particularly wanted the students to 'learn how to think for themselves and how to solve problems, especially to explore many different perspectives'.

Teacher

'I've had fun - we all have,' was Jo Kempster's response. She had particularly welcomed the session drawing out issues from the class's research findings, saying it had brought 'more depth' to the project and 'slowed us down - and that's a good thing'.

She said in the future she would let students get 'hands-on' more quickly - that is, make prototypes from an early stage and encourage more peer evaluation.

Students

Nicole and Adam both answered 'definitely!' when asked if they'd enjoyed working with Sebastian. Nicole said: 'I've used my mind more today - I've been thinking sideways.' Adam also saw real value in thinking more creatively, adding: 'If I'd just been told to design a bin, I'd have designed a normal one'. They both felt that the exploration of issues had been the key to opening up the activity and ensuring 'we didn't go for the obvious answers'.