36th Annual International TESOL France Colloquium
Paris, 17 – 19 November 2017
GISIG co-coordinator Julietta Schoenmann is representing GISIG at the conference through presenting a session on disposable fashion (Saturday Nov 18th at 9:00) and hosting a panel discussion on bringing Global Issues into the classroom (Sunday Nov 19th at 14:15).
More information:
- TESOL France website http://www.tesol-france.org/en/
- Colloquium page: https://www.tesol-france.org/en/pages/101/colloquium-2017.html
Julietta will probably be speaking at TESOL France Nov. 18th about what is a very tactile immediate GI, the clothes people wear, fast ‘disposable’ fashion, as in her excellent GISIG webinar, ‘Clothes to Die For’, 2016. This is a very powerful topic to introduce students to.
The issue of fast cheap fashion manufactured across the planet and by outsourcing in umpteen countries (including where I live) is an issue of cheap labor exploitation. The use of polyester plastic fabric is a huge issue of environmental pollution, because these microplastics are polluting the oceans and entering our food chain, a major news topic today. The global fast garment industry also accounts for some 10% of carbon pollution, in part through its use of coal for its high energy product. It also is at the heart of a consumerism of waste. So this is very much a Green Politics issue. And part of Green Pedagogy.
And as close to students as their own clothes, shoes. And maybe some outsourcing garment factory in their own town (as here in Bulgaria, now the ‘sewing sweatshop of Europe’ since the collapse of socialism: http://www.novinite.com/articles/161426/ ). It was in fact the end of the Cold War (the West wins) that helped in significant part to spur the rapid spread of this fast fashion industry into the former ‘Second World’ and ‘Third World.’
Here an excellent TEDx video on this whole problem: Maxine Bedat, The High Cost of Our Cheap Fashion https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5r8V4QWwxf0&t=48s There are other talks as well with Maxine on youtube.
Here another: Patrick Woodyard, Fast Fashion’s Effect on People, The Planet, & You https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPM9lhackHw
Maxine is especially incisive, convincing, committed to alternatives — a great video for all mid-intermediate students (and their teachers). She and Patrick also speak about the alternatives, in which they themselves are involved hands-on.
Good Luck to Julietta en France.
Thank you very much Bill – I’m looking forward to it!