Playing through clothes: Clothes as a creative tool in the School environment, an explorative approach of the role of clothing in the public primary education, in contemporary Northern Europe

Led by the French National Museum of Education and Heriot-Watt University (UK), “Dressed for School” involves a group of interdisciplinary researchers, educators and design practitioners, aiming to analyse the interactions between children and their clothes at school. As part of this project, a series of case studies and design projects focuses on the functional and creative approach of children’s clothing at school. This comparative approach – mixing anthropological methods and practice-based research with and on school aged children – offers a comparative approach between Scotland and France. This paper presents the findings gathered at an intermediary stage of an interdisciplinary project ongoing until 2022, and their evaluation thanks to cross-disciplinary and mixed methods. Placing the child at the heart of the process, in well identified contexts, this research provides educationally impactful pilots where clothes are considered as legitimate components of a “Learning through play” approach. This research highlights the need for more consideration of children as users and co-designers of their own clothes. Using the COVID-19 “opportunity” to observe children in unprecedented experiences, this impactful research project invites industry and policy makers to identify clothing with a different approach. Indeed, this project questions clothing as a support for learning, a socialising and creative tool, and as having a legitimate role to play in children’s education