Material Worlds

The Material Worlds project saw teaching staff and pupils explore the environmental impact of the textiles and fast fashion industries while developing screen literacy.

Supported by Screen Scotland’s Screen Education Fund, the Material Worlds project was designed to explore the environmental impact of the textiles and fast fashion industries while developing screen literacy.

Teaching staff and pupils from Firbank School in Motherwell and Gleniffer High School in Renfrewshire worked with ReMode in Paisley and filmmaker Kevin Cameron to produce learning resources and make films about the relationships between water and clothing production and plastics in our clothes. The resulting short films were shared at ReMode’s live performance event in March 2022 where they were viewed by some 200 visitors.

Film about the Material Worlds project

Material Worlds fine.mov from Kevin Cameron on Vimeo. An audio-described version of the above film is available to watch on Vimeo with password MW.

Teaching staff from the participating schools had hugely positive feedback about their project experience.

Class teacher, Sara Hyslop of Firpark Secondary said, "Some of the pupils have found expressing themselves through film is something that they can do: it's an easier way for them to communicate, or communicate their feelings or thoughts. So I think the filmmaking part of this project has been really beneficial to the senior pupils here. They've got to grips with the filmmaking apps, it's given them a voice to communicate that perhaps that they wouldn't have had necessarily within themselves because of their own additional support needs."

Art teacher, Lara Hunter of Glennifer High School said, "It was really good to have the interdisciplinary learning aspect because some kids aren't typically good at drawing. So it was good for those that have really creative minds to portray their thoughts, and also with film literacy intertwined. I think it really brought a lot of pupils out of their shells from a teacher’s point of view, got them really engaged in class, which is what we want."


More information

The Screen Education Fund, formally the Film Education Partnership Fund, has been designed to develop increased capabilities in screen education and supports programmes of work with the potential to achieve these outcomes.

Key strategic aims of this fund are to:

  • develop increased understanding of the potential of screen education
  • develop capabilities in screen education through greater connectivity and partnership working across different settings
  • support the development and growth of screen education access in currently underrepresented areas
  • support professional development in screen education knowledge and skills.

Find out more on our Screen Education Fund webpage.