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Day Four: Competition in the world – a look at sportswear in the clothing industry

Morning session: How sportswear is made
Key focus
How does competition for sportswear contracts affect the lives of those making the clothes? Pupils empathise with, and convey concerns to, others.

Afternoon session: Fair working hours
Key focus
What do sportswear and clothing companies think? Pupils write to ask them about their polices towards workers in developing countries. They then design a logo for clothes made by well-treated workers.

> Background information for teachers

Morning   Afternoon

Three activities: Two activities: > From shopper to worker (30 mins) (117KB pdf) Developing a concept map of the way sportswear gets from factories in the developing world to consumers in the richer countries. > Write to clothing companies (45 mins) (96KB pdf) Pupils write letters to clothing companies asking how they know that workers producing their clothes are fairly treated. > Mara's story (30 mins) (192KB pdf) Examining a case study of a Cambodian factory worker. What is her life like? > Design a 'fair hours' logo (1 hour 15 mins) (112KB pdf) An art activity in which pupils design a logo which would show that workers had worked reasonable hours. > Download fairtrade mark (124KB pdf) > Role-play: Mara's story (1 hour, 30 mins) (139KB pdf) A role-play based on the life of Mara, a factory worker in Cambodia.   Download a pdf of all morning activities with worksheets and information (285KB pdf)   Download a pdf of all afternoon activities with worksheets and information (127KB pdf)

Background information for teachers

Morning
This morning’s activities are based on Looking Behind the Logo: The global supply chain in the sportswear industry (Oxfam GB 2004). This resource is aimed at older pupils, but activities here have been adapted for 9–11 year olds.

A key theme for the day continues to be competition, where pupils see how competition between sportswear factories for contracts from brand companies has led to difficult and demanding working conditions for many people in poorer countries. Activities will also help pupils understand the ‘global supply chain’.

The role-play activity gives pupils the opportunity to explore what life for a factory worker like Mara is like in a little more depth, developing empathy.

For more information on the global sportswear industry, see the pdf for Day 4 (20KB pdf).

Afternoon
In the afternoon, pupils will be given the opportunity to write to sportswear and clothing companies asking what they are doing to ensure that the workers employed to make their goods are treated fairly. Oxfam believes that it is the responsibility of clothing companies to do this. Writing these letters will help pupils to tackle this aspect of poverty, and to learn about the viewpoint of the clothing and sportswear companies.

Designing a ‘Fair Hours’ logo gives pupils the opportunity to begin to consider the impact of logos and how their own design could be used to convey a message about the plight of factory workers in the sportswear industry. Pupils will also be able to consider why leading brand companies pay so much attention to their image, and realise that if shoppers are concerned about factory workers, this can make companies pay more attention to this issue.

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