Opening Texere - Conference in the University of Cologne 22. April 1998

Ursula Grüllich, chairwoman of the Arbeitskreis Textilunterricht NRW

Ursula Grüllich welcomed the conference in her function as chairwoman of the Arbeitskreis
Textilunterricht NRW and emphazised the already close connections to the Department of
Textile Design and Textile Science at the University of Cologne.
The teachers' association for textile teachers was founded 25 years ago. Among the founders
were Prof. Klingmüller, now retired, and Ursula Grüllich herself. Due to the activities of this
association the subject textile education is still existent in German schools and is taught to
boys and girls.
The curricula of all German school types base on the textile structures developed by
Heidi Lerche-Renn, AOR at Cologne University. They contain a totally new approach to look
at the aims and content of textile education in a different view. The aims and contents had to
be thought over again and revised.
The Arbeitskreis Textilunterricht passes these ideas on to its members in teachers' training
courses, in the magazine that is published twice a year and in various publications connected
with the annual meetings.
Ursula Grüllich was able to persue the development of university training in her work as member
of the curriculum commission, as trainee for future teachers and repeatedly teaching at university
herself. At the moment the Ministry of School and Education has passed a new law for future
teachers who are trained in schools for 2 years. Up to now they were supervised by experienced
teachers during this time. The new regulation says that after half a year of supervision these future
teachers have to give lessons independently taking full responsibility. The instructors at school
and in the seminars have to qualify them for this task in the shortest possible time.
Since 1990 the activities have been spread by Texere conferences. We wish that the international
exchanges of teachers and students with our European fellow teachers will be supported by
our government and that the close cooperation between school and university will grow. The
Texere conference 1998 can be a step further in this devepolment.

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"A hat for Europe"

This sequence of lessons was carried out in a 9th grade of the Bertha-von-Suttner
comprehensive school in Köln-Vogelsang. It covered a period of 5 double lessons.
The brainstorming concerning the subject ‚Europe' was influenced by architectural and
culinary aspects of the European countries. Phantastic names for the hats were found by
combining several terms, e.g. "Alpenmelone"(melon of the Alps), "Euro-Hut"(Euro-hat) or
"Holländische Käsehaube"(Dutch cheese bonnet).
Using the school stock of textiles the boys and girls worked in pairs to create the aesthetic
and ambitious hatgears in different textile techniques.
On 24th April 1998 a choice of hats were exhibited in the Rhenania in Cologne and new
creations were produced including the exhibition's visitors.

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