PRODUCTION AND ACCEPTABILITY OF CLASSROOM DECORATION MATERIALS MADE FROM USED CHILDREN'S CLOTHING

Abstract

This study produced classroom decoration materials from used children's clothes and assessed their acceptability among stakeholders in resource-constrained educational settings. Survey data from 1,193 stakeholders, teachers, administrators, experts, and parents, in Port Harcourt Metropolis, Nigeria, showed strong consensus that the products produced were acceptable across functional, aesthetic, and expressive variables (grand means 4.15 4.28). Functionally, the products were rated as supporting attention, retention, active participation, and cost reduction; aesthetically, they were rated as enhancing classroom and school appearance; and expressively, they were rated as promoting creativity, cultural identity, and emotional well-being. Production addresses three linked challenges: tight school budgets that limit stimulating classroom resources, a growing textile-waste crisis, and under-stimulating learning environments that fail to use the physical space as a "third teacher." The study calls for policy integration, teacher capacity-building, and community engagement to scale this low-cost, sustainable intervention. Gender-disaggregated analysis found that female respondents consistently rated the produced materials higher than male respondents, with implications for how training is designed. Recommendations include ministry-led training programmes, school-based material-collection systems, and cooperative models for economic empowerment.