The Role of Published Materials in Curriculum Development and Implementation for Secondary School Design and Technology in England and Wales (original) (raw)
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International Journal of Technology and Design Education, 2008
This paper is based on work carried out as part of a research study into the professional practices of secondary design and technology teachers in England. It focused on fostering creativity or teaching for creativity as defined by the Robinson Report (1999, All our futures: creativity, culture and education. London: Department for Education and Employment (DfEE)) for pupils aged 11–14 years. The overall research question that drove this study was “to what extent can teachers influence the creativity of pupils aged 11–14 years in design and technology lessons?” The paper provides the basis used to generate a unique theoretical three-feature model or framework that can be used to explore creativity within an educational context. The findings of three investigations in the study are presented in this paper. The first and second investigations looked at what could be learnt from the professional practices of art and design and design and technology teachers and the views of four ‘expert’ teachers known for their ability to develop the creative potential of their pupils. The data is discussed under emerging themes and it is used to inform specific criteria in the evolving theoretical three-feature model for creativity. The model is then used to analyse the data from the third classroom based investigation and the findings are discussed under the emerging themes to help identify the issues related to fostering creativity within the design and technology classroom. This paper discusses the implications of the research for classroom practice and suggests that, as creativity is a complex, multi-faceted concept and process, the theoretical three-feature model and related criteria evolved in the study provides a sound framework to explore creativity within an educational context. As a tool it helps identify examples of good practice and highlight areas that require further attention by teachers aiming to foster their pupils’ creativity. It is suggested that design and technology teachers have lessons to learn from the practices of their art and design colleagues and ‘expert’ design and technology teachers. It is concluded that there is a need for greater understanding by teachers of their implicit theories regarding teaching, learning and creativity. A wider use could be made of the breadth of strategies outlined by the ‘expert’ teachers. This would help address the weakness identified in the school based study and strengthen classroom practice when teaching for creativity.
Pupil’s perceptions of design & technology education in England and Wales: emergent findings
2015
The curriculum for Design and Technology in secondary schools in England and Wales has been under review. With policy makers questioning not only the position the subject occupies within the curriculum, but also the value Design and Technology holds. As a result, Design and technology’s future, as a subject, is uncertain. Set against a background of policy and curriculum change, this paper presents the findings of a research study designed to elicit the perceptions of, and gain an insight into the way Key Stage 3 pupils (11 - 14 years) view Design and Technology. Utilising the concept of the original PATT Tool (Raat & de Vries, 1986), and building upon the work of previous studies undertaken nationally or globally (de Vries, 1988; de Klerk Wolters, 1989; Bame & Dugger, 1993; Volk & Yip 1999; Van Rensburg, Ankiewicz & Myburgh, 1999; Ankiewicz & Van Rensburg 2001; Becker & Maunsaiyat 2002; Chikasanda, Williams, Otrel-Cass & Jones, 2011; Gaotlhobogwe, 2010; Ardies, De Maeyer & Gijbels,...
Creativity in school design & technology in England: a discussion of influences
International Journal of Technology and Design Education, 2007
England-the government agency, the curriculum developer, the teacher, the pupil and the researcher. Using developments in school design & technology education and examples from England the paper describes a range of activities involving one or more influences noting the implications each has for creativity in school design & technology education. In conclusion the paper summarises the impact of the influences and suggests an approach to support further productive collaboration.
Design and technology education : an international journal, 2021
She teaches on the PGCE Design and Technology (D&T) course and is Lead for the MA Education programme. She is also an author, presenter, podcaster and researcher for D&T. This is the fourth and fully updated edition in this series of books. The book is aimed at those who are training to teach design and technology in the secondary school. The areas covered include subject knowledge, subject pedagogies, underpinning philosophy and the wider issues that will support an understanding of the purpose and potential of design and technology education.
Pupils Perceptions of Design and Technology Education in England and Wales
2021
The curriculum for Design and Technology in secondary schools in England and Wales has been under review. Withpolicy makers questioning not only the position the subject occupies within the curriculum, but also the value Designand Technology holds. As a result, Design and Technology's future, as a subject, is uncertain. Set against a background of policy and curriculum change, this paper presents the findings of a research study designed to elicit the perceptions of, and gain an insight into the way Key Stage 3 pupils (11 - 14 years) view Design and Technology. Utilising the concept of the original PATT Tool (Raat & de Vries, 1986), and building upon the work of previous studies undertaken nationally or globally (de Vries, 1988; de Klerk Wolters, 1989; Bame & Dugger, 1993; Volk & Yip 1999; Van Rensburg, Ankiewicz & Myburgh, 1999; Ankiewicz & Van Rensburg 2001; Becker & Maunsaiyat 2002; Chikasanda, Williams, Otrel-Cass & Jones, 2011; Gaotlhobogwe, 2010; Ardies, De Maeyer & Gijbel...
2019
This paper presents the findings of a small-scale project that looked at whether the present Design and Technology (D&T) National Curriculum (NC) for England promotes the development of technological capability to support the generation of economic value through enhancing human capital. The English D&T NC has been in existence for 30-years with a number of iterations during that time. Throughout that time-span the technological world in which D&T education exists, has changed beyond all recognition. This paper looks briefly at the concept of the knowledge economy and the development of human capital in a technological world. It then examines whether the English NC for D&T has evolved through its various iterations. A comparison between the most recent edition of the D&T NC document and the latest New Zealand Technology document through an analysis of the words used in each document was carried out utilising the frequency of all the meaningful words in the two documents. The data wou...
British Educational Research Journal, 2008
Education reform in England has seen many policies and initiatives introduced by central government. This article discusses two such policies, performativity and creativity. Performativity has been central to the government's agenda of raising standards and includes monitoring mechanisms such as Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) inspections, performance management and school league tables, all of which are used to measure or judge the value or worth of a school or individual teacher. At the same time as policies on performativity have been implemented, policy makers have introduced a number of policies to encourage creativity in education. This article foregrounds teachers of design and technology (D&T) at secondary level (11-16 years), describing how they struggled to implement both strategies. Teachers valued creativity and thought it was an important part of the subject, but the pressure to be seen to be performing and getting favourable positions in school league tables and Ofsted inspections meant the teaching of D&T became rather formulaic, which allowed very little opportunity for creative learning. Individual interviews were conducted with 14 D&T teachers across six schools and an open-ended email survey was conducted with a further 17 D&T teachers from 15 schools during the preliminary phase of a research and intervention project. In addition, 69 D&T teachers across eight schools completed a questionnaire at the start of the main intervention period. Data from 126 student interviews across six schools are used to support the teacher data outlined above.
This paper builds on a previous work by the authors concerning a new framework for an undergraduate design and technology teacher training programme at a university in England (Hardy & Barlex, 2012). This paper reports on a module within this undergraduate design and technology (D&T) teacher training course that aims to support the modernisation of the D&T curriculum in schools and includes opportunities for initial teacher education (ITE) students to debate and develop their own knowledge of scientific and technological changes (Ofsted, 2011; Williams, 2009). The module attempts to respond to some of the challenges for D&T and teacher education identified by Barlex (2011) and Dow (2006). The paper will be in four parts. First it will provide a brief summary of the reasons for modernizing the design & technology curriculum. Second it will describe a module in the ITE course taken by pre-service teachers at a university in the East Midlands of England devised specifically to develop ...
The Curriculum Journal, 2017
The hierarchal status of academic disciplines, what defines valuable or legitimate knowledge and what should we teach our children is a topic of much debate. Amidst concerns of an academic decline, tackling the culture of low expectation and anti-intellectualism, the need to address social justice, and its by-product of cultural reproduction, is the focus of current education policy. Set within the UK, this paper presents a critical review of the literature relating to disciplinary knowledge and teaching and learning regimes, specifically seeking to explore the subcultures which exist between design and technology and its associated curricula counterparts that combine to produce science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The purpose being to proffer an explanation that is supportive in developing an understanding as to why design and technology is perceived by many to be of less value than its STEM counterparts. Situation within a functionalist approach to STEM education policy, findings are discussed in relation to design and technology, which as a subject is caught between the identities of academic and vocational exponents, and it is from this perspective that complex nature and perceived value of design and technology is explored.