Justifying design and technology

This chapter asks the question why do we teach what we teach in the design & technology curriculum? It traces the emergence of design & technology in the curriculum in England and is in three parts. First it gives a brief account of its precursor - technology education. This is followed by a description of its development within the National Curriculum. The final part discusses some of the issues associated with ‘limiting’ technology education to design & technology

Assessing capability in design and technology: The case for a minimally invasive approach

The approach to assessing capability in design and technology advocated requires four features. First, there is the requirement for tasks that are culturally and personally authentic through which pupils can demonstrate designerly behaviour by making design decisions. Second, there is the requirement that the pupils use job bags, whose contents are based on utility, as the means of making and recording their design decisions. Third there is the requirement that scripted probes are used at key points in the design task to enable pupils to divulge and record their designerly thinking through revealing and justifying their design decisions. Fourth, it requires teachers to play the part of mentor and client in helping pupils use the scripted probes effectively. The paper is in seven parts. Part 1 briefly explores the difficulties in defining designerly activity. Part 2 considers some of the problems in revealing designerly activity. Part 3 considers the nature of tasks that might be appropriate for assessment in design and technology. Part 4 considers how designing might be describes as a set of interrelated design decisions. Part 5 describes how such design decisions might be revealed and justified through the use of a series of scripted probes. Part 6 considers the nature of the portfolio that enables pupils to make design decisions. In the conclusion, the paper summarises the approach to assessment developed so far and justifies it in terms of overcoming the problems of revealing designerly activity and having minimum impact on the pupils experience of designing. While most of the examples in this paper are drawn from the specific context of assessment in England and Wales, the ideas and issues raised and discussed will have relevance for all concerned with developing authentic approaches to assessment in Technology Education

Developing your own curriculum

This chapter will explore the processes by which a newly qualified teacher can make a contribution to the design & technology curriculum. It is in six parts. First the chapter will consider the classroom conditions a teacher must create if his or her teaching is to be successful. Second we will explore four key features that determine the success of a subject in the curriculum. Third we will investigate how a newly qualified teacher might develop and articulate their vision for the subject. Fourth we will consider the importance of working with colleagues as part of the design & technology team in a school. Fifth we will discuss the areas in which you might make a contribution to developing the curriculum. Finally we will consider how you can become a reflective and effective practitioner through curriculum development

The Role of Published Materials in Curriculum Development and Implementation for Secondary School Design and Technology in England and Wales

This is a postprint of an article whose final and definitive form has been published in the International Journal of Technology and Design Education. The original publication is available at www.springerlink.com.This paper discusses the ways in which teachers exploited a set of curriculum materials published as a vehicle for curriculum innovation, and the relationship between chosen modes of exploitation and teachers’ own perceptions of how the materials had ’added value’ to their teaching. The materials in question were developed by the Nuffield Design and Technology Project (’the Project’) to offer a pedagogy appropriate to the statutory curriculum for secondary school design and technology education in England and Wales (DFE/WO 1995). The Project had sought both to inform the statutory curriculum, and respond to its requirements. An earlier case study (Givens 1997) laid the foundations for the survey that is reported here. This paper focuses on the teaching of pupils aged 11–14. It finds that while most teachers made at least some use of all the various components of the publications, they were selective. While the Study Guide, which carries out a meta-cognitive dialogue with pupils, was generally underused, those teachers who did use it perceived greater value added by the materials as a whole to the quality of pupils’ work, their effectiveness in design and technology and their autonomy

Modernisation of the school D&T curriculum with special reference to disruptive technologies; a case study of trainee teachers’ responses

New and emerging technologies are a feature of the design & technology National Curriculum (for pupils aged 5-13 years) in England and the proposed new GCSE design & technology course (for pupils aged 14-16 years). These features are part of the modernisation of design & technology that is taking place in England. This paper reports a small case study of an ‘understanding new and emerging technologies’ activity in which trainee design & technology teachers at a university in England were required to research particular disruptive technologies (Barlex, Givens & Steeg 2015), develop presentations about these technologies to the other trainees undertaking the activity who then had to summarise their understanding of each disruptive technology in a short piece of writing (around 600 words) dealing with both the nature of the technology and its potential to be disruptive. In addition they had to justify its inclusion and suggest how it might be taught. The paper will describe the responses of the trainees, consider the extent to which they found this work challenging and comment on the way in which an understanding of such technologies might be taught to secondary school pupils as part of a modernised design & technology curriculum which develops the essential 21st century skill of technological perspective

Creative writing in A level English literature

This is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of an article published in New Writing: The International Journal for the Practice and Theory of Creative Writing, 6(3), 187 - 195, 2009, copyright Taylor & Francis, available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/14790720903556155.This is a time of change and real development for creative writing at A level. Whilst it has been an important part of English Language and English Language & Literature A level specifications for some time, its presence within English Literature has been marginal, and is an option that has rarely been adopted by teachers of the subject. Recent changes to English Literature specifications, however, mean that creative writing (along with recreative and transformative writing) now exists in a much more formalised way on all A level English Literature specifications. As the largest of the three A level Englishes, this is a significant development. The advent of creative writing in English Literature makes this an important issue in teachers' Continuing Professional Development (Green, 2008) and raises important questions for the teaching body in schools and lecturers in further education. What is the role of creative writing in teaching literature? How do creative and analytical writing relate to each other? What is the relationship between creative writing and reading? This paper offers an initial response to these and other issues, and suggests some of the ways in which creative writing can be used both in its own right and to enhance the study of English Literature at A level

Creative writing in A level English literature

This is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of an article published in New Writing: The International Journal for the Practice and Theory of Creative Writing, 6(3), 187 - 195, 2009, copyright Taylor & Francis, available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/14790720903556155.This is a time of change and real development for creative writing at A level. Whilst it has been an important part of English Language and English Language & Literature A level specifications for some time, its presence within English Literature has been marginal, and is an option that has rarely been adopted by teachers of the subject. Recent changes to English Literature specifications, however, mean that creative writing (along with recreative and transformative writing) now exists in a much more formalised way on all A level English Literature specifications. As the largest of the three A level Englishes, this is a significant development. The advent of creative writing in English Literature makes this an important issue in teachers' Continuing Professional Development (Green, 2008) and raises important questions for the teaching body in schools and lecturers in further education. What is the role of creative writing in teaching literature? How do creative and analytical writing relate to each other? What is the relationship between creative writing and reading? This paper offers an initial response to these and other issues, and suggests some of the ways in which creative writing can be used both in its own right and to enhance the study of English Literature at A level