The following publications have been reviewed by the mentioned authors;CDT - Projects and Approaches by David Barlex and Richard Kimbell, reviewed by M. PattersonControl Technology (second edition) by Hodder & Stoughton, reviewed by John CaveGraphic Handbook. An Introduction to design and printing for the non-specialist by Richard McCann, reviewed by Lesley LordEngineering Technology by Liam Hennessy and Lawrence Smyth, reviewed by Stan ShawJoin in and Spin by Thames Valley, reviewed by Dorothea KaySchooling for the Dole: The New Vocationalism by Inge Bates, John Clark, Philip Cohen, Dan Finn, Robert Moore and Paul Willis, reviewed by John EgglestonGirls into Science and Technology by Judith Whyte, reviewed by John Egglesto

Cave, John

Eggleston, John

Kay, Dorothea

Lord, Lesley

Patterson, M.

Shaw, Stan

English

Loughborough University Library: Open Journals

ReviewsDavid Barlex and Richard KimbellMacMillan Education £5.95Having used Richard Kimbell's 'Design Education'for many years as an essential guide to eDT infoundation courses, I looked forward to reading thesequel, which he co-authored with David Barlex.The ideal of such a book - to cover and giveguidance of good practice within the design processvia worked examples of projects at both adult andpupil level - is a very welcome one.This guide of the process is aimed at all eDTpupils who are working towards a 16 +examination, particularly eDT - Design andRealisation. Its content nicely bridges a definite gapin avaiiable support material.The cover and look of the book is appealing withits excellent graphics - however it is a pity thatnone of the illustrations within the book are incolour. The section on graphical communicationskills would have been more usefully developed withinteresting use of colour and tone. I like the mix ofdrawings and photographs to describe the text, andfound the many illustrations showing femaleinvolvement with the designing and making processparticularly refreshing.The excellent worked examples from industry andschool give a very useful resource, especially forthose many eDT pupils who need to have theirdesign horizons broadened. The interactive text isan excellent method of ensuring thorough readerparticipation, with the points raised in each section.Each step in the design process is taken as achapter, and very carefully explained with workedexamples at a variety of levels. All the sectionswork well except, in my opinion, the chapter onmaking skills. The attempt to summarise thiselement within one section is a difficult task, whichdoesn't quite work. In using the book, I wouldcertainly supplement this topic with other referencetexts. The chapter on 'Solving the ExaminationQuestion' is particularly helpful and I would haveliked the section to have contained more examples.Overall, the book makes a useful and positiveexplanation of how to use the design process, andwill, I am sure, become a standard reference andstimulus work on the topic.Hodder & Stoughton, Teacher's Handbook £7.95;Pupil's Assignments £3.25; Follow-up Book £3.45This is the second revised edition of an importantseries which first appeared in 1974 and wasreprinted many times in its original format. Thecurrent edition has been completely reset and boundin limp covers using stitched sections (unlike theoriginal issues with their perfect binding). Thecontents remain substantially the same in thissecond edition but several revisions have been made- notably the updating of symbols, removal of theoriginal section on fluidics, and changes to thesection entitled Logic.Control Technology, when it first appeared,represented the earliest attempt at a comprehensiveteaching resource for technology - combiningliterature and specific teaching equipment. Thelatter remains readily available, and information canbe obtained from:NeST, Trent Polytechnic, Burton Street,Nottingham.In addition to supporting prescribed courses oftwo or three years duration, the ControlTechnology series and its associated hardware hasfound a variety of applications in schools. Manycolleagues, for instance, have found the materialvaluable in part for supplementing eDTprogrammes, perhaps injecting a technologicaldimension without taking on board the entirecourse. The merits of the books and the equipmentwill be obvious to those who have used them (aswill some of the problems). For those unfamiliarwith the material, I would unhesitatinglyrecommend sending jor inspection copies; the textsare well written, well illustrated and provideexcellent guidance for teachers and pupilsrespectively. Equipment costs are relatively high,but it is worth pointing out that all the books are inpart useful as a 'free-standing' resource, especiallythe Teacher's Handbook.Much of the material in Control Technology hasendured well over the last twelve years; indeed, itwould be surprising if some of the sections - eg.,mechanisms - had not. However, there is anobvious danger of an enterprise of this sortbecoming fossilised. I thought that some parts ofthe introductory text smelt a little musty withreferences to 'craft' and 'craft department'. But,more importantly, I wonder whether after twelveyears Control Technology is not in need of a moreradical revision, especially in relation to electronicsand control.When the first edition was produced, it wasinconceivable to many that within a decade cheapmicroelectronic devices would have taken over somany control functions, would be so affordable andwould be so easy to use. Bearing this in mind, Iwonder, for example, about the retention of this sub-section on !Jniselector switching (however interesting)and the continued reliance on electromagneticStudies in Design Education Craft & Technotogy, Summer /986devices in general - accepting, of course, that relaysremain very important devices and can beexceedingly useful in teaching a range of principles.Similarly, I wonder whether by now the sectionentitled Logic should not have been greatlyexpanded - including material on sequential as wellas combinational principles. (One only has tocompare recent generations of sewing machines toappreciate the impact of micro-electronics in controlapplications).All this is easy enough to say, of course, but amajor revision of both the text and its associatedequipment would represent a massive investment.The immediate solution is clearly one of beingselective and extracting the best and most suitablematerial from a variety of sources - including, Iwould suggest, this pioneering series.Graphics Handbook. An Introduction to design andprinting for the non-specialistRichard McCannPublications Department, National ExtensionsCollege, 18 Brooklands Avenue, Cambridge CB22HN. £2.95For people who have not attended a Graphics courseor who have not had a design training but findthemselves responsible for the presentation ofartwork to a good, if not professional, standard thisbook is their key to the world of print. Written byRichard McCann, a freelance ar.tist, and designed byInformation Design Workshop it is presented in aneffective A4 Landcscape format displaying easilyappraisable illustrations and text explaining thefollowing topics: Graphic Design, Typography, ImageMaking, Photo Design, Exhibitions and PrintingMethods. It includes valuable information on thepreparation of artwork and good advice on how towork with clients and printers, pointing out everystep of the process from the initial meeting to thedelivery of the artwork. It also includes a list ofuseful equipment plus a bibliography for furtherinformation and it makes it easy to pick up anunderstanding of necessary technical jargon which ishelpful!The basic information and ideas stimulate theimagination into more adventurous uses of easilyavailable media and equipment such asphotocopying machines and I particularly liked theencouraging remark 'No matter how awkward youmight feel about drawing, a freehand sketch willalways appear more lively than a traced image'. Italso has no copyright problems if it is your own!Various methods of typesetting are covered inadequate detail but it does not include that which iscomputer based. Integrated word processing,graphics and page make-up software is now availablefor a range of micro computers from the BBCupwards; desk top publishing is developing rapidly.The computer makes the arrangement andjustification of text and illustration simple for thosewith no experience, however this still leaves the allimportant problem of the design of the page to theoperator and this is when the Graphics Handbookwill be found to be of great value as the principlesare the same even though the medium may be anelectronic one.Teachers of any subject as well as students willfind the book an up to date treasure trove ofinformation and it would make an extremely usefuladdition to Craft and Design Technology and Artand Design resources.Liam Hennessy and Lawrence SmythThe Educational Company of Ireland Ltd., P.O. Box43A, Ballymount Road, Walkinstown, Dublin 12The authors have succeeded in their aims ofemphasising visual communication in the learningprocess, using photographs in addition toillustrations to give clear insight into how a range offacilities look and work in the field of engineeringtechnology.The text is written in easy-to-understand language,with the minimum of words and a wealth of clearillustrative material. It would provide a good, basicreference source for students commencing anengineering course and, complemented byappropriate and relevant practical work, would forma sound basis for more advanced work.A possible criticism concerns the contents page,where it would have been helpful if the contents ofeach section could have been listed.The authors haave deliberateit' not dealt with anyHealth and Safety aspects of their subject.Acknowledgement is given to various educationaland industrial bodies in Ireland, as well as toindividuals, who have contributed either to thedevelopment of engineering technology or to thecompilation of the text.This video, which runs for two sides of twentyminutes each, provides a general introduction to thecraft of spinning. Starting with the use of a spindle,and progressing to the wheel, it demonstrates bysimple example that this is not an intimidating craftto master. Good advice is given about the choice ofwheel and the best type of fleece for a beginner tobuy, and the various processes of carding, plyingStudies in Design Education Craft & Technology, Summer 1986etc. are demonstrated. Pauline Robinson and herassistant have pleasing personalities, but it is a pitythat far too often the camera is focussed on theirfaces instead of on close-ups of the processes beingdescribed. This reduces the video from being a firstclass teaching aid to a reasonably informative chat.Vital parts of the wheel, such as the orifice are notclearly shown.In the second part valuable time is wasted in thefarmyard, while technical terms are not clearlyexplained. In the section about dyeing, which takesplace in the kitchen using ordinary kitchen utensilsno word of warning is given about the dangers ofchemicals. The need to keep apart cooking anddyeing utensils cannot be too much stressed forbeginners.The video is accompanied by a booklet whichgives some useful information about suppliers, buton the whole it is an amateurish production withcaptions written in various scripts, and not abovethe odd spelling mistake.The colouring of the film is rather crude.Dorothea KayInge Bates, John Clark, Philip Cohen, Dan Finn,Robert Moore and>Paul WillisMacmillan, London £20.00, paper £6.95After half a decade of mass youth unemployment,the Youth Opportunities Programme, the YouthTraining Scheme and the Technical and VocationalEducational Initiative, there is an urgent need for anew analysis and Bates, Clark, Cohen, Finn, Mooreand Willis have put it together. They have assembleda book that all good radical sociology tutors willreach for thankfully. It is totally compatible withthe Michael Young volumes and the Open Universitycourse units on which so many of their courses areinextricably based. Nothing need to be wasted withthe addition of this easy, updating service. Andmuch of it - though sadly not all - is well writtentoo - particularly that from the pen of Paul Willis.In general the message is coherent and fluent andlacking in tiresome uncertainty and qualification.The theme of the book is that the freemarketeconomy does not or cannot accept its responsibilityfor unemployment any more than it did for anyother examples of capitalist exploitation, alienationor whatever. However, it has developed two newexplanations - the deficiencies of the young andthose of the educational system that fails to processthem effectively. Having done so, all that is neededis a simple solution - the Manpower ServicesCommission. Once the 'Great Debate' had identifiedthe failings of the schools, what could be morereasonable than that an organisation whif:h 'knowsbetter' should step in with advice (and funds) toimprove the situation'. Work becomes the newschool subject. 'The "mold" for the model pupilhere becomes the "mold" for the model worker -trained, skilled, flexible and above all, disciplined'.Later in the book Dan Finn refers to this process as'redefining youth'.The main thrust of the selection of contributionsthat constitute the book is twofold. One is thedetailed exploration of MSC strategies as a newinstrument of social control. The other is thedelineation of the distinctive consciousness ofworking class youth during the 'apprenticeship toadulthood' and the irrelevance of the schools evenin their new MSC defined role. This familiar PaulWillis theme is developed further in this volumewhere it becomes defined as the 'materialculturalism' of growing up in the working class.'Their problems concern survival in scarcity and theneed to make material adjustments and plans tocope with their real - and future - situations' ...'school is often rejected, rebelled against or treatedas a comic interlude before 'real' life begins.Dan Finn attempts to identify some aspects ofthis material culturalism in a study of the workexperience of school leavers in Coventry and Rugbyschools. Robert Moore goes on to explore someaspects of the 'new curricula'; the attempts withinthem to redefine knowledge and the responses ofsome of the clients. Philip Cohen sets out a shortexperiential alternative course of work and trainingexperience. Inge Bates contributes a lengthyhistorical chapter and only reaches thecontemporary events that concern the other authorswhen she nears the end. Not only the period butalso the ideological position of the author seemsslightly at variance with that of the company shekeeps.As one nears the end of the collection, thequestion 'so what' becomes ever more demanding.Sociology of education has become increasinglyexpert at demonstrating alternative constructions ofreality but the very process makes the lack ofalternative solutions sharply more visible. PaulWillis addresses himself very clearly to this problemin his final chapter and is properly modest in whathe offers. His list of seven suggestions is anythingbut surprising (but well worth saying for that reasonalone?). And some of the suggestions have theirunmistakable origins in a socialism far removedfrom the versions espoused by many of thecontributors. For example:The importance of maintaining maximally opentracks, and opening up new ones stretching intoadulthood, for return to the academic, traditionaland elite streams which will still exist. Thoughthey may serve class and cultural reproductionand the transmission of privilege, they will stilloffer the best chance of upward mobility toindividuals in the working-class.R.H. Tawney would have been proud to read soclose a paraphrase of his proposals of the 1920s!John EgglestonJudith WhyteRoutledge & Kegan Paul £16.95This book describes the Girls into Science andTechnology Project which was based in ten schoolsin the Manchester area. It is a project wl'!,ch hasbeen featured in Studies in Design Education Craft& Technology, ( Vol. 15, No.1). We now have thedefinitive report of the project by the Director,Judith Whyte.The main aims of the project were to explore thecauses of girls' relative under achievement in scienceand technology to find ways of changing thesituation. The evidence of under achievement wasunambiguous. In the United Kingdom girls areoutnumbered in school physics 3 to 1 and in craft40 to 1. The search for explanations takes us intothe classroom and into the minds of the teachersand pupils and shows clearly how differently scienceand craft teachers still perceive girls and boys andhow differently girls and boys still perceive scienceand technology.A wide range of strategies were devised by theteam to try to change the situation. These includedvisits to schools by women working in technology,development of teaching material more fullyoriented to girls' interests presenting a humanisticview of science, followed up by careers educationlinked to option choices in school.In her account of the strategies and their trialsJudith Whyte is frankly and unashamedly feministand offers a range of anecdotal evidence which willreassure teachers that she is writing about the realwork of the school. For instance in her chapter on'COT a Hard Nut to Crack' she writes of observinga teacher approaching a girl sitting on a bench:, "What's up, luv?" Without waiting for a replyhe took the work from her hand and saying, "I'llsort it out for you", picked up a mallet andneatly bent her copper strip around a bar in thevice, forming a smooth curve. With, as John (afellow researcher) describes it, a "silly grin" onhis face he rather patronisingly advised her totake a cloth and finish hand polishing it.A number of craft teachers have remarked tome that girls seem to like polishing and other lesstechnical activities because they provide a chancefor a gossip. But if girls are retreating from themore skilled and technical aspects of craft work,"helpful" teachers who take over the "fiddling"bits are only doing them a disservice, albeit withthe best intentions'.Yet in the event there are no ultimate solutions.The variable efficacy of the strategies rested largelyon the degree of enthusiasm of the hundred teacherswho participated in the project and, no doubt, inpart this was heightened by the knowledge that theywere working within the project.Fundamental changes in the attitudes of teachers,children, parents, employers and society in generalare needed before a fundamental and effectivechange in opportunity and achievement occurs. Aresearch project or even schools alone cannot changesociety. But one thing is unambiguouslydemonstrated by the book. It is that the differentialopportunities in science and technology experiencedby girls are not just a figment of feministimagination - they are real and substantiated -and all who teach in schools, men and women, needto begin the task of changing the situation. Thisbook offers many suggestions as to how they mightbegin.NotesonContributorsR. Bowen is Lecturer at Thames Polytechnic (Trent.Polytechnic from September 1986).Sandra Morgan is a Craft Design & TechnologyInspector I.LEA and a teacher at Warwick ParkSchool, London.R. Lloyd is Head of Technology at Castell AlunHigh School, Hope, Clwyd.Margaret Rogers is Head of Design at ElizabethGarrett Anderson School, London.Robert Johnstone is a teacher in CDT at BinleyPark School, Coventry.P .D. Wilcox is Head of CDT at Durham JohnstonComprehensive School, Durham.Studies in Design Education Craft & Technotogy, Summer /986

Reviews

https://ojs.lboro.ac.uk/SDEC/article/view/1150/1117

Reviews

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Loughborough University Library: Open Journals