Design and Technology has long held a controversial place on the school curriculum, with some arguing that it shouldn’t be there at all. This book presents and questions considered arguments and judgements, and explores the major issues that all D&T teachers encounter in their daily professional lives. In exploring some of the key debates, it encourages critical reflection and aims to stimulate both novice and experienced teachers to think more deeply about their practice, and link research and evidence to what they have observed in schools. Written by expert design and technology education professionals, chapters tackle established and contemporary issues, enabling you to reach informed judgements and argue your point of view with deeper theoretical knowledge and understanding. Debates covered include: What is the purpose of design and technology? Is it a vocational or academic subject? What is the place of design and technology within the STEM agenda? What knowledge and skills do teachers really need? What does the design and technology gender divide mean for schools and pupils? Is it a ‘creative’ subject? What is the future for design and technology? With its combination of expert opinion and fresh insight, Debates in Design and Technology Education is the ideal companion for any student or practising teacher engaged in initial training, continuing professional development or Masters level study.

Design and technology is a relatively new subject compared to more traditional subjects, and during its brief existence, it has garnered widespread debate in schools. This book aims to explore some of these debates and challenges the reader with new perspectives about the subject by presenting and questioning arguments about the purpose, content and place of design and technology in the school curriculum. It will encourage the reader to critically reflect on their own beliefs and practices to reach informed judgements and perspectives that will affect how they teach and think about design and technology. Exploring the major issues that design and technology teachers encounter in their professional lives as well as introducing new topics they may never have considered before, this comprehensive second edition has been fully updated with 16 chapters focusing on emerging and enduring debates: How do we do race in design and technology? What’s so special about design and technology anyway? What is design cognition in design and technology classrooms? What is the potential of feedback in the creative processes of a design and technology classroom? Does food fit in design and technology? What is the role of making in design and technology? With its combination of expert opinion and fresh insight, Debates in Design and Technology Education is the ideal companion for any student or practising teacher engaged in initial training, continuing professional development or master’s-level study.

In Issues in Technology, Learning, and Instructional Design, some of the best-known scholars in those fields produce powerful, original dialogues that clarify current issues, provide context and theoretical grounding, and illuminate a framework for future thought. Position statements are introduced and then responded to, covering a remarkably broad series of topics across educational technology, learning, and instructional design, from tool use to design education to how people learn. Reminiscent of the well-known Clark/Kozma debates of the 1990s, this book is a must-have for professionals in the field and can also be used as a textbook for graduate or advanced undergraduate courses.

Learning to Teach Design and Technology in the Secondary School is a core text for all those training to teach design and technology in the secondary school. It helps you develop subject knowledge, acquire a deeper understanding of the role, purpose and potential of design and technology within the secondary curriculum, and provides the practical skills needed to plan, teach and evaluate stimulating and creative lessons. This fully updated fourth edition includes information on all areas of design and technology, and on new subject requirements relating to exam qualifications. It includes three new chapters on the role of critiquing in design and technology education, transitions after secondary design and technology, and using and producing design and technology education research. Designed to be read as a course or dipped into for support and advice, it covers: Each area of design and technology: materials, textiles, electronics and food Integrating new curriculum topics, such as emerging technologies, into your teaching Developing areas of subject knowledge Health and safety Planning lessons Organising and managing the classroom Teaching wider issues through design and technology Assessment issues Your own professional development. Bringing together insights from current educational theory and the best contemporary classroom teaching and learning, this book will prove an invaluable resource for students on all training routes – as well as their mentors – who aspire to become effective, reflective design and technology teachers.

This book addresses notions of critique in Design and Technology Education, facilitating a conceptual and practical understanding of critique, and enabling both a personal and pedagogical application to practice. Critique can be a frame of mind, and may be related to a technology, product, process or material. In a holistic sense, critique is an element of a person’s technological literacy, a fundamentally critical disposition brought to bear on all things technological. This book provides a reasoned conceptual framework within which to develop critique, and examples of applying the framework to Design and Technology Education. The book builds on The Future of Technology Education published by Springer as the first in the series Contemporary Issues in Technology Education. In the 21st century, an ‘age of knowledge’, students are called upon to access, analyse and evaluate constantly changing information to support personal and workplace decision making and on-going innovation. A critical Design and Technology Education has an important role to play, providing students with opportunities to integrate economic, environmental, social and technological worlds as they develop and refine their technological literacy. Through the design and development of technology, they collaborate, evaluate and critically apply information, developing cognitive and manipulative skills appropriate to the 21st century. Critique goes beyond review or analysis, addressing positive and negative technological development. This book discusses and applies this deeper perspective, identifying a clear role for critique in the context of Design and Technology Education.

This collection offers an evidence-based approach to mentoring and supporting design and technology teachers and educators in the secondary school and provides tried and tested strategies to support this role. Contributors offer tasks and reflections to inspire and motivate mentors to get the best out of beginning teachers in the early stages of their career. Key topics explored include: • Helping new D&T teachers appreciate the fundamental nature of design and technology and how this informs both why it is taught and how it is taught. • Understanding yourself as a mentor - beliefs, values and attitudes, and how your experiences influence your approaches to teaching. • Observing design and technology teachers’ lessons and offering tools for observation and analysis. • Risk taking in the classroom: moving teachers forward from pedestrian to innovative practice. Filled with practical guidance on lesson planning, risk taking, and learning conversation, Mentoring Design and Technology Teachers in the Secondary School offers advice and guidance to support mentors in developing inspirational D&T teachers of the future. This essential guide is perfect for mentors of beginning teachers, whether trainee, newly qualified, or those who find themselves teaching the subject for the first time.

Packed full of practical ideas, Teaching Design and Technology Creatively is a stimulating source of guidance for busy trainee and practising teachers. Grounded in the latest research, it offers a wealth of suggestions to foster creative development in D&T and supports teachers in providing their students with more authentic, enjoyable experiences. Providing a wealth of ready-to-use ideas for creative lessons, key topics covered include: Understanding links between D&T and creativity Creating a foundation for D&T in the early years Using objects, books and real-life contexts as imaginative starting points Developing designerly thinking Making the most of construction kits Helping children draw to develop their ideas Encouraging dialogic talk in D&T to drive learning Exploring food as a creative resource Practical approaches to embedding IT and programming in the curriculum Taking learning outside the classroom. Teaching Design and Technology Creatively provides practical teaching suggestions to ensure teachers of all levels understand how to teach for creativity. It shows how learning experiences in D&T have the potential to extend children’s technological knowledge, and to promote problem-solving and evaluation skills. Drawing on examples from real-world projects, this text is invaluable for all those who wish to engage students in D&T and encourage creative classroom practice.