Technology Education Essay – August 2002 – Part 3
The only way that this misperception of technology education can be rectified is over time, but there are certain things that might help to speed up the process. It should be made clear in schools that opportunities exist for both sexes to excel in technology areas, as in any other field. It might be justifiable for schools to implement special programs that illustrate the futures of technology to both students and parents, particularly at a pre secondary or early secondary level, where curriculum choices have not yet been made.
Even if a school does have the very latest in technology, they still need well trained teachers for any relevant learning to take place. In parallel with the continual need to update technology in schools is the need for educators to continuously update their own knowledge. This is a problem in technology education as with an already heavy workload, some teachers can be understandably reluctant to have to keep learning new skills themselves.
It might be unrealistic to expect that technology teachers be paid at a higher rate, in order to attract specialists with current knowledge, but that would certainly be one strategy that could be effective. Another way to make sure that what is being taught in schools is up to date might be to develop a policy in schools of regularly featuring ‘guest teachers’ in technology education, who would be specialists in various areas of technology and would be able to give modern perspectives on technology to both students and teachers.
While there are many issues in technology education that need to be addressed, the field of design and technology as a whole is an incredibly important one. With the trend towards a society and an economy which require an increasingly technical-based skill set to be a functional and productive member, it is essential that every student receives a well balanced and well thought out education in the basics of technology, across a broad range of subjects. “Given that technological competence will be a requirement for more jobs in the coming economy, it is imperative that (plans are devised) to ensure that all children are given high quality educational experiences involving computers, interactive videos, calculators, and whatever other electronic wizardry emerges as an important problem solving tool…”. (Groundwater-Smith, Brennan, McFadden & Mitchell, 2001, p 340)
Only through continual debate about policy, including the issues that we have discussed, and review of procedures in technology education can this new area be developed to its maximum potential. While there is much that is already right about the way technology education is taught, there is also much room for improvement.
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