Technology and Children’s Literature

Abstract

The technology that mediates our lives today is complex. If we are to understand our modern technological world, technology education needs to place more emphasis on discussions and reflections about technology. A starting point for this chapter is that children’s literature can be understood as a mediator of views and values about technology, which makes it an interesting subject matter for technology education. Children’s fiction places technology in a context and could therefore serve as a pedagogical tool for broadening and expanding technology education. This chapter is an exploration of different views of technology found within a selection of children’s books: An anti-consumeristic view of technology, technology as a servant to humans, a nostalgic view of technology, and technol- ogy as a vehicle for adventure. The books are all examples of stories which depict technology itself but also issues and problems relevant to the field of technology education. In general, the books present technology in a diverse way, and the messages in the stories reveal its multifaceted nature. This chapter concludes that fictional stories can make it possible to problematize the nature of technology in ways that textbooks seldom can. Children’s fiction could therefore serve as a platform for open-ended enquiries and dialogues about the nature of technology and the effects of technology on individuals, society, and nature in the past and the present.