An emancipation framework for technology education teachers: an action research study

Abstract

This article reports on how action research (AR) was influential in designing an educational instrument to contribute to emancipating teachers with no formal training to teach technology as a subject in secondary schools. The subject technology is referred to using different names in different countries. Some call it ‘science and technology’ (Malawi/Bangladesh), others label it as ‘design and technology’ (UK/Botswana), in some instances it is dubbed ‘technology learning area’ (SA), while others term it ‘technology education’ (TE) (US/NZ/SA). A sample of 18 technology teachers from five secondary schools was engaged in the AR project reported on in this study. The research was designed from both a critical theory perspective and a participatory paradigm. Instruments used to gather data included observations, interviews, field notes, video recordings of lesson presentations and logs of meetings. The research findings revealed that most technology teachers in this study were neither trained nor qualified to facilitate technology or to teach it with confidence. An AR intervention was introduced, which changed the teachers’ situation by generating an instrument. The instrument generated in this study is only a framework, which could contribute towards emancipating incapacitated technology teachers. Even though this framework is applicable to TE, it could hopefully be adopted and adapted for use in other subjects as a way to enhance teachers’ content knowledge and pedagogy.