Much remains to be done

Abstract

This book took as its starting point the assumption that, even in an ever-changing environment, some things stay the same. Education policy needs to coherently connect government and community aims across all levels of education. Education systems need to be sufficiently robust and flexible to deliver effective learning and assessment opportunities to diverse students. The curriculum—which reflects government policy and the systems within which it operates—should meet the needs of students and the wider community. But while these principles are unchanged, what varies is the detail: how (and whether) policy connections are established and maintained, features of the education system that are needed for it to be both robust and flexible, and what the intended and implemented curriculum looks like. Technology education is new enough as a school subject that many readers will remember versions of its craft-type predecessors. The current iteration of the subject, by and large, embraces learning in and about technology and developing skills in design, creativity, problem solving, systems understanding and critique, in addition to specific technical skills. ‘Technological literacy’ has become embedded within curriculum and political rhetoric, although references to ‘technology for all’ often sit alongside vocational purposes for the subject.