Programming in school technology education: the shaping of a new subject content

Abstract

In Sweden, as in many other countries, programming has been added to the curriculum in recent years. This paper explores how and under what conditions programming is transformed into teaching in technology education. Teachers in grade 7–9 were interviewed about what and how they teach about programming in the context of technology education, and what influenced the choices they made. Data was analysed using content analysis. The results suggest that teachers mainly see programming as a medium to explore and understand technological systems and construction work. The results further implies that teachers are uncertain of what programming means in terms of practices and concepts, and how programming knowledge can be assessed. The process of transformation presents teachers with several challenges, related to their own knowledge of programming, quality of teaching materials, and knowing pupils’ prior knowledge about programming. In addition, the results indicate that technology teachers work in isolation. In consequence, the intended interdisciplinary collaboration between technology and mathematics teachers on programming is largely absent.