How technology makes us human: cultural historical roots for design and technology education

Abstract

In the context of curriculum change within English education, and beyond, this article explores the cultural historical roots of design and technology as an educational construct, distinct from design or engineering, which exist as career paths outside of the school curriculum. It is a position piece, drawing on literature from a wide range of sources from writing, largely, outside of the discipline.

The authors revisit the original intentions of design and technology as a National Curriculum subject and, within the contemporary challenges, discuss the importance of technology, including designing and making, as an essentially human and humanising activity. The aim being to contribute to the theorisation and philosophy of the subject, where typically practitioners focus on practical and potentially mundane concerns.

This article asserts that technological human activity is rooted in technological innovation and determinism, inextricably linked to social human activity. The aim is to add to the literature and provoke debate around the place and value of design and technology. The argument for retention of the subject, as part of a broad and balanced curriculum, is presented from a social and technological perspective; recognising the value of the subject as cultural rather than a merely technical or economic imperative.

Keywords:

• Culture
• design and technology
• philosophy of technology
• pragmatism
• technology and society

Acknowledgement

This article builds on paper first presented at McLain, Bell, Wooff, and Morrison-Love (2018) at the Pupils’ Attitudes Towards Technology (PATT) conference in June 2018, held at Athlone Institute of Technology, Ireland.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Matt McLain

Matt McLain leads the secondary initial teacher education programmes in the School of Education at Liverpool John Moores University. Previously he taught design and technology for over a decade in secondary schools in the North West of England. He has a professional interest in design and technology education, and his research interests are curriculum and pedagogy in practical and creative subjects, in particular demonstration, the philosophy of technology education and Q Methodology research. Matt is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Dawne Irving-Bell

Dawne Irving-Bell is a Senior Lecturer in Teaching and Learning Development and Projects Lead in the Centre for Learning and Teaching at Edge Hill University. She has extensive experience of working in the secondary, further and Higher Education settings. Her research interests include the formation of learner identity and pedagogical approaches to learning and teaching within Higher Education and STEM. Dawne is a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

David Wooff

David Wooff is a Senior Learning and Teaching Fellow and Principal Lecturer in the School of Education at the University of Sunderland. Prior to working in initial teacher education, he had a successful career teaching and leading design and technology in secondary schools. His research interests include investigating the purpose of Design and Technology as a curriculum construct, its place in STEM and notions of quality within education. David is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

David Morrison-Love

David Morrison-Love is a member of the Curriculum, Assessment and Pedagogy research and teaching group and Lecturer in Technology Education and Employability within the School of Education at the University of Glasgow, Scotland. His research interests focus on the nature and philosophy of technology and engineering education as well as classroom level learning and teaching in technology and STEM subjects. David is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and is involved in a number of funded projects in both research and consultancy roles.