TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION IN AUSTRALIA: MEANINGS, DEVELOPMENTS, ISSUES AND CHALLENGES

Year: 1989

Author: Gardner, P.L., Penna, C., Brass, K.

Type of paper: Abstract refereed

Abstract:
Government, business, industrial and union leaders now recognise that Australia's continued economic strength will largely depend upon successful technological change and development. Educators have, at the same time, recognised the need for a major review of the principles and practices of technology education for liberal as well as economic reasons. During the past few years, state education systems have (to varying extents) been engaged in reviewing the school curriculum; a greater emphasis upon technology has been part of that re-organisation. In Victoria, for example, the Ministry of Education Frameworks documents and the new Victorian Certificate of Education curriculum structure explicitly identify technology as an area of study within the total curriculum. Various initiatives by federal and state government departments, tertiary institutions and teachers reflect growing interest in the field. As might be expected when large educational systems begin to confront new and complex challenges, numerous issues and problems are emerging. In the case of technology education, these include the need to clarify the nature of the challenge itself (What is technology? What is to be included as part of technology education? Where does it belong in the curriculum?); to co-ordinate the efforts of many people (What is happening? How can good practice be communicated so that it influences others?); to identify the human, physical and information resources needed to implement technology education effectively; to deal with the massive problem of teacher education, especially in-service education; and to confront societal attitudes which limit technological advances (How can technological careers be made more appealing to females? How can the low status of "hands-on" skills be raised?) Although much of the responsibility for dealing with these issues rests with teachers and educational administrators, educational researchers and others associated with tertiary institutions also have a role to play: in clarifying issues, in supporting the sharing of information and experience, in investigating teaching and learning processes which enhance technological skills, in evaluating good practices and encouraging their dissemination, in acting as constructive critics, by drawing attention to gaps between political rhetoric and grass-roots realities, and in engaging in the long-term intellectual involvement needed to promote change, as an antidote to chimerical searches for quick solutions. The establishment of a national centre for research on technology education and a national association which would bring together interested people from the political, industrial and education sectors might help to place research in this field on the agenda of national priorities, to promote the conduct of such research, and to enhance its impact on the practice of technology education in this country.

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