Book: Technology Education in New Zealand

Fox-Turnbull, Wendy, Elizabeth Reinsfield, and Alistair Michael Forret. Technology Education in New Zealand: A guide for teachers. Routledge, 2021

Chapter 2: Underpinning philosophy and perspectives of technology in New Zealand

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In 1882, the sailing ship S.S. Dunedin (Figure 2.1) delivered the first cargo of frozen meat from New Zealand to Britain. This voyage, from Port Chalmers to London, took three months during which the cargo was kept frozen by a Bell-Coleman refrigeration system driven by a steam engine that used three tons of coal a day. The successful delivery of the S.S. Dunedin’s cargo paved the way for the trade in frozen meat and dairy products that became the cornerstone of New Zealand’s economy.

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The way we live and the quality of our lives is directly connected to the tools we make and the technological capability they afford us to, as Cosgrove put it, solve problems of survival, well-being and quality of life.

While the technologies we develop to meet our needs and wants, change and shape our lives, it is also the case that our needs and wants determine the technologies that we develop. Our need/want to preserve and store food has led us to develop various food preservation techniques, including refrigeration. Our need/want for transport has led to the development of the wide variety of modes of transport we see today. Our health needs/wants have led to the array of medicines and techniques now available, and so on.

Technology and values

An important point here is that, because technology is driven by our needs/wants/desires, technology is essentially driven by our values, and technological outcomes are heavily value-laden.

Solving problems of survival, well-being and quality of life is a values-infused endeavour. When we use words like well-being and quality of life, not everyone will have the same perspective on their meaning. An individual, or group, perspective on this is determined by their values, what one person considers an improvement in their quality of life may be perceived by someone else as a reduction in their quality of life. This means that there is diversity in the technological outcomes that people develop, correlating with a variation in wants and desires.

Diversity is part of what makes our “made” world so interesting and also means that there are many ways to approach technological development. We can respond to technological challenges in a variety of effective and successful ways – there is always more than one way to achieve a technological goal.

From an educational perspective, this is particularly pertinent because it means that, in technology, there is not one right answer to solving a technological problem. For many students this may be contrary to a lot of what they have experienced at school where much of their time is spent trying to come up with the right answer.

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Generation of ideas

When faced with a problem you do not already know how to solve, the only way forward is to try something new, and this requires you to generate some possible solutions that can then be considered against the original brief. The more ideas you can come up with the better.

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Testing-and-selecting

Testing-and-selecting lies at the heart of technological development and is something we all do all the time, often unconsciously, as we make decisions and solve problems. Testing-and-selecting can happen quickly and informally as we encounter something new and consider what we think of it. In a brainstorming session with other members of a design team, you may test-and-select many ideas. Testing-and-selecting in this case means assessing your initial response to an idea or design. You may like a particular idea/design; think it has value, while disliking and rejecting another idea. As discussion goes on and some ideas begin to be more favoured, testing becomes more rigorous in relation to the particular pros and cons of a design, in relation to the design brief.

The ultimate modelling test is to build a prototype. Unlike other physical models, which are often not complete working models having been built to test characteristics such as dimensions, look, feel and aesthetics, a prototype is built to look and operate exactly as the proposed final outcome and provides the ultimate test of all the ideas and work that has gone into the design and construction of the outcome. Of course, what you learn from building a prototype may mean that the development process is not over and that further changes to the design are required.

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Theory can often be misunderstood within society however – and taken as some sort of guess, as the opposite of a fact, because “it’s just a theory.” On the contrary, the reason that a theory becomes accepted within the scientific community is that it is supported by a valid explanation that is consistent with the available evidence. The reason your cell phone works is because our scientific understanding of electromagnetic waves is reliably accurate. Of course, there are other aspects of the world and universe about which we are not so sure. While the general public like to know whether something is right or wrong, or true or false, scientists realise that even when they are highly confident in the veracity of their theory, there is still much to learn. No explanation is perfect and scientists understand that however good their current theory might be, it will certainly be improved in the future.

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So, technology and science are different, they are aimed at different outcomes and their outcomes are important in their own right. However, it is not difficult to see how the outcomes of each can enhance the other.

Chapter 3: Rationale for and nature of technology education in New Zealand

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According to Reinsfield and Williams (2017), technology education is heavily influenced by political agenda and the perception that its role is to develop students who can contribute to the national workforce, particularly in the trades. Such a driver is disparate to the aims of the NZC, which states that the intent of technology education is to “develop a broad technological literacy that will equip [students] to participate in society as informed citizens and give them access to technology related careers” (MoE, 2007, p. 32).
Understandings of the subject can be interpreted as the result of professional, parental or students’ cultural capital (Sullivan, 2001). According to Bourdieu (1986), cultural capital can be represented in three forms – through the dispositions of mind and body, through cultural goods in an objectified state (such as teacher-generated resources) and through institutional discourse. For example, school-aged students may expect learning in technology to involve only practical work because this is what their parents described the subject to be. The tension with this thinking is that it is not reflective of the nature of the subject, as it is conceptualised within the current NZC.

Rationale 1: Economy
Economic justification for the place of technology in the curriculum emerged from the understanding that the country could no longer continue to be the “garden for England.”

New Zealanders needed to become innovative developers of goods and services that did not necessarily rely on our primary industries. It was envisaged that the introduction of technology education could assist in developing innovative, creative thinkers.

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The tension between vocational (trades) and general education in secondary schools suggests a duality between the two philosophical approaches, which are often taught in the same environment, by the same teachers and to the same students; however, the pragmatics of the subject’s implementation can mean that to separate teaching into different concepts or pathways is not always straightforward. Technology education and vocational education have differing purposes and contrasting pedagogical approaches, which have not yet been fully acknowledged in some school contexts.

Rationale 2: Pedagogy
The pedagogical rationale for implementation grew from the recognition that intelligence is not only academic in nature. Technology education, as opposed to its predecessor technical education, introduced the notion of multiple intelligences. To be successful in technology education, students need to understand and facilitate a dynamic relationship between academic, practical intelligence, and skill.

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Rationale 3: Motivation
Closely related to the pedagogical rationale, the motivational rationale for implementing technology is very powerful. The authors of this book have experienced first-hand how motivational for students it is to undertake authentic technological practice and engage in helping others.

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Rationale 4: Culture
The cultural rationale for the implementation of technology is possibly more relevant today than in the early 1990s. New Zealand is one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world. In education, we focus on meeting the individual learning needs of all students, guided by the principles of equality and inclusion and Te Tiriti o Waitangi (the Treaty of Waitangi) – ensuring the specific rights of Māori. We are therefore both a bicultural and multicultural nation.

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Rationale 5: Environmental
The environmental rationale for implementing technology is becoming increasingly
more relevant by the day. Technology education does not only focus on
the designing and development of technologies, it also includes understanding
the ethical and environmental implications, impacts and influences of technologies.
In other words, it encourages students and technologists to contemplate
whether they should design and develop particular technologies – despite being
able to.

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Rationale 6: Personal
The final but by no means the least important rationale for implementing technology into the curriculum is the personal justification. We all live in a technological world.

Contemporary pedagogy in technology
Despite the long-time emphasis on knowledge recall and test performances as a measure of success in schools, more recently there has been a focus on how to prepare students for their future lives within a technological world. In 2007, Guy Claxton suggested that effective 21st-century learners need to be capable of being:

• curious and questioning;
• resilient and focused;
• open-minded and flexible;
• imaginative and creative;
• critical, sceptical and analytical;
• methodical and opportunistic;
• reflective and self-evaluative;
• keen to improve their products and performances;
• collaborative but independent.

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There are a number of attitudes, skills and dispositions vital for success in today’s technological world. These include critical thinking, problem solving, adaptability, initiative, entrepreneurialism, effective communication, analysing information, openness, flexibility of thinking, curiosity, imagination, confidence and self-belief. Learning and progress can be measured through three dimensions: robustness, breadth and richness.

Building learning power within children occurs through the development of these attitudes, skills and dispositions within four domains: resilience, resourcefulness, reflectiveness and reciprocity. Within these dimensions sit a number of capabilities particularly relevant to technology education.

These include: noticing, perseverance, managing distractions and absorption in the resilience domain; making links, questioning and imaging in resourcefulness; planning and distilling in reflectiveness and collaboration, empathy, and interdependence in reciprocity. Increasing children’s curiosity, sense of adventure, perseverance and independence along with teaching children how to be better learners also increases their capabilities for learning.

Authentic technology practice is real to the students, their lives, and to situations they may encounter in the future workplace. For example, a context in New Zealand in which students design and develop a range of flavoured cottage cheeses, is something that students could relate to as dairy products are a significant part of New Zealand culture and economy. In other words, it is an authentic context because students could imagine they, or someone they know, may, or could, do this professionally. The same study might not be as relevant in Asian or Pacific communities where cheese is not a common aspect of culture.

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The characteristics of learning include:

• Technology builds on students’ existing knowledge and skills, values, interests and aspirations.
• Technology develops real, identified needs or problems, and with multiple solutions. There is no single “right answer.”
• Lateral thinking and willingness to test divergent options are encouraged.
• Students should experience the satisfaction of developing a range of outcomes.
• Developments are advanced by sharing ideas, presenting concepts and evaluating possible solutions.
• Teacher’s knowledge, experience and skills provide input to assist in refining ideas, selecting resources and achieving quality in products, as well as guiding students towards viable solutions.
• Teachers support, guide, challenge and learn with the students, interacting with their thinking and helping to clarify ideas.
• Learning in technology encourages risk taking. Students’ ideas should be accepted and valued, and students challenged to realise their aspirations.
• Technology provides opportunities for students to show initiative, make choices and take more responsibility for their own work.
• Technology requires students to work cooperatively and collaboratively with each other, their teachers and other adults.
• The teacher’s role is to motivate, encourage, support and provide feedback to students.
• Technology offers opportunities for a wide range of people in the community to provide specialist input.

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The subject’s formative years in New Zealand

New Zealand’s schooling system has been heavily influenced by colonisation and a British philosophy. British public school structures were often adopted with many secondary schools reflecting elitist perspectives and endorsing the view that the working classes were predisposed to more menial tasks. In 1905, the first New Zealand-based technical school was opened. This school offered practical subjects for those students who were deemed unsuitable for the academic nature of secondary schooling and directed these individuals towards the trades. Such an attitude reflected the philosophy of England and Wales where technical education was historically aligned to economic and political agenda as well as to employment. This attitude continues to be pervasive in New Zealand and technology education is regularly positioned as a subject that can cater solely to the needs of lower ability students rather than to accommodate a diversity of academic and social learning approaches.

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Any change in curriculum requires teachers to reflect on the currency of their
practice and can lead to resistance to, or acceptance of, the change. Despite
community recognition that some teachers had found the change in curriculum
difficult to navigate, the new technology curriculum then consolidated the epistemological
shift which had begun in 1995. Conceptually, technology education
became a subject that recognised the theoretical and conceptual dimensions
connecting the different specialist areas that had both technical and vocational
beginnings.

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Technological literacy or Technacy can also be viewed as a means to support students to function in a technological and future-focused society. Such a focus provides opportunities for a reciprocal relationship between technology and society because it:

• considers technology from a historical perspective or as socially constructed in nature;
• can be used to provide learning, which focuses on the development of technologies and techniques that apply in our constructed world, to encompass the processes, ways of thinking, and organisation of socio-technological contexts;
• provides a generic context for specialist areas (like textiles) within technology, which have alternative connotations associated with the learning;
• accommodates dynamic learning to enable students’ participation in a developing global and digital community.

Technological determinism can be used to reflect the differing trends in
socio-technological evolution and ways of thinking about technology. Figure 3.1
identifies a range of engaging and future-focused ways to explore alternative and
innovative learning opportunities to develop students’ technological literacy.
Artefactual determinism is a view that artefacts shape societal relationships
with technology. For example, there is mystery, and many hypotheses have
developed over time, about the Egyptian pyramids. The tools developed to enable
their construction would have been designed to address a particular need.
Technical determinism refers to discourse in a social setting that influences
societal engagement with technology. The social and economic discourse influences
what is considered to be legitimate knowledge in a country.

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Technological determinism can reflect particular political intentions. The atom bomb is an inherently political artefact that, by its very existence, demands a high level of control to ensure that it doesn’t negatively affect the world. The atom bomb was developed to ensure that those in power, with self-perceived qualities of good judgement, could “win a race” and end World War II. In such circumstances, innovation can gain momentum.
Technological momentum is a concept used to present the view that as technological systems become more established, people are less likely to critique its place in society. The bicycle is an example. Originally, it was perceived by some as immoral because of the tendency for women to show their ankles when using it. Bicycles are now an accepted artefact in most communities, reflecting the notion of technological frames. Technological frames include the nature, role and application of the technological artefact or system, within a particular context.

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Self-concept and professional identity
Self-concept is a notion that considers an individual’s belief or conviction, especially when they are provided with a choice. It is multi-faceted and hierarchical and investigated by studying perceived self-esteem or the dynamics of a teacher’s relationships with others. A teacher’s self-concept and the way they describe their practice can be explored through their ability to function effectively in uncertain situations. Self-concept is pertinent here because teachers’ understanding of the nature of technology education is perceived to have a direct correlation to their emerging professional practice. A teacher’s self-concept evolves as the result of the school context within which they teach and their sense of professional belonging and as a result of their values, abilities, aspirations, interests, needs and history.

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A hidden curriculum
Michael Apple suggests the unintended but emerging consequences of a political
text can lead to a hidden curriculum in a school. A hidden curriculum is curriculum learned but not explicitly taught. The hidden curriculum can influence
the ways that knowledge is socially constructed, and, in turn, the practices in
a school context; it can manifest as “norms and values that are implicitly, but
effectively, taught in schools and that are not usually talked about in teachers’
statements of end” (p. 78). In the case of technology education, there is the risk
that despite suggestions otherwise, teachers might be promoting solely practical and skill-based activities instead of the notions advocated for in the current
curriculum.

Just-in-time teaching (JiTT)
JiTT is a pedagogical strategy that is usually associated with e-learning platforms to enable teachers’ understanding of their students’ learning needs to improve academic outcomes and increase engagement. Whilst this notion is often represented as being a means to foster students’ learning outside of the classroom, prior to formal lessons, JiTT is also an enabling concept for technology teachers to support the fostering of an active learning environment. This pedagogical approach is also significant because teachers are positioned to support students’ learning, rather than direct it. For example, rather than the teacher deciding what skills and knowledge learners should be exposed to in Year 9 then teaching them out of context, the students could instead:

• Explore their own learning context from a problem-based perspective, and to address a need or opportunity.
• Identify what they need to know and develop understanding at a time that makes sense to the learner.
• Construct knowledge collaboratively or individually to facilitate a successful concept or outcome.

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Authentic practice and culture: related theories
Vygotsky’s constructivist theory considers the construction of knowledge within a cultural framework. A number of other theories advocate the placement of learning in authentic practice and underpin thinking in technology education. These include the theories of Enculturation, Expert Knowledge including procedural and conceptual knowledge, situated cognition, apprenticeship and cognitive apprenticeship. Vygotsky’s Anchored Instruction also advocates the use of experts or experienced practitioners as a key component of learning. Finally, Karen Zuga suggests that Feminist theory acknowledges that women have a more holistic method of knowing and doing which, in turn, lends itself to learning within authentic contexts.

Constructivism

There is a clear difference between technology education and its predecessor technical studies or “manual training.” Technology education is orientated towards the social constructivist philosophy that technical processes or skills should be taught only as the need to know them arises, in order to solve a social problem. “Manual training” programmes were skill-based where students learned and practised skills in isolation. In technology, students collaboratively participate in problem-solving processes to meet identified needs.

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Enculturation
Learning must involve activity, concept and culture as they are all interdependent. Traditionally, students were asked to use tools in isolation, having little idea
of the culture of the practice for that tool. The culture of a practice determines
the way a practitioner does it. To learn to use a tool as practitioners do, students must enter the culture of the community of practice, like an apprentice.
Successful learning becomes a process of enculturation.

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Anchored instruction
Another theory that strengthens the argument for technology programmes to involve students in authentic technological practice situated within a specific technological culture is the theory of anchored instruction. The theory suggests that students have a body of knowledge that they don’t use unless reminded. The term for this untapped knowledge is “inert knowledge.”

Figure 3.3 Pacey’s model of technological practice

Figure 3.5 Kimbell’s reflective activity capability model of technological practice

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Authentic teachers and pedagogy

In 2004 Slavkin detailed six suggestions for authentic pedagogy. These are:
1
teachers ability to help students accurately review experiences;
2
application of skills on new settings;
3
authentic pedagogy with complex tasks;
4
shared responsibility for learning between teacher and student;
5
understanding there are multiple ways to look at material;
6
teacher and student involvement to ensure learning occurs with information applied practically.

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We have modified and embellished Slavkin’s original list of ten suggestions for creating a motivational classroom that we believe might be useful, particularly for student teachers of technology. These include:
1 an openness to perceiving new information about students and looking at
them as individuals in unique ways;
2 the provision of multi-dimensional classroom, open spaces and break-out
spaces give students a choice of learning environment, in technology including access to multi-material facilities;
3 evaluation of students privately using critical reviews, avoiding cultural and
personal bias;
4 the effective evaluation of individual learners using authentic practice based
assessment practices;
5 the asking of open-ended questions about students’ abilities, FOK and
experiences from the beginning of the unit;
6 listen attentively to students, using prompting and probing questions for
greater depths of understanding;
7 assisting students to identify their own abilities, strengths and potentials;
8 assisting students to feel competent and confident in multiple areas;
9 provision of new challenges and comments about have has been achieved
and what the next learning steps are;
10 the teaching of strategies and skill to accomplish technology practice and related tasks, not just for factual knowledge or skill acquisition.

Authenticity is a moral ideal. Authentic teachers care about teaching, want to
work well with students, believe in the value of what they do and have a professional respect for students. They must engage with the larger questions of the
purpose and role of education and convey how their subject matter matters in
the real world. They will connect learners in substantive authentic conversations
or dialogue around significant issues and are guided more by caring for the
education of students than by their own self-interest. Teachers need to become
conversant with formative assessment practices and the principles of active and
inquiry-based learning and integration.

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There are a number of design characteristics that make classroom activity authentic. These include a culmination of much of what we have said previously about authentic activity and also consider other aspects of classroom learning such as assessment. Authentic classroom activities:
1
have real-world relevance;
2
require defining and refining by the students;
3
are complex tasks investigated over a sustained period of time;
4
provide the opportunity to examine the task from different perspectives;
5
provide the opportunity to collaboration;
6
provide the opportunity for reflection;
7
can be integrated across different learning areas;
8
include seamlessly integrated assessment;
9
create polished products valuable in their own right;
10
allow for competing solutions and diversity of outcome.

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Learner-centred classrooms

Self-regulated learners are confident, diligent and resourceful; they know what they can do and are proactive to seek support as they require it. They can problem-solve, take responsibility for their learning, plan, set goals, reflect and action the need to change thinking. The term “self-regulated learners” is applicable to research in relation to how adaptive professionals think and how their pedagogies foster students’ agency in the classroom.
Self-regulating teachers (and students) often present as motivated learners, who have high self-efficacy and intrinsic motivation. With appropriate support, self-regulated students are likely to find a learner-centred approach to technology education an experience that affirms their confidence, but this will depend on the professional skill of the teacher to organise the learning process appropriately. Although adolescents are undoubtedly capable of innovative thought, they are less likely than their younger counterparts to volunteer or articulate their ideas unless the teacher fosters a classroom environment where they feel safe to engage and take risks in their learning. Inevitably, there are some students (and teachers) who engage with learning and intuitively work autonomously and without the need for systemic intervention.

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During Guided Inquiry, students learn through instruction and experience.

One issue with inquiry learning we have observed is that learning and activities are sometimes not structured nor targeted, in fact – too open. Students are left to their own devices, free to study or investigate what they wish with very little intervention and guidance from their teachers. When teachers do not have comprehensive curriculum and pedagogical content knowledge opportunities for the learning of specific skills and knowledge from some curriculum learning areas are not taught. Discrete curriculum knowledge disappears. In this situation, students are very busy; maybe having fun, but there is very little focus on curriculum content or process knowledge.

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Social interaction and talk in technology
Language and social interaction are vital components of working collaboratively and therefore fundamental components of learning in technology. Vygotsky suggested that there are two opposing tendencies always at work in social interaction – intersubjectivity and alterity. Intersubjective dialogue occurs between a novice and an expert and works towards shared definition and aims to move the novice to a state in which performance can be carried out independently.

Dialogue is much more than talk; it is complex and dynamic and often involves very different cultures, perspectives, ideas and people. It generally involves the use of words and requires engagement with people.

Educational success and failure may be explained by the quality of educational dialogue, rather than by the capability of individual students or the skill of their teachers.

Teachers need to engage in quality dialogue with students (and parents) to assist with cognitive and experiential understanding of the world in which they live. Teachers make powerful contributions to the way children think and talk and convey powerful messages about thinking by the way they structure classroom activity and talk. Students need to be engaged in thoughtful and reasoned dialogue. Teachers need to model and scaffold useful language strategies to extend thinking.

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Technology observations and conversation framework

The technology observations conversation framework (TOCF)

Students must be able to fail repeatedly during their design processes and testing phases. Modelling is all about discovering what will and will not work. In technology mistakes are celebrated, each identifying something that does not work “yet” and that that a solution may lie elsewhere or indeed does not exist.

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Flexibility and sophistication indicate a depth to understanding as well as an openness to new and potentially strange ideas. They involve the use of reasoning to evaluate and distil information in order to understand what is learned from an experience. The ability to think flexibly and sophisticatedly includes the questioning of relevance and asking questions of others to learn more by getting below the surface of ideas and artefacts. Planning ideas and actions and capitalising or making the best use of resources also characterise this behaviour. There is an intuitive connection between creativity and cognition

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Reflection describes the strategic and self-managing aspect of learning and
includes the planning and anticipating of needs and potential issues and distilling
information for potential or future use. Reflection includes the revision of
prior learning and its evaluation as a part of the distilling process. It assists with
the identification of relevant learning that is transferrable to new contexts. It
also involves self-generated questioning and self-monitoring of progress through
being cognisant of what, how and why learning is taking place.

Chapter 4: Implementing the technology curriculum in New Zealand

Technology in NZC is taught through five technological areas, including
1 computational thinking (CT);
2 designing and developing digital outcomes (DDDO);
3 designing and developing materials outcomes (DDMO);
4 designing and developing processed outcomes (DDPO);
5 design and visual communication (DVC).

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Hangarau

The Hangarau curriculum (Te Tāhuhu O Te Mātauranga, 2008) is conceptualised in similar ways to the technology learning area of the NZC (MoE, 2007) to allow children to engage in purposeful problem-solving and address an identified need. The Hangarau curriculum emphasises the importance of Māori values, beliefs and language, and includes two strands (whenu):
1
the Nature of Hangarau (Ngā Āhuatanga o Te Hangarau);
2
technological practice (Te Whakaharatau Hangarau), which focuses on the development of learners’ knowledge and skills.
Hangarau has five learning contexts (aho) to enable students’ learning. These include:
1
information communication technology (Te Tuku Mōhiohio);
2
food technology (Hangarau Kai);
3
biotechnology (Hangarau Koiora);
4
structures (Ngā Hanga me Ngā Pūhanga Manawa);
5
electronics and control (Te Tāhiko me te Hangarau Whakatina).

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Te whariki

In Strand 5 Exploration:
The students will demonstrate:
• curiosity and the ability to inquire into, research, explore, generate and modify working theories about the natural, social, physical, spiritual and human-made worlds (p. 47)
• ability and inclination to cope with uncertainty, imagine alternatives, make decisions, choose materials and devise their own problems (p. 47)
• recognition of different domains of knowledge and how they relate to understanding people, places and things (p. 47)
Students learn:
• to be innovative developers of products and systems and discerning consumers who will make a difference in the world. Students will explore and investigate properties of materials within each context of learning. They will also consider processes and production systems within technologies. These are reflected in the designs and plans produced by students (p. 57)
• curiosity and the ability to inquire into, research, explore, generate and modify working theories about the natural, social, physical, spiritual and human-made worlds (p. 57).

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Technology as a learning area in The New Zealand Curriculum

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Digital technologies
When we tell people that we are technology teachers, most want us to fix their computer or discuss the latest digital device. When talking about technology many people default to recent information and communication inventions – usually digital technologies such as computers, iPad, cell phones, etc. However, digital technologies, as an area in technology education, is much more than this – the aim is to enable students to be designers and developers of digital technologies rather than only users and consumers. In Years 1–8, the two areas can be implemented within other learning areas, integrating technology outcomes with the learning area (such as learning languages) outcomes and providing opportunities to further develop students’ key competencies.
By the end of Year 10, students’ TK and skills (in digital) enable them to follow a predetermined process to design, develop, store, test and evaluate digital content to address a given issue. Throughout this process, students consider social and end-user considerations. They can independently decompose computational problems into an algorithm used to create a programme incorporating inputs, outputs, sequence, selection and iteration.

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Computational thinking (CT)

Enabling people to take advantage of computing technology in the digital age is one of the most cited benefits of CT education. CT can be characterised by the notions of decomposition (breaking concepts down into easier, manageable parts), pattern representation (such as the use of a character to represent a piece of data), abstraction (ideas) and algorithms (rules used during problem-solving operations). Learning in this technological area will support students to understand the principles from computer science that underpin all digital technologies, such as programming concepts. CT enables students to express problems and formulate solutions in ways that means a computer (an information processing agent) can be used to solve them. Students develop algorithmic thinking skills and an understanding of the computer science principles that underpin all digital technologies. They become aware of what is and isn’t possible with
Figure 4.3 Ministry of Education’s released draft technology education and Hangarau Matihiko published later in 2017
110 Implementing the technology curriculum
computing, allowing them to make judgments and informed decisions as citizens of the digital world. Students learn core programming concepts and how to take advantage of the capabilities of computers, so that they can become creators of digital technologies, not just users. They develop an understanding of how computer data is stored, how all the information within a computer system is presented using digits, and the impact that different data representations have on the nature and use of this information.

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Designing and developing digital outcomes (DDDO)
The second of the new technological areas aimed to increase the presence of digital technologies in NZC is DDDO. In this technological area, students learn how to develop fit-for-purpose digital solutions. Students develop understandings of the relationship between people and digital technology and how this facilitates the location, analysis, evaluation, and presentation and manipulation of information. Ethical issues, such as intellectual property, copyright and patents, are pertinent to their learning, as is an understanding of electronic components, networks and systems, and their impact on the effectiveness of digital solutions. Students engage with a range of technologies to create digital content for a range of interactive digital platforms.

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Designing and developing materials outcomes (DDMO)
In this area, students develop skills and knowledge to facilitate the transformation of, and work with, resistant materials, textiles and fashion. Through the NZC levels, students become increasingly skilled in applying their knowledge of design principles to create innovative outcomes that realise opportunities and solve authentic problems and satisfy needs. Students create technological outcomes, including conceptual designs, prototypes and batches of a product using manufacturing and quality assurance processes. They develop knowledge about the systems, structures, machines and techniques used in the manufacture of products. Through the levels, students’ thinking becomes more and more reflective, critical and creative as they assess and critique material outcomes in terms of quality of design, fitness-for-purpose, and impact and influence on society and the environment.

Designing and developing processed outcomes (DDPO)
Humans have been using organisms to make products for more than 10,000 years. Processing technologies focuses on formulating and knowing how to formulate processed products, as conceptualised in biotechnology, chemical technology, agriculture and horticulture (and systems control), food technology, product development, and sometimes new textiles. Process technologies differ from materials technologies in that the technological outcomes are chemically and structurally different from the original materials or ingredients used. For example, a cake is structurally and chemically different from the flour and eggs that form it. Students develop understandings of the systems, processes and techniques used in manufacturing products and gain experience from using these, along with related quality assurance procedures, to produce prototypes or multiple copies of a product. They also explore the impact of different economic and cultural concepts on the development of processed products, including their application in product preservation, packaging and storage.

Biotechnology
Biotechnology has a range of definitions according to its context or purpose. In the NZC the definition is broad and includes both modern and ancient biotechnologies.

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Biotechnology products can be food based, such as bread and other yeast-based foods or pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, genetically improved and modified crops. Systems can include compost, agriculture, horticulture, water purification, hydroponics, biocontrol, genetic or biomedical engineering, and waste management.
In primary schools, learning about biotechnology typically involves the development of products and systems that can easily be developed in a general classroom such as bread, ginger beer, composting, worm farming, organic and traditional garden design and construction as well as very simple pharmaceuticals such as hand cream. For secondary students, learning about biotechnology can often be situated within science programmes rather than technology programmes.

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Food technology
In New Zealand, food technology tends to focus on the development of new products and systems to enhance food production and safety. It is usually informed by food science and can include food processing, preservation, packaging, labelling, and health and safety practices. Food technology has been conducted for well over 100 years.

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When embedded in home economics programmes, the learning focuses on students’ making informed food choices, by understanding their nutritional needs for growth and development. There is also a focus on the development of students’ food preparation and life skills and, when taught as food technology in the senior secondary school, food technology programmes have the potential for students to work in authentic contexts.

Design and visual communication (DVC)
In DVC, students can focus explicitly on their visual literacy and creative thinking is developed using visual communication techniques the application of designerly thinking. Students develop a range of drawing skills, including computer assisted drawings and make informed decisions about the aesthetic and functional aspects of design. Design skills taught are manual, digital, two dimensional and three dimensional.

Fox’s Model – positioning senior secondary specialist areas
Once students transition into the secondary school context, programmes usually focus on one specialist area or domain of learning within the technological areas (such as DVC formally Graphics).

Strands and components

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The nature of technology (NT)

To address the NT strand, teachers are required to foster students’ critical thinking and encourage discussion about past and future technological responses with a view to supporting them to become informed consumers who can think creatively or “outside of the box.”

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Characteristics of technology (CT)
In this component, students develop an understanding of what technology is – human activity that is purposeful intervention by design resulting in technological outcomes that have an impact in the world. They also develop an understanding of the relationship and the increasingly permeable boundaries between the made and natural worlds.

Characteristics of technological outcomes (CTO)
In this component students will understand that technology can be represented as either systems or products that are then evaluated in terms of their fitness-for-purpose. Students should also understand that outcomes can be described by their physical and functional properties and they can only be successfully critiqued within their social, historical, cultural and geographical contexts.

Technological knowledge (TK)
In the TK strand, students develop knowledge particular to technological enterprises and environments and understandings of how and why things work. There are three components in this strand: technological modelling (TM), technological products (Tp) and. We consider this strand to be more theoretically based, in which students should understand why they are making specific design decisions and undertaking specific tasks within their own practice.

Technological modelling (TM)
TM is the testing of design ideas. There are two types of TM, functional modelling and prototyping. In this component, students learn the theory of modelling rather than undertaking modelling for their own technological outcomes, which occurs in technological practice. Students learn that the purpose of modelling is to increase the likelihood of a technological outcome being successful when fully deployed and develop understanding of the role of modelling in TP. This understanding helps them develop confidence in the success of their outcomes.

Technological products (Tp)

Technological systems (TSs)

Technological practice (TP)
This strand is the practical strand of the curriculum, which enables students to design, develop and evaluate technological products or systems.

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Brief development (BD)
When learning about brief development, students are establishing the problem or recognising the opportunity (issue) for investigation.

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At the various stages of development, the briefs contain each of the following:
1 The conceptual statement, which outlines the project and comes in two parts:
• the situation or context – outlines or explains the situation that has led
to the technological need or opportunity;
• the need or opportunity – in broad terms for the given brief and in
detail for the final brief.
2 The attributes and specifications:
• An attribute can be a property, quality, or feature of a person or thing,
thought of as the desirable characteristics for the intended outcome.
• A specification is a detailed description of the criteria for the construction,
appearance or performance of a material or product and must be
measurable.

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Planning for practice (PP)
Planning for practice is often confused with outcome planning; however, it is not students’ planning or drawing their technological solutions. It is planning to ensure their own practice is completed within the given time frames. Planning for practice techniques ensures:
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efficient resource management – materials, time, money, people;
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appropriate planning tools are used – brainstorms, mind-maps, idea banks, journals, action plans, critical paths such as Gantt charts, herringbone timelines, flow diagrams, graphic organisers, etc.;
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past and present experiences – own and others;
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existing ideas are considered;
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clear guidance of “where to next?”

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Outcome development and evaluation (ODE)
When working in this component, students are designing, developing and evaluating their own technological outcomes. This process is iterative and practical. It includes a range of tasks all working towards the development of successful technological outcomes. It usually occurs after considerable initial research and investigation. Below is a list of activities students may undertake when undertaking ODE:
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brainstorming initial ideas;
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sketching a range of design ideas;
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selection appropriate options for testing and trialling;
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relevant skill development;
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detailed design concept and working drawings;
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understanding and undertaking safe practice;
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modelling components or whole outcomes;
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regular consultation with clients and other stakeholders;
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ongoing critique of own designs informed by trialling, testing and modelling;
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design modifications resulting from the above;
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development of prototypes;
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final construction of quality outcomes;
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evaluation of technological outcomes with identification of potential improvements.

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Planning units of work in technology

There are various approaches you could follow when planning for technology but there are certain elements or key ideas that are essential to the unit planning process in technology.
a
Technology is taught holistically with units of work typically incorporating all three strands and multiple AOs although there are exceptions to this at senior secondary school where students may undertake research projects related to the NT; however, these are likely to be more successful if they too are contextualised within the students’ technology practice.
b
All technology units must reflect the characteristics of learning (Figure 4.12) from Technology in the New Zealand Curriculum.
c
When planning for technology, teachers start with considering what the students need to know and be able to do to undertake successful technology practice within the given context. AOs are subsequently matched to the planned practice. Do not start planning lessons with the identification of an AO. For those in primary teacher education this is a significant difference from other learning areas.
d
It is ok for teachers not to know everything about students’ intended outcomes. What teachers do need to know and understand is TP, the

associated skills and knowledge applicable to the level of students they teach, and where to go to get their students assistance if needed and when to do this.
e
At senior secondary school, students are taught and undertake technology practice with the AOs guiding progression in complexity and sophistication of ideas. Students’ work is subsequently assessed using AS. Ideally, they should be part of the conversation as to what aspects of their work are assessed. We acknowledge in the current climate that this is no easy feat. We do not teach AS. We teach the AO and assess using the AS.
f
Up to Year 10 separate assessment tasks such as tests do not have a place in technology. Students’ holistic TP should evidence their learning. A portfolio approach is a good approach for students to evidence their practice and reflections.
g
Digital platforms (e.g. Google Sites, Google Slides, My Portfolio) are excellent tools for students to record the research evidence of their TP and associated reflections. They also enable varied ways of evidencing practice. It is critical for students to understand that writing is only one tool to evidence practice research and thinking. Drawings, brainstorms, mind mapping, concept maps and videos are some others. It is important that students who might struggle to write, or write well, are not excluded from achieving in technology, especially in NCEA ASs.

Unit preparation and preplanning

Before the unit planning process can begin, teachers need to be well prepared. This will involve research. First they must consider their students, understand their likes and dislikes, strengths and weaknesses, cultural background and other significant factors that may impact on their learning. They must also consider ways to honour the Treaty of Waitangi by incorporating bicultural practices and understanding into, and through, their planned programme and everyday teaching.

Back page
The final page in the unit planner template identifies the consideration of potentially critical links related to the wider NZC. It also offers a space to evaluate teaching and students’ learning and offers a space to suggest changes to teaching and learning or the unit structure should it be taught again.
Links to NZC key competencies and values
This is where the teacher identifies links to the key competencies. These will be related to the needs of the class and they are often linked into whole class programmes, syndicate programmes, and in some schools, whole school programmes. Teaching of the key competencies may take place within the unit.
Links to NZC learning areas
In this section the teacher identifies links to other curriculum areas. Technology is a perfect vehicle for curriculum integration and can be a true motivation for learning skills and knowledge from other areas as students are able to see and make real-world connections to a wide range of skills and knowledge.
Bicultural considerations
Using the earlier section Bicultural Perspectives and Considerations as a guide, consider ways Māori Tikanga, values, technologies, technologists and te reo can be seamlessly integrated into the students’ technology practice and wider learning to enhance learning for all.
Unit evaluation
The final section on the unit planner is a post-teaching evaluation of teaching and learning. Evaluating teaching and learning should not be confused with assessment. Assessment, both formative and summative, is about the specific learning and progress of individuals.
Evaluation of teaching and learning is more holistic. It draws on a range of sources of information including assessment data, teacher observations, conversations with colleagues, students’ attitudes and opinions, among others. There are two aspects to unit evaluations, teaching and students’ learning. We use questions to assist our reflection and suggest improvements for future teaching. Below are some questions you might use to guide your unit evaluations. The list is by no means exhaustive.
Teaching
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How well did the unit support the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi?
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Where the activities targeted at the students’ needs?
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Where the students engaged and motivated during the unit?
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Was the unit resourced in a timely and appropriate fashion?
168 Implementing the technology curriculum
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Were the learning intentions clear and articulated to students?
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What barriers were encountered during the unit?
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How might these barriers be mitigated or avoided?
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Were students of all levels catered for?
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Did the unit include wider community or expert input?
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Did teacher questioning facilitate wider level thinking and learning?
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What could have been done better?
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What went really well?
Students’ learning
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Were the needs of Māori learners met?
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How well did the student achieve in the unit?
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Were my relationships with students a barrier or an enhancer to learning?
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Were the activities and learning intentions pitched at the correct level?
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Did the students achieve the intended learning?
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How were high achieving students extended?
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How were low achieving students assisted?
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How well were diverse learners and students from all cultural backgrounds included in the learning process?