Abstract
Technology education is often discussed as a dying profession. According to Volk in his 1997 article reviewing technology education teacher preparation programs, “the demise of the technology teacher preparation programs will occur around the year 2005” (p. 69). The number of technology education teacher preparation programs across the United States, programs that train educators to teach critical thinking about technology tools, are disappearing at an astonishing rate. Without teachers for the programs, tool-based instruction will cease, and our society will not be educated to look at tools in a critical manner. The number of technology education teacher graduates has decreased by 68.35% between the years of 1995 and 2008 (Moye, Jones, & Dugger, 2015). Currently, only 24 undergraduate technology and engineering teacher preparation programs with an enrollment of 20 students or more exist in the United States (Litowitz, 2014). The steady decline of programs that prepare technology and engineering education teachers has been a consistent issue for over 40 years (Moye et al., 2015). In the Commonwealth of Virginia, there is currently only one program that trains students in undergraduate technology education, which is housed in the STEM Education and Professional Studies Department (STEMPS) at Old Dominion University (ODU). Virginia was instrumental in the creation of the Standards for Technological Literacy and has been a leader in technology education since the name change from industrial arts in 1978. However, the undergraduate technology education programs at Virginia Tech, James Madison University, Norfolk State, and Virginia State University have all become inactive, making the technology education program at ODU the last remaining program in the Commonwealth.
Highlights
In order to change this trend, our leaders must begin to re-envision the curriculum and implementation of design
My recent read of Kerry Fleming’s book, The Leader's Guide to Emotional Agility: How to Use Soft Skills to Get Hard Results, helped me to frame our field in a new light
The concept of emotional agility was introduced by David and Congleton (2013) to describe the ability to recognize and use positive and negative emotions and the inner voice to develop thoughtful and productive actions
Summary
In order to change this trend, our leaders must begin to re-envision the curriculum and implementation of design. Instead of arguing about the reasons, we, the leaders in our field, need to develop new ideas and pathways to implement this valuable curriculum. My recent read of Kerry Fleming’s book, The Leader's Guide to Emotional Agility: How to Use Soft Skills to Get Hard Results, helped me to frame our field in a new light.
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