Abstract
Teachers’ teaching practice plays a key role in the learning process of pupils, and for teaching to be successful, teachers must have knowledge in many different fields. This obviously also applies to teaching the subject technology. However, lower secondary school technology education in Sweden has reportedly been described in terms of teaching not following the curriculum along with widespread uncertainty among teachers regarding how to design their teaching practices. To address this national challenge, we need to understand the existing technology teaching practice. The purpose of this study is therefore to explore the considerations experienced technology teachers make. The study is based on interviews with technology teachers who work in lower secondary school (13–15-year-old pupils). The collected data consist of teacher’s statements regarding their own expertise and teaching practice. To visualize the described teaching practice we have analysed collected data through the lens of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). The results show both similarities and differences in the teachers’ descriptions. Speaking in terms of PCK, the purpose and teaching focus expressed by the respondents, framed within the category ‘Orientations to teach technology’, vary considerably. However, regarding ‘instructional strategies’, the consensus among those experienced teachers is striking. Experienced technology teachers’ teaching practices are proven to provide valuable information about the subject’s potential, and the findings offer a basis for the future development of the subject of technology as well as future teacher education and professional development courses.
Highlights
Teachers play the key role in the learning process of pupils, and for teaching to be successful, teachers must have knowledge in many different fields
Because the teachers mostly spoke of how their teaching was conducted, the results describe statements focusing on planning, teaching and how the teachers described their teaching practices
The purpose of the present study has been to gain insight into the considerations of experienced technology teachers and how they describe their expertise and teaching practice, which were analysed in relation to pedagogical content knowledge (PCK)
Summary
Teachers play the key role in the learning process of pupils, and for teaching to be successful, teachers must have knowledge in many different fields. In Sweden, a debate about teachers’ skills and subject knowledge has taken place, creating the need for further insight into teachers’ teaching practice. This applies to the subject of technology, where the debate has focused on aspects such as the lack of subject teachers with adequate training and skills, how the purpose and content of the subject is not clear to the pupils and how classroom practices are not aligned with the curriculum (Skolinspektionen 2014; Teknikföretagen and Cetis 2012). For pupils to develop the core contents of the subject of technology, as stipulated in the curriculum, a number of areas must be covered by the teacher. This includes mechanics, materials, electronics, automatic control, technical development processes and how technology is related to science, society at large and the fine arts (Norström 2014)
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