The uncertainty of a future-focused curriculum in New Zealand: The perceptions and practice of six secondary school technology teachers.

Elizabeth Reinsfield

doi:10.15663/ajte.v5i0.54

Abstract

New Zealand education is unique because it has had a technology curriculum since the mid-1990's. In response to the way that technology is evolving, however, the curriculum is currently under revision, to be inclusive of a need to develop students' digital literacy. It appears that for some teachers, there are persisting barriers to their enactment of the curriculum, which is likely to inhibit any further transformation in practice. This article reports findings from research, which sought to explore six teachers understandings of technology education, in two New Zealand secondary schools. The research highlighted constraints upon teachers' practice, which will require transformation to support a future-focused curriculum, and students' developing academic and social learning needs.

Highlights

Technology education in New Zealand has experienced significant conceptual change within its curriculum and is heavily influenced by governmental agenda, community expectations and teachers’ differing perceptions of the purpose of the subject (de Vries & Mottier, 2006; Jones, 2009; Reinsfield, 2014)
The findings highlighted that some technology teachers’ practice is limited by the knowledge that they find troublesome, indicating that, to enable the enactment of a future-focused curriculum, it is timely for practitioners to reflect upon their current understanding
Teachers were mediated by a variety of factors at different stages of their pedagogical processes and the key themes are organised in Figure 1 according to the guiding research questions, relating to teachers’ perceptions, interpretation and enactment of the curriculum (MoE, 2007)

Summary

Introduction

Technology education in New Zealand has experienced significant conceptual change within its curriculum and is heavily influenced by governmental agenda, community expectations and teachers’ differing perceptions of the purpose of the subject (de Vries & Mottier, 2006; Jones, 2009; Reinsfield, 2014). The role and status of technology education has evolved, but its cross-disciplinary nature means that there is no single theoretical perspective that can define it (Pacey, 1992). This uncertainty presents a confusing climate for some technology teachers and provides a research context to explore how practitioners navigate the challenges faced in their professional practice. Interest in a perceived disparity between teachers’ curriculum theory and practice in technology education led to the overarching question of the research, which was: How do technology teachers’ perceptions influence their interpretation and enactment of Technology in the New Zealand curriculum (MoE, 2007)?

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion