Abstract
There is not one single global version of technology education; curricula and standards have different forms and content. This sometimes leads to difficulties in discussing and comparing technology education internationally. Existing philosophical frameworks of technological knowledge have not been used to any great extent in technology education. In response, the aim of this article is to construct a heuristic framework for technology education, based on professional and academic technological knowledge traditions. We present this framework as an epistemological tripod of technology education with mutually supporting legs. We discuss how this tripod relates to a selection of epistemological views within the philosophy of technology. Furthermore, we apply the framework to the Swedish and English technology curricula, to demonstrate its utility as an analytic tool when discerning differences between national curricula. Each leg of the tripod represents one category of technological knowledge: (1) technical skills, (2) technological scientific knowledge and (3) socio-ethical technical understanding. The heuristic framework is a conceptual model intended for use in discussing, describing, and comparing curriculum components and technology education in general, and potentially also as support for planning and conducting technology teaching. It may facilitate common understanding of technology education between different countries and technology education traditions. Furthermore, it is a potentially powerful tool for concretising the components of technological literacy.
Highlights
From the 1980s onwards, countries all over the world have introduced technology as a school subject
Graspable for technicians, engineers, historians of technology and other interested parties working outside the school context, simplifying communication between technology educators and technology practitioners. In response to this challenge, the aim of this article is to construct a heuristic framework for technology education, based on professional and academic technological knowledge traditions
By analysing and reflecting on technology education, and by drawing on the various philosophical and theoretical views of technology described above, we propose a heuristic framework for technology education based on technological knowledge traditions
Summary
From the 1980s onwards, countries all over the world have introduced technology as a school subject This relatively young subject has epistemological roots in such diverse traditions as craft, sloyd, industrial arts, natural and social sciences, and engineering. Technology education struggles with its identity and the central epistemological concerns of the subject (de Vries, 2011, 2017; Hallström et al, 2014). Both technology curricula and the implementation of the subject look very different internationally. In some countries it is integrated into science subjects (e.g. in Danish primary education), while in others it is separate.
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