More Potential References

Read Write Plus, DfES, National Tests

Better Basic Skills

A Fresh Start - Moser Group

Lifelong Learning .co.uk

Constructing and reconstructing school technology in England and Wales

David Layton

The British government has claimed that no other western country has given such prominence to technology in the curriculum for all pupils of compulsory school age. The paper considers this innovation in the national curriculum of England and Wales from a number of perspectives.
SpringerLink - Article

Formative Influences on Technology Education:
The Search for An Effective Compromise
in Curriculum Innovation

George Shield

Successful curriculum development in our schools and colleges relies on compromise and interplay from a number of interested parties, some of whom are competing for recognition and resources. The interests which these factions represent vary and are not immediately apparent. While to some, the basis of curricular innovation lies soundly in the philosophical ideals of the educator whose sole concern is the successful development of the full potential of the child, to others the curriculum is perceived as having more instrumental aims which include the interests of the state and society at large.
shield.pdf (application/pdf Object)

JTE: Williams
Technology, and certainly technology education, can be characterized as more of an activity than a discrete body of content (McCormick, 1996). Techno-logical knowledge can be divided into procedural knowledge which relates to the activity, and conceptual knowledge which relates to the body of content (Hennessey & McCormick, 1994). There is probably more international agreement among technology educators about the activity of technology than about the content of technology.

JTE v11n2: Williams

An International Overview of Curricular Approaches and Models in Technology Education
Paul Black

Technology is a peculiar subject in that its status and its nature have been subject to radical changes in recent years. The subject is seen to serve several aims, which are given different relative priorities in different countries, and there are many traditions that are associated with competing pressures in the re-definitions of the subject. These changes and varieties are further complicated by the different curriculum models within which a reformed subject is meant to fit and play a specific role.

JOTS: An International Overview of Curricular Approaches and Models in Technology Education

Learner Management
A central assumption behind innovations in education and training over the last 20 years has been that learners need to take greater responsibility for the direction and pace of their own learning. The rationale for this is provided by an analysis of the contemporary social and economic order which highlights instability and change as core conditions. A discourse of 'learner-management' has emerged, linked with techniques of personal development planning and recording achievement, which appears to offer learners the possibility for individual autonomy and control. The article examines some of the assumptions embedded in this discourse, questioning the relevance of the rational decision making model, and the origins of the 'character' of the self-managing learner. 'Learner management' is viewed as a discursive form of power, shaping subjective understandings of what it means to be a learner, a manager, a person. It is suggested that this is not the only discourse of learner management available, and that education has a role to play in mapping more creative and diverse forms of learner identity.
Taylor & Francis Group - Article