Technology Programme Design - Section One
Programme Focus and Duration
The duration of a technology programme should be determined by wider school structures in order to maximise the opportunity to plan for and monitor student progression. From 2010 this progression will be focussed on developing student technological literacy as evidenced by their achievement across all three strands (and therefore eight components) of technology. For 2008 and 2009 however, teachers are encouraged to develop programmes that focus on formally assessing and reporting on students' progression within Technological Practice as evidenced through their achievement in terms of Brief Development, Planning for Practice and Outcome development and Evaluation.
Contexts should be identified at the school programme level to provide coherent and comprehensive opportunities to meet the purpose of the programme focus. The selection of contexts rests on a balance between providing students with variety and interest, and providing enough richness to sustain progression of learning both within and across components. Teacher interest, teacher and others' expertise and classroom resourcing should also be key factors in context selection to ensure learning experiences are informed and manageable.
Currently it is common for programmes in technology to be planned to cover a one or two-year time period. For example, in primary school a technology programme may be planned separately by syndicates - that is, the junior syndicate may plan to cover years 1 and 2, the middle syndicate to cover years 3 and 4, and the senior syndicate to cover year 5 and 6. Similarly, intermediate schools often plan a programme for their year 7 and 8 students, and junior secondary for their year 9 and 10 students. Senior secondary tend then to plan one-year programmes for year 11, year 12 and year 13. Recent work in technology suggests such planning is not helping students' overall progression in technology as the transition points within and between schools tend to be particularly disruptive to seamless learning in technology.
To address this, it is suggested that schools begin to increase the scope of their programmes to cover more year groups and to link to programmes that provide entry and exit points. For example, primary schools could look to plan a programme of learning that has a duration of six years (or eight in schools that cater for year 1-8). Secondary schools could look to plan their technology programme to cover five years (or seven in schools that cater for year 7-13) with multiple exit points for students from year 10 onwards to reflect the optional nature of technology at years 11, 12 and 13. Intermediate schools will continue to be bound to a two-year programme, however these programmes should be seen to link with programmes from both contributing and destination schools. Those schools who cater for students from years 1-13 could work towards a coherent 13-year programme.
The transition to planning programmes that are more conducive to providing students with a seamless technology education will need to be well supported by the development of shared teacher understandings of technology education, and the development of robust assessment and reporting mechanisms. Some strategies that can support the development of shared understandings include teachers being involved in ongoing discussions about technology generally, joint planning and team teaching, and internal moderation of student work. The development of professional learning communities within and across schools has many benefits including the establishment of common reporting mechanisms for student achievement that are effective and manageable.
A school that has been exploring programme planning of lengthier duration Is profiled on Techlink here.
Achievement Objectives and Reporting
Achievement objectives in technology have been developed for each component to provide a focus for progression within the programme. They also provide guidance to teachers for the development of a series of coherent learning experiences that could sit within the programme and may be organised into interlinking units of work. Achievement objectives require interpretation by teachers to plan for and deliver multiple-level teaching to address student learning needs within their technology programme. Levelled achievement objectives are not specific Learning Outcomes. Achievement objectives are statements that need to be broken down by teachers into Learning Outcomes to support the planning and delivery of learning experiences, formative assessment and for reporting purposes.
Formative assessment information gained by teachers throughout the learning experiences should provide a picture of student achievement in terms of the achievements objectives. As teachers develop a shared understanding of what student achievement looks like at each level, reporting mechanisms can be effectively developed to ensure this information, along with suggested next steps in learning, is communicated to students, caregivers and subsequent teachers within or across schools. Communicating this level of information is critical to ensure student learning is not disrupted by a change in school and/or teacher.
