| Abstract: | 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. The first reviews the social processes by which  design & technology assumed the form it took in the original Statutory Order of 1990 and by which it underwent reconstruction, leading to the revised Order of 1995. In so doing, it explores the development of a national policy for school technology, comparable to that enunciated for school science in 1985. A second perspective focuses on the increasingly important role of technology in the government's overall educational policy, especially in relation to the better preparation of pupils for the world of work and the securing of parity between academic and vocational courses. A third theme concerns the changing relationship between school science and school technology.David Layton was professor of science education in the University of Leeds from 1973 until retirement in 1989. He served on the British government's Working Group which provided the original recommendations for design & technology in the national curriculum and has written extensively on the value aspects of school technology and the relations of school science and school technology. |
