Secondary School Technology Teachers’ Views on the Core Ideas of Technology

Abstract

For decades, discussions in science education have debated the inclusion of technological literacy and its relationship with scientific literacy. Early Science-Technology-Society (STS) approaches helped link science to social relevance but often reduced technology to a by-product of science rather than a distinct human activity. Although some countries eventually introduced technology as an independent subject, it still faces structural and epistemological challenges: there is no universal definition of this discipline, leading to curricula and standards that vary in both structure and content.

Despite existing frameworks intended to clarify technological knowledge in education, yet these models have not fully clarified the specific conceptual core of technology, somehow still subsumed to scientific conceptual knowledge. Moreover, with the search of its own identity still unresolved, technology education faces other challenges such as its relationship with engineering education.

In this context, and with a focus on disciplines that have a more consolidated body of didactic knowledge, such as science, this study explores how secondary-school technology teachers identify the core ideas of their subject. Drawing on the tradition of science education and its construct of “big ideas,” eleven teachers participated in collaborative sessions analysing national and international curricula and proposing possible “big ideas for technology”. Through thematic analysis of their written and oral contributions, 33 concepts were identified, but only 14 appeared in more than one group, revealing limited consensus. Common ideas included materials, energy, mechanisms, control, and communication, but teachers mixed conceptual, practical, and ethical dimensions without a coherent classification.

Understanding teachers’ difficulties for constructing a comprehensive view for technology core ideas can help to develop a useful didactic framework to guide teaching and curriculum design. As a first approximation, the authors propose an epistemic three-level framework for structuring technological knowledge: natural resources and phenomena used by technology, processes and devices, and useful applications.