D&T

School context (brief overview):

Golborne High School is a non-selective, mixed gender Foundation Secondary school situated in Warrington.

School context (brief overview):

St Philomena’s is a Catholic, non-selective, comprehensive girls’ school for students aged 11-18 years. In its most recent Ofsted inspection in February 2022, a rating of “Good” was given. At the time of writing, 1462 students are on roll, of which 15.9% are eligible for FSM (Free School Meals). 2022-23 performance data can be viewed here.

Alison Hardy

Design and Technology (D&T) teachers looking to engage with current research in their field have several excellent resources available. This guide highlights four key journals that publish D&T education research, as well as tips for accessing and reading research articles.

Why Engage with D&T Education Research?

Reading current research can:

Networks and Social Media Groups

Archer Exchange Network: hosted via Mighty networks, connecting D&T teachers in England and beyond.

Jamble D&T – a private group, that is “a place to meet other D&T teachers, find out about jobs, organise courses, set up small networks, collaborate on project ideas and generally share our passion”.

Scottish CDT Teachers

Subject Associations

Alison Hardy from Nottingham Trent University has brought together a world wide network of Design and Technology educators to produce this Guide which supports benchmarking of practices between countries. The Guide challenges the reader to consider the role of the subject in the school curriculum for different age groups and the impact of the subject on children’s understanding of the world they interact with. In addition, the reader might like to consider the potential impact of the learning children gain from this subject on the economic well being and development of every country. 

Alison Hardy

Knowledge and Learning

How different types of knowledge develop and integrate in D&T

• How do conceptual and procedural knowledge build over time?
• What progression models work best in different contexts?
• How does design and technology capability emerge?

Teaching Approaches

Evidence-based pedagogical strategies

This MESHGuide provides examples from countries around the world- the Global South and the Global North. There are significant differences between countries. Not all countries include the subject in the primary curriculum. In some countries, in secondary education, Design and Technology is a vocational subject in others it is part of general education. Some countries focus on materials, others take a systems approach e.g. learners will look at energy systems or water systems.

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