Preparing Trainee Teachers to Teach Primary Design & Technology

Janine Pavlis, Lecturer in Primary Education (D&T) at St Mary’s University, London. Twitter: @JaninePavlisDT

At the beginning of each semester, my trainee teachers are asked to share one word relating to what they think D&T is about. Common answers will include various materials they have previously used, different objects they made at secondary school, and the use of language such as ‘creative’. Most trainee teachers have not completed any class-based D&T work since Year 9, and an alarming number of students will have not completed D&T at primary level. This highlights the need for key terminology, subject specific definitions, and D&T principles to be taught within initial teacher training prior to the students’ teaching D&T at key stage 1 (5-7 years) and key stage 2 (7-11 years). The one-word answer ‘icebreaker’ organically forms into a discussion between the students and me, and from this, we begin to understand what D&T looks like to different people, what pre-conceived opinions they have of primary D&T and to what extent they feel the subject has purpose within a primary education setting. The students’ answers will inform my introductory session, where I look at three important features of theory and practice within D&T:

• The Design and Technology Association (D&TA) are a brilliant organisation to be part of, and I highlight this from the get-go, so students are aware of the association and key terminology. The D&TA have succinctly defined D&T as being able ‘to make something, for someone, for some purpose’. The definition is strengthened further when introduced to the six key principles of D&T. The six key principles describe the features of an authentic D&T experience from the pupils’ perspective and how to effectively apply them to all aspects of this subject. Encouraging the use of these principles when planning helps inform rigorous and impactful D&T lessons. To put this into context, the students complete their first group task. They are shown a table of various activities that you could typically see in a primary education setting and are asked to work out which activities are D&T related. This illustrates whether an activity involves important D&T elements – learning about the designed and made world and how things work and learning to design and make functional products for specific purposes and users.

• Theory from Newton (2014), states that, ‘design and technology is the process of inventing or improving things to satisfy practical needs and solve practical problems’. This quote sets the scene when introducing the students to the iterative design process (video link from the D&TA), where children will be continuously taught to improve an idea or concept. The formation of this cyclical process is clear and, without that problem solving approach, the designed and made world would have failed itself. However, the resilience needed from all children in a class to not give up and to not think that they have failed, is challenging. Teachers must help a child overcome this fixed mindset and unfortunately, this can be a reason why they do not love D&T. I believe that teachers should attempt these processes themselves, in order to reflect on their strategies for overcoming failure and, furthermore, strategies to signal more resilience is needed. During each lesson, they investigate and evaluate current products, build on specific skills needed (e.g., sawing using a junior hacksaw), before designing, making and evaluating their product/prototype. Within lectures, strategies to help overcome challenging situations are based around peer and teacher support and being able to have access to a variety of resources (to name a few).

• In order to deepen the trainees’ understanding of the iterative design process, during each lecture I introduce them to an inventor who had to be resilient, in order to design products of the best possible quality. Not only does this highlight the importance of a real-life context but, it exposes the students to the careers associated with D&T. Acknowledging career opportunities in the designerly world, can help them to regard D&T at its highest value and by illustrating this earlier on in primary education, can make an impact on a child’s mindset.

By the end of the module, both Undergraduate and Postgraduate students, who complete the D&T module, are asked to fill out feedback forms. I prompt them to write down one word relating to what they think D&T is all about now and the results are promising and hopeful as they make their way towards their school placements. From my last series of lectures, I have illustrated the words written within the feedback form by making a word cloud. I am fond of all these words, but I particularly like the key words associated with D&T and how they swim around key vocabulary, such as ‘challenging’ and ‘resilience’, demonstrating an evolution in their understanding of the subject.

References

Design and Technology Association (n.d.). Primary. Available at: https://www.data.org.uk/for-education/primary/ (Accessed 04/01/2022)

Newton, D. (2005). Teaching Design and Technology 3-11. London: Sage Publications