Introduction:

To talk about my philosophy on Technology Education we must first discover a bit about my socialization as a person. By looking at who I am will give insight in to my beliefs and value system.

My interest in Technology started at a young age, I have always being fascinated by mechanical equipment. When I was a young boy there were two types of toys a far as I was concerned, trucks and cars. My curiosity about mechanical objects, led me to take apart my toys to see how they worked. The only problem is that once they were apart they never got put back together, I thought I could make the toys better by modifying them. I would rig up extra batteries to my electric cars and watch them go fast until the motors started smoking. I feel that it is that type of young curiosity and I can improve on that design attitude that is apart of all Tech teachers. I will now talk about some of the events in my life that has shaped my character as a person because you teach '' who you are.''

I grew up in a small town, Nelson BC in the Kooteneys. My mother is an Italian immigrant she moved to Canada with her 5 brothers and 5 sisters when she was 12 years old. My mother has told me about the hardships endured by her and her family when they moved to Canada. In the 60's Canadians were not very accepting of Italian immigrants. Although having been born in Canada I can some what understand the problems and hardships immigrants today must endure. I think this is one influence that can help me better understand my students that are new Canadians.

My father was born in Nakusp BC and grew up on a farm, his ethnic back ground is Russian and Welsh. There is a strong tradition of crafts-people in his family, his dad was a cabinetmaker and my dad became a mechanic. I think this is where I got the interest in working with my hands. They were honest and hard working people that believed the best way to live life was by working hard and keeping life simple.

I learned about labor and politics at a young age, in 1984 the sawmill where my dad worked shut down. The mill employed 400 people with good family supporting jobs, the impact this had on the town and my family was devastating. From an early age I learned about the value of money, labor unions and politics. These have lead me to have great respect for working men and women. I support unions and believe in the dignity of labor, I feel unions are need to protect working people from being taken advantage of. These experiences have helped define my character as a person. My philosophy of Technology Education has been shaped greatly by my past experiences. I will begin exploring my believes by looking at the two major philosophy I see at work in Tech Ed.

Exploring the philosophies of Technology Education:

Technology Education is the most diverse area of study in school. I have seen many good programs that are driven by diverse philosophies. The two main philosophies in Technology Education are Industrial Arts based and design Technology based. Industrial Arts is based more in skill building and making of artifacts, design technology is based more on design and problem solving. Both of these philosophies can not exist with out each other. You can not make real artifacts with out some study of design and problem solving, consequently you seldom design something with out the idea that you are going build it.

Some practicing teachers think these two philosophies are far apart, but they are really closer than they think. For example many times on school visits I get the , ''we tried Technology Education and it doesn't work'', from the host teacher, then they proceed to show me a piece of work that was designed and built by a student. They do not realize what they just showed me was great Technology Education. I think this attitude is in reaction to some of the straw and popsicle stick Tech Ed. we see in the USA, this is not the Tech Ed reality in Canada. We can meet all the criteria for Technology Education in Canada, in our wonderful and glorious shops. The main concern among my collages is that these shops will be replaced with sterile characterless, labs that have real machines replaced with units that resemble Fisher Price Toys. This is why in Canada we have to show the world that Technology Education is best done in a shop. The way I look at it is that the tools of design can fit much easier in a shop than pretending to have a shop in a carpeted design lab.

With out a real shop Technology Education can only be done half way ,a big part of Technology Education must be the finished artifact. The pride that students feel in finishing a project that they are proud to take home, is a major reason shop based Technology Education refuses to be swept aside.

My Definition of good Technology Education:

My idea of good Technology Education is shop based Technology Ed. At the 98 TTED Technology conference there were many good examples of Technology Education but the one that caught my eye was the I.K.F sprint racing karts. This is an amazing Technology project it can incorporate every key element to good Tech Ed. The students work as a team to design a kart to meet I.K.F. competition regulations every year the kart frame is modified to improve safety and performance, this is real engineering work done at the high school level. After the design work the students machine the kart frame and accessories, they even cast and machine there own wheels and disk brake system. The final step is to fit a motorbike engine into the frame, the final product is a race kart that can be raced on any track in North America. The main thing is the pride and ownership the students feel with this project, one ex student came to show his kart at the conference and was still proud of his kart 5 years after he built it. Many of the students of this program are at engineering schools or trades schools and credit this program for getting them on track.

Trades and Tech Ed:

I also feel that trades have there role in Technology Education there seems to be a trend among the movers and shakers on the world Tech stage that feel traditional trades are a thing of the past in Tech Ed. I find this dangerous and disturbing for a number of reasons: there is a shortage of journpersons in Canada, academic jobs make up a very small percent of the Canadian work force, Tech ED has had in the past a following of students that have found success in the work force and life through a trade. There seems to be a mandate to purge Tech Ed from all the hands on ''dirty work'' to attract academic style students. I have no problem with broadening the clientele of Tech Ed but we must be careful not to alienate the more trades oriented students in our schools. The students I am referring to must have a part of the school where they can find success and confidants, because they are just as important as the top academic student.

To further support my argument for trades and Tech Ed here are some stats from the Province.

85% of grade 8 students expect to continue to post-secondary education.
70% of grade 8 students plan to be university graduates.
37% of high school graduates are eligible for university admission.
20% actually enter university.
14% will receive a first degree.

4 out of 5 employers indicate that the lack of skilled workers is the major impediment to growth in their industry. B.C. has almost no trades training programs. Apprenticeship training has dropped from 20,000 in 1981 to 14,000 today. The proportion of high school students engaged in vocational training including apprenticeship is about 1%. In Germany it is 80% (Vancouver Province, 1994 March 6)

My support for trades does not mean I what Tech Ed. to be turned into a trades program I just do not want to see the shops and real materials be replaced with glue and straws.

Technology Education for holistic growth:

I do feel that there is room for Technology Courses that are taken for personal growth. There must be choices, general Technology Education courses that do not have a career prep emphasis should have more freedom to explore social issues and other non traditional areas. This would be a good way to appeal to a different kind of students so everyone can be exposed to Tech Ed at some level.

Conclusion:

It is hard to come up with one single philosophy on Tech Ed because of the vast nature of its subject material. The learning out comes of a general Tech Ed course are vastly different than that of a Career Prep Automotive program and they should be. Each one comes under the umbrella of Tech Ed but each one traditionally leans to a different philosophy, but that's OK. The main thing is to learn tolerance for different philosophies so there is a choice for everyone in Tech Ed.

Philosophy of Technology Education.
(different philosophies working together)
By: Jason Boden