Teacher change in a developing curriculum area: the example of trade teachers in the New Zealand technology curriculum

Abstract

Technology education for all students is a relatively new phenomenon in national and international curricula. Although New Zealand has a long history of technical education in the senior primary and secondary school, a curriculum for technology education for all students has only recently been introduced. Aspects of technology have been included in many existing school programmes, but these have not been presented and undertaken in a coherent way. Technology as it developed in past curricula encompassed a limited range of skills, processes and knowledge. The general aims of technology education in Technology in the New Zealand Curriculum (Ministry of Education, 1995) are to develop technological knowledge and understanding, an understanding and awareness of the interrelationship between technology and society, and technological capability in a number of technological areas. This paper will report on the changes that a group of traditional technical teachers have been required to undergo and the way in which these teachers have, or have not, been successful in adapting to a new technology curriculum. The influences on this particular group will be explored, as well as the factors that have led to some of these teachers adopting the technology.