Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Developing a Deeper Understanding of Design in Technology Education

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
The Future of Technology Education

Part of the book series: Contemporary Issues in Technology Education ((CITE))

Abstract

The fundamental position for this chapter is that design is central to being human—everyone designs and engages in the process of designing. However, design is different in different contexts. While designing is an innate capacity, it is also a disciplined activity system located in industry, commerce, the arts and education, and has multiple definitions and uses. Common across contexts is that all design should be creative (though not all creativity involves design). Design also involves riskiness and uncertainty, and is an integral aspect of a sustainable economy, ethical lifestyle and the shaping of communities. While such views of design represent empowering learning opportunities for children associated areas such as creativity, riskiness and uncertainty have become increasingly marginalised in educational contexts demanding ever-greater accountability in terms of productivity and performativity. An opportunity does, however, arise when considering future-focussed technology education programmes that value ‘design thinking’ and how this can contribute to students’ learning and ‘being’.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Ahearn, L. M. (2001). Language and agency. Annual Review of Anthropology, 30, 109–137.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Amabile, T. M. (1988). A model of creativity and innovation in organizations. Research in Organizational Behaviour, 10, 123–167.

    Google Scholar 

  • Amabile, T. (1990). Within you, without you: The social psychology of creativity, and beyond. In M. Runco & R. Albert (Eds.), Theories of creativity (pp. 61–91). London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Amabile, T. (1996). Creativity in context: Update to the social psychology of creativity. Colorado: West View.

    Google Scholar 

  • Atkinson, S. (2000). Does the need for high levels of performance curtail the development of creativity in Design and Technology project work? International Journal of Technology and Design Education, 10(3), 255–281.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Atkinson, S. (2002). Creativity versus the need for high levels of performance. In G. A. Owen-Jackson (Ed.), Teaching Design and Technology in secondary schools (pp. 161–176). London: Routledge Taylor Francis.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bandura, A. (2006). Toward a psychology of human agency. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 1, 164–180.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barlex, D. (2003). Creativity in crisis? Design and Technology at KS3 and KS4 (DATA research paper 18). Wellesbourne: DATA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berger, F., & Ferguson, D. H. (1990). Innovation: Creativity techniques for hospitality managers. New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, T. (2009). Change by design: How design thinking transforms organizations and inspires innovation. New York: Harper Business.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carroll, R. T. (2003). The skeptic’s dictionary: A collection of strange beliefs, amusing deceptions, and dangerous delusions. Hoboken: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chomsky, N. (2000). Chomsky on MisEducation (D. Macedo, Ed.). New York: Rowan and Littlefield.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cross, N. (2006). Designerly ways of knowing. London: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Damasio, A. (2006). Descartes’ error: Emotion, reason and the human brain. London: Vintage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davies, T. (1999). Taking risks as a feature of creativity in the teaching and learning of design and technology. The Journal of Design and Technology Education, 4(2), 101–108.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dewey, J. (1916). Democracy and education. New York: The Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Flusser, V., & Cullars, J. (1995). On the word design: An etymological essay. Design Issues, 11 (3), 50–53.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gardner, H. (1997). Extraordinary minds. New York: Harper Collins.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heskett, J. (2001). Past, present, and future in design for industry. Design Issues, 17(1), 18–26.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kahneman, D. (2011). Thinking, fast and slow. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keirl, S. (2004). Creativity, innovation and life in the lily pond: Nurturing the design and technology family while keeping the alligators fed. The Journal of Design and Technology Education, 9(3), 145–157.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kimbell, R. (2000). Critical concepts underpinning the Design & Technology curriculum in England. Keynote address, international Technology Education conference, University of Brunswick, Germany.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kimbell, R. (2002). Assessing design innovation: The famous five and the terrible two. In E. W. L. Norman (Ed.), DATA international research conference 2002. Wellesbourne: The Design and Technology Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kimbell, R., Wheeler, T., Stables, K., Shepard, T., Martin, F., Davies, D., Pollitt, A., & Whitehouse, G. (2009). e-Scape portfolio assessment: A research & development project for the Department of Children, Families and Schools. Phase 3 report. London: TERU, Goldsmiths, University of London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Liddament, T. (1996). Design and problem solving. In J. S. Smith (Ed.) International Design and Technology Educational and Research Conference (Idater 96), Loughborough University, UK.

    Google Scholar 

  • Love, T. (2002). Constructing a coherent body of theory about designing and designs: Some philosophical issues. Design Studies, 23(3), 345–361.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mau, B. (2007). “What is massive change?” Massive change. Accessed 15 Jan 2012 from: http://www.massivechange.com/about/

  • McCormick, R. (1994). Learning through apprenticeship. In D. Blandow & M. J. Dyrenfurth (Eds.), Technology education in school and industry (pp. 16–36). Dordrecht: Kluwer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • McCormick, R., & Davidson, M. (1996). Problem solving and the tyranny of product outcomes. Journal of Design and Technology Education, 1(3), 230–241.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pagram, J., & Williams, P. J. (2010). Digital assessment: A Western Australian experience in a senior secondary engineering course. In D. Spendlove & K. Stables (Eds.), Ideas worth sharing. The Design and Technology Association Education & International Research Conference, Keele University 2010 (pp. 85–92). Wellesbourne: Design and Technology Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Papanek, V. J. (1971). Design for the real world: Human ecology and social change. Chicago: Thames & Hudson.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pigliucci, M. (2012). Answers for Aristotle: How science and philosophy can lead us to a more meaningful life. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Roberts, P., Archer, B., & Baynes, K. (1992). Modelling: The language of designing (Design: Occasional paper no. 1). Loughborough: Loughborough University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rogers, P. (2013). Articulating design thinking. Design Studies, 34, 433–436.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sharot, T. (2012). The optimism bias: A tour of the irrationally positive brain. New York: Vintage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spendlove, D. (2005). Creativity in education: A review. Design and Technology Education: An International Journal, 10(2), 9–18.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spendlove, D. (2007a). We feel therefore we learn: The location of emotion in a creative and learning orientated experience. Keynote paper presented at the Design and Technology Educational and International Research conference, Wolverhampton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spendlove, D. (2007b). A conceptualisation of emotion within Art and Design Education: A creative, learning and product orientated triadic schema. International Journal of Art and Design Education, 26(2), 155–166.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spendlove, D. (2008). The locating of emotion within a creative, learning and product orientated Design and Technology experience: Person, process, product. International Journal of Technology and Design Education, 18, 45–57.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spendlove, D., & Hopper, M. (2005). Coping with uncertainty: an exploration of the place of emotion within the creative curriculum. Paper presented at the British Education Research Association annual conference, Glamorgan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spendlove, D., & Hopper, M. (2006). Using ‘electronic portfolios’ to challenge current orthodoxies in the presentation of an Initial Teacher Training Design and Technology activity. International Journal of Technology and Design Education, 16, 177–191.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spendlove, D., & Rutland, M. (2007). Creativity in Design and Technology. In D. Barlex (Ed.), Design and Technology—for the next generation (pp. 140–153). Shropshire: Cliffeco.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spendlove, D., & Wells, A. (2013). Creativity for a new generation. In G. Owen-Jackson (Ed.), Debates in design and technology education (pp. 166–179). Oxon: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spendlove, D., & Wyse, D. (2007). Creative learning: Definitions and barriers. In A. Craft, T. Cremin, & P. Burnard (Eds.), Creative learning 3–11 and how we document it: What how & why? (pp. 11–18). Stoke on Trent: Trentham Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stables, K., & Kimbell, R. (2000). The unpickled portfolio: Pioneering performance assessment in design and technology. In R. Kimbell (Ed.), Design and technology international millennium conference (pp. 195–202). Wellesbourne: DATA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stanovich, K. E. (2004). The robot’s rebellion: Finding meaning in the age of Darwin. Chicago: University of Chicago.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Welch, M., & Barlex, D. (2004). Portfolios in design and technology education: Investigating differing views. In E. W. L. Norman, D. Spendlove, P. Grover, & A. Mitchell (Eds.), DATA international research conference 2004 (pp. 193–197). Sheffield: Sheffield Hallam University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Welch, M., Barlex, D., & Taylor, K. (2005). I don’t enjoy making the folder: Secondary students’ views of portfolios in technology education. In E. W. L. Norman, D. Spendlove, P. Grover, & A. Mitchell (Eds.), DATA international research conference 2005 (pp. 175–180). Sheffield: Sheffield Hallam University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams, C. R., & Arrigo, B. A. (2002). Law, psychology, and the ‘new sciences’: Rethinking mental illness and dangerousness. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 46(1), 6–29.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zizek, S. (2001). What can Lenin tell us about freedom today? Rethinking Marxism, 13(2), 1–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Manchester Institute of Education, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK

    David Spendlove

Authors
  1. David Spendlove
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to David Spendlove .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Environmental, Mathematics and Science Education Research Centre, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand

    P John Williams

  2. University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand

    Alister Jones

  3. Faculty of Education, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand

    Cathy Buntting

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2015 Springer Science+Business Media Singapore

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Spendlove, D. (2015). Developing a Deeper Understanding of Design in Technology Education. In: Williams, P., Jones, A., Buntting, C. (eds) The Future of Technology Education. Contemporary Issues in Technology Education. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-170-1_9

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation