Abstract
We are living in a fast-changing, technology-driven world, where technology affects the daily lives of every person, directly or indirectly. While the importance of providing young children with technological knowledge and experience has been well-recognized, how the curriculum should be developed deserves greater study. Using early childhood education in Hong Kong as a case study, this paper argues that to be successful in planning and implementing a technology curriculum, we cannot consider only the technological aspects. We also need to take into consideration the social and cultural factors. Among various social and cultural factors, this paper focuses on: (a) the background of the students and their parents, (b) society’s perceptions of technology, and (c) society’s expectations of children who learn about technology, and (d) the approach and method of teaching and learning technology.
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Notes
The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) is part of China. As such, people moving from mainland China are not considered immigrants. “New arrivals” and “new arrival family” are the official terms to describe this group of people who have settled in Hong Kong from mainland China.
From the 1960s to the early 1980s, secondary technical schools in Hong Kong focused on training students in crafts and skills. The students who studied these schools could learn some basic skills, which make it easier for them to get a place in a technical institute or to get a job (Siu, 2002).
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors would like to acknowledge the support they received from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and The Hong Kong Institute of Education to conduct this study. The authors would also like to thank for late Professor John Eggleston for his advices and comments on technology education for children and young people. The original version of this paper was presented in the 3rd Hawaii International Conference on Education.
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Siu, K.W.M., Lam, M.S. Early Childhood Technology Education: A Sociocultural Perspective. Early Childhood Educ J 32, 353–358 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-005-0003-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10643-005-0003-9