§ Background
§ 1. The Education Reform Bill currently before Parliament provides for the establishment of a national curriculum of core and other foundation subjects for pupils of compulsory school age in England and Wales. For most subjects, including technology, the Government wishes to establish clear objectives — attainment targets — for the knowledge, skills and understanding which pupils of different abilities and maturities should be expected to have acquired by the end of the academic year in which they reach the ages of 7, 11, 14 and 16; and to promote them, programmes of study describing the content, skills and processes which need to be covered during each key stage of compulsory education. Taken together, the attainment targets and programmes of study will provide the basis for assessing a pupil's performance, in relation both to expected attainment and to the next steps needed for the pupil's development.
§ 2. Both the objectives (attainment targets) and means of achieving them (programmes of study) should leave scope for teachers to use their professional talents and skills to develop their own schemes of work, within a set framework which is known to all. It is the task of the Working Group on Design and Technology to advise on that framework for design and technology.
§ The Task
§ 3. The science working group is already looking at attainment targets and programmes of study for primary technology. The design and technology group should focus on the final two key stages, as defined in the Education Reform Bill—that is, the secondary phase—building on the work of the science group for the primary phase.
§ 4. The working group is asked to submit an interim report to the Secretaries of State by 31 October 1988 outlining:
- (i) the contribution which design and technology should make to the overall school curriculum and how that will inform the group's thinking about attainment targets and programmes of study;
- (ii) its provisional thinking about the knowledge, skills and understanding which pupils of different abilities and maturities should be expected to have attained and be able to demonstrate at key ages;
- (iii) its thinking about the programmes of study which would be consistent with the attainment targets provisionally identified.
§ 5. By 30 April 1989 the working group is to submit a final report to the Secretaries of State setting out and justifying its final recommendations on attainment targets and the programmes of study for design and technology. In addition, the working group should recommend attainment targets and programmes of study for design and for information technology in the first two key stages, for primary pupils, to supplement the recommendations of the science working group.
§ Approach
§ 6. In approaching its task the working group is to view technology as that area of the curriculum in which pupils design and make useful objects or systems, thus developing their ability to solve practical problems. The working group should assume that pupils will draw on knowledge and skills from a range of subject areas, but always involving science or mathematics. They should be taught the principles and practice of good design, the application of theoretical knowledge, and within that context the practical craft skills needed for realising their designs in wood, metal, plastics, textiles and other materials. They should also learn about the variety of modern materials and technologies in use in the 281W industrial and commercial world. Pupils should prepare for the world of work by learning how to work in teams as well as by themselves; by understanding the importance of functional efficiency, quality, appearance and marketability; and about the importance of working within financial and technical constraints. Modern business practice increasingly involves the use of IT. Technological education should equip pupils with basic IT skills and develop an awareness of the potential use of IT and computer technology whether in the business office, or manufacturing or commerce.
§ 7. Technology as described above is an activity which goes "across the curriculum", drawing on and linking in with a wide range of subjects. The group should start from the basis that technology is an area of study in its own right, with its own distinctive objectives and content. This does not necessarily mean that technology must be a separately timetabled subject: schools will be free to teach technology how they choose, provided that the activity is coordinated as a clear programme and directed towards the distinctive objectives of technology. By the end of the third key stage of their compulsory education pupils should have acquired a firm basis of skills, knowledge and understanding in technology. This will provide a broad foundation on which pupils can build in undertaking technological work as defined in paragraph 6 in more specialised contexts, including other subject areas during the fourth key stage, whether for GCSE or otherwise.
§ 8. Design will be an essential part of technology as defined above, but will also draw on and contribute to other areas of the curriculum. The Working Group is asked to consider design in all its aspects throughout the period of compulsory education, identifying and recommending attainment targets for those of particular importance in technology and recommending a framework within which other aspects will need to be developed in other subjects. The group should work on the basis that the distinctive objectives of design and technology are that a pupil at the end of his or her compulsory education, should:
- (i) be able to design and make artefacts and systems, applying scientific or mathematical and other knowledge and skills;
- (ii) be familiar with designing processes and have had experience of applying them to real life tasks within typical constraints (time, money etc) with due regard to cost, marketability, social, environmental and other relevant factors;
- (iii) appreciate the importance of design and technology in society, historically and present day, particularly as it affects the economy.
§ 9. The use of computer and information technology and other advance technologies in control, simulation and data
| Body | Subject | Due date | Date of publication |
| Interim Advisory Committee on School teachers' pay and conditions | Pay and conditions of school teachers in England and Wales 1988–89 | 31 March 1988 | 19 April 1988 |
| Committee of Inquiry into the Teaching of the English language | Teaching of English | Spring 1988 | 29 April 1988 |
| Committee of Inquiry into A levels | A level examinations | April 1988 | Early Summer 1988 |
| Committee of Inquiry into Discipline in Schools | Behaviour and discipline in schools | End 1988 | Early 1989 |
| Task Group on Assessment and Testing | Assessment and Testing arrangements for national curriculum | January 1988 and Spring 1988 | First report: 12 January 1988 supplementary advice: shortly |
| National curriculum subject working groups on | Programmes of study and attainment targets | ||
| Science | Summer 1988 | Summer 1988 | |
| Mathematics | Summer 1988 | Summer 1988 | |
| English | Autumn 1988 (primary) | Autumn 1988 |
§ storage and retrieval is becoming increasingly important in our society. This fact should he reflected in the use of computer and information technology across the school curriculum. Each subject group as it is set up is being asked to consider the scope for using computer and information technology in its subject and to frame appropriate attainment targets. However the design and technology group is asked to provide within the national curriculum a focus for the developments of computer and IT awareness, and skills such as keyboard skills and basic programming, by recommending appropriate attainment targets at the four key stages together with a supporting programme of study related to IT and basic computer skills and to awareness of the uses of advanced technology.
§ 10. In carrying out its work the group should consult informally and selectively with relevant interests including industry and have regard to the work of other subject groups, particularly the work of the science group on primary technology. Additionally the group should take account of
- (i) the broad framework proposed by TGAT for assessment and testing;
- (ii) the contributions which design and technology can make to learning about other subjects, and other subjects can make to learning about design and technology;
- (iii) best practice and the results of any relevant research and development, and in particular developments under TVEI.