Unpacking the curriculum - Technological practice
An overview of the technological practice curriculum strand
About this resource
The technology learning area in The New Zealand Curriculum includes a strand called technological practice.
Unpacking the Curriculum: Technological practice
Technological practice strand
Technological practice is the action of designing and developing sustainable, socially acceptable, and fit for purpose outcomes.
The technological practice strand within the Technology learning area of The New Zealand Curriculum guides teachers to develop learning activities that support students to develop capabilities and dispositions as they learn how to be a technologist.
As students begin to think about designing an outcome, they understand more about the need or the problem they are trying to solve.
In technological practice, students also examine the practice of others and undertake their own.They develop a range of outcomes, including concepts, plans, briefs, technological models, and fully realised products or systems.
Students investigate issues and existing outcomes and use the understandings gained, together with design principles and approaches, to inform their own practice. They also learn to consider ethics, legal requirements, protocols, codes of practice, and the needs of and potential impacts on stakeholders and the environment.
Contexts for learning tasks should be as authentic as possible. When choosing and implementing learning tasks, consider how you can integrate and embed te ao Māori and mātauranga Māori, for example, by connecting with local iwi and hapū and understanding opportunities for reciprocal collaborations. Growing teacher knowledge and understanding of tikanga Māori and mātauranga Māori is a really important first step in this.
Components within the technological practice strand
The technological practice strand is comprised of three components: Planning for practice, Brief development, and Outcome development and evaluation. Learning programmes should support students to make links between the components and strands.
Planning for practice is the up-front and on-going thinking that enables a fit-for-purpose outcome to be developed. It is an essential part of all technological practice.
Effective planning for practice enables developing technologists (students) to systematically account for all the factors that influence the successful fulfilment of a brief. It also supports reflection and decision making.
Planning for practice should consider:
- the physical, social, and cultural environment of an outcome
- the context the technologist will be working in.
Teachers should develop learning activities that support students in their organising practices to ensure their actions are focused on the outcome being successful.
For further information, see;
- Unpacking the curriculum: Planning for practice indicators of progression
- See Materials that come with this resource to download Planning-for-practice-key-ideas (.doc)
A brief is a statement that guides students to design and develop a fit for purpose, successful outcome. The brief guides the design thinking processes and is a core element of “intervention by design”, the essence of Technology education.
Teachers should develop learning activities that support students to explore what is needed and what the requirements are of what they are designing. Teachers should suggest and define ideas or concepts that the students propose will solve the problem. The students consult with the end-users and stakeholders to understand if their design concepts are feasible, viable, and will solve the problem.
For further information, see:
- Unpacking the curriculum: Brief development indicators of progression
- See Materials that come with this resource to download Brief-development-key-ideas (.doc).
Outcome development and evaluation can be thought of as the design, production, and evaluative practices of the technological practice strand.
Teachers should develop learning activities that support students to trial, model, test, and produce their outcome.
For further information, see:
- Unpacking the curriculum: Outcome development and evaluation indicators of progression
- See Materials that come with this resource to download Outcome-development-and-evaluation-key-ideas (.doc).