Chapter 2: Integration of technical education in primary education

 

1.   Introduction

 

In this chapter we will try to identify the real problem to integrate technical education in primary education.  

 

Following the state of the art of technical education in our countries described in chapter 1 and the educational approach , we will concentrate on the consequences for the making of products within this project.

 

What is the problem ?

Not the child! On the contrary: Children do really want to do technics. Several studies (e.g. the PATT studies) proof this. Technics are challenging children: they can make things themselves; you are an inventor. Moreover, in the meantime a lot of ready-to-use lesson materials are developed. the main question is: how to get teachers at work with the material. 

It looks like the teacher is the real problem to make a start with technics.

So far, there is not much research on the attitude of teachers towards technics. A small recent investigation under teachers of a big school in The Hague had a surprising contradicting result: older teachers appeared to pay more attention to technics than younger teachers. An explanation might be that, though younger teachers had technics as a subject in their own teacher-training curriculum, they are not that experienced as their older colleagues to solve several problems while introducing technics. The older teachers however are missing the subject knowledge to work with technics as a subject. They do have enough routine to put it in their curriculum.

Though this was not a scientific research project, it might indicate that this is a signal worth keeping an eye on while making materials for primary education.

 

What are the basic conditions?

In the circle of development-oriented approach three concepts are in the centre. These are at the same time preconditions and aims for the same learning process. This goes for the learner as for the teacher.

-          self confidence,

-          being emotional free,

-          and being curious.

 These conditions these conditions must be fulfilled in order to function well. They are very much equal to what Prof. Stevens, educationalist in the Netherlands, describes as the concepts of: autonomy, relation and competency. We will explain this further in the next paragraphs.

 

Most of the time we concentrate on the learner, but the conditions for an optimal learning process are equally important for the teacher.