Technology for All Americans:
a curricular challenge more daunting than science education reform"Technology is human innovation in action." Thus is the reader of Technology for All Americans greeted even before the frontispiece. This theme is reiterated on page 16, where it is further elaborated: "It [technology] involves the generation of knowledge and process to develop systems that solve problems and extend human capabilities." This statement in turn is the basis for structuring what this document terms the "universals of technology" as "processes, knowledge, and context," displayed on page 17 as the three sides of a triangle.
This "Structure for the Study of Technology" follows the introductory section on "The Power and the Promise of Technology," which acknowledges both favorable and unfavorable technological impacts while at the same time making the case for universal technological literacy: "the promise of the future lies not in technology alone, but in people's ability to use, manage, and understand it" (p. 3, with the last seven words reiterated as the definition of technological literacy on p. 6). The technologically literate person is characterized as a "capable problem solver who considers technological issues from different points of view," "acknowledges that the solution to one problem often creates other . . . problems," and "understand that solutions often involve trade-offs." (p. 12)
The publication of Technology for All Americans by the International Technology Education Association comes seven years after the similarly-titled Science for All Americans was published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Daunting as is the challenge that continues to be faced today by science education reform, the challenges set forth in Technology for All Americans are far more formidable. For one thing, the need for science education was already recognized. As Technology for All Americans recognizes, "Understanding of and capability in technology traditionally have been ignored, except for those pursuing education and training in technological fields" (p. 13).
In other words, developing universal technological literacy requires recognizing the importance of technology education, training the required teachers, and giving them facilities for teaching. This is recognized at the outset of the third section of Technology for All Americans ("Teaching Technology"):
Technology must be a required subject for every student at every level of their education. Incorporating technology education into the country's school systems will require curriculum development, teacher training, and in some cases, dedicated teaching and laboratory space (p. 35).
While properly inserviced elementary teachers are held to be qualified to teach technology, middle and high school technology should be taught be a certified technology teacher or by a team which includes such a certified teacher. Although the rationale for a universal technology program is provided, the standards for such a program are left for a future volume. The need for them is clearly stated in the final section, "Taking Action."
Though the mission of Technology for All Americans is more formidable than that faced by Science for All Americans, the former book is less than a quarter as long as the latter, and much of it is attractive color photographs. A possible reason for this became apparent as I read the final "Call to Action":
The vision of technology embodied in this document, and later in the standards, must be shared by all of those who have a stake in the future of all children -- not just teachers, but also administrators, policy makers, parents, and members of the general public. (p. 94)
Most of the stakeholders named above don't have a lot of time to read thick dense documents. It is hoped that the attractive brevity of Technology for All Americans will cause it to be persuasively read.
Technology for All Americans was developed by the Technology for All Americans Project with funding from the National Science Foundation and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Copies are available for $10 from the International Technology Education Association, 1914 Association Drive, Reston, VA 20191. The ISBN is 1-887101-01-2.
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