Mr Larry Spry

                Tell me and I’ll forget, show me and I may remember, involve me and I’ll understand.

Chinese Proverb 

I believe that Design and Technologies education  provides learning experiences that are not found elsewhere in the curriculum particularly the development of important skills such as higher-order thinking, creativity , enterprise and design led innovation, a flow-on contribution to learning in science  & Mathematics education through "sTEm "  approach to learning .

Design and Technologies as a learning area provides the  interdisciplinary connector  to many fields of human enterprise (eg artistic, cultural, environmental, ethical, experiential, historical, local, mathematical, personal, political and scientific).

I strongly believe that many effective Design and Technologies educators  [and there a lots of them] adopt the interdisciplinary connector  teaching approach on a daily basis in their classes. At times intentionally  that reflects  purpose and intent & sometimes as an unintended  consequence of teaching BUT still powerful and impacts upon the learning of the student.

I have been proactively involved in an educational journey since 1972 as a........

• LEARNER.......... ongoing experience as a classroom practitioner -Early Years  education to Year 12  in DECD, Independent and Catholic educational sites
• EDUCATOR- University of South Australia school of Education. Teaching Academic in Design and Technologies education
• LEADERSHIP-  Principal in Catholic Education; Policy and Program Officer in South Australian Education Dept ; President of Design and Technologies Teachers Association Australia and South Australia - DATTA Australia & DATTA SA ; Curriculum developer and writer- South Australian Curriculum Standards and Accountability Framework- SACSA Design and Technology ; Curriculum developer and writer -Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority ACARA-Australian Curriculum AC-Design and Technologies subject.
• DIRECTOR /BOARD MEMBER - Educators SA - key body that represents 58 Professional Teachers Association in South Australia,Past President of DATTA Australia and DATTA SA [Design and Technologies Teachers Association ]

I have an interest in the notion of STEM education and its importance for the future..... I believe to be an effective “sTEm “teacher and to deliver an effective “sTEm “program the educator must be  focussed on the LEARNING, highlighting the

• concepts,
• skills and
• understandings that are all necessary  to solve a problem or to achieve a successful outcome for an inquiry-based program or project based approach.

Once the LEARNING is identified  the connections to the relevant ‘subjects’ can be identified and assessed and catered for.

Teaching subjects/linked concepts /linked skill sets in a learning environment that creates a CONTEXT focussing on  LEARNING fosters an atmosphere where the learning becomes relevant for all students.

This concept and approach should be the guiding principle in all teaching and reflective of an effective  sTEm program & teaching in general.

I believe that Design and Technologies  education creates technologically literate learners who question, investigate, generate, design and make products, processes and systems that solve problems or satisfy future needs .  

The issue of recognizing the significant and importance of Technological literacy is a real concern to me, as I feel it is not addressed enough or promoted enough as a reflection of Design and Technologies uniqueness. All learners benefit from the dimensions of technological literacy and must not be restricted in their learning to one aspect alone.

The three dimensions are:

• the operational, through which learners develop skills and competencies, at a technical level, to use materials and equipment in order to make products and systems (they learn to use and do)
• the cultural, through which learners contextualize their learning in the world of designed and made products, processes and systems. They recognize the interdependence of technologies with people at home, in further education and training, at work and at play, and they apply their technical learning in practical ways to realize designs and solve practical problems (they learn through technology)
• the critical, through which learners are empowered to take a full and critical role as autonomous citizens in technological societies. They are able to make refined judgments about the worth of the intentions and consequences of technological products, processes and systems on themselves and others. They reflect on technologies and take subsequent personal and civic action in the light of this reflection (they learn about, and how to be with, technology).  

Design and Technologies  offers learners a rich combination of knowledge, skills, strategies and dispositions to develop their identities as individuals, and to help them design shared, sustainable futures.The significance and importance of Design and Technologies as a designated Learning Area from the Early years of schooling to the Senior years ,establishes the key and important role that learning in Design and Technologies brings to not only learners lives but ultimately to the future of design and technological practices of the nation.

Cheers

CEASA- Council of Education Associations of South Australia

DATTA -Design and Technology Teachers Association of South Australia

DATTA Australia-Design and Technology Teachers Association of Australia

ITEA-International Technology Education Association-USA,

ICSEI-The International Congress for School Effectiveness and Improvement,

The Design and Technology Association-DATA UK

Director and Board Member of Educators SA 

Qualifications

• Masters in Educational Administration Adelaide College of Advanced Education

• Graduate Diploma of Teaching Adelaide College of Advanced Education

• Bachelor of Education Adelaide College of Advanced Education

• Diploma of Teaching South Australian College of Advanced Education