Struggling for a New Identity: A Critique of the Curriculum Research Effort in Technology Education.

MF01/PCO2 Plus Postage. Criticism; Curriculum Design; *Curriculum Development; Curriculum Evaluation; *Curriculum Research; Educational History; *Industrial Arts; Postsecondary Education; *Research Needs; Secondary Education; *Technology Education Historically, technology education evolved from several strands: Bacon's realism, Pestalozzi's belief in the practical application of knowledge, Rousseau's naturalism, Herbart's sense realism, Dewey's progressive and social reconstructionist thinking, and the influence of vocationalism. The mainstream practice of industrial arts was more a study of the skills needed to perform a trade than a study of the relationship of industry to society and the problems of life related to industry. The following influences mitigated against reaching the potential of early ideas associated with industrial arts: persistence of manual training practices, inbreeding of industrial education, federal funding for vocational programs, and diminution of women's voices. As concern grew about the theory/practice gap around midcentury, curriculum innovation exploded, the subject matter was named technology education, and a content outline was specified. Research from 1987-1993 painted a picture of a top-down curriculum revision in technology education meeting with superficial and limited success. Also revealing was what was not done. The focus of curriculum research on descriptions of status and curriculum development pointed to researchers who neither studied the effectiveness of technology education nor addressed issues of identifying and implementing integrated curriculum through technology education. Contemporary research and practice reproduced a technocratic rationality based in positivism, a deterministic view of technology, and monoculturalism. (Contains 88 references.) (YLB) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. * * **i.A*****A;':)..;.**;.;.A'*****************1..;...*********************