All you wanted to know about D&T but were afraid to ask?

Abstract

Torben Steeg and Hilda Beaumont have written a short book for design & technology teachers both in England and abroad; to support heads of department in particular although we expect the book to be useful to teachers in training. The publisher is Routledge, and the title is Design and Technology in your School: Principles for Curriculum, Pedagogy and Assessment. In writing this book we have called on the expertise of those who have significantly influenced the developing nature of the subject by inviting them to be critical friends of our writing and in some cases by contributing short pieces themselves. As a result, the content was not restricted to the thoughts of Torben and Hilda but was able to include voices from across the community of practice. This paper will describe the structure of the book, the devices used to support active engagement with the text, the contribution of critical friends and Thought Pieces, and the dealing with contentious issues. In the Concluding Remarks the paper discusses the place of the book in subject’s current state of uncertainty.