A Turn to Engineering: The Continuing Struggle of Technology Education for Legitimization as a School Subject

Authors

Theodore Lewis, University of Minnesota

Document Type

Article

Journal/Book Title/Conference

Journal of Technology Education

Volume

16

Issue

1

Publisher

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Publication Date

2004

First Page

21

Last Page

36

Abstract

In the long march from manual training, the subject which today we call technology education has always had to contend with the question of its legitimacy as valid school knowledge. In this regard, it shares a similar history of struggle with other subjects whose initial entry into the curriculum was based on a utilitarian rather than an academic rationale. Goodson (1983) documents such cases (e.g. geography and biology) showing how in their struggle for acceptance, the primary strategy of advocates was to try to enhance the academic bona fides of their subject. He explained that utilitarian knowledge is associated with "those non-professional vocations in which the majority of people work for most of their adult life" p. 27. In one of his earliest writings in which he made the case for the subject, Calvin Woodard acknowledged its utilitarian tradition, but pointed to its intellectual side as well.

Comments

Originally published by Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. HTML fulltext available through the Journal of Technology Education.