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

In the long march from manual training, the subject which today is called 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...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of technology education Vol. 16; no. 1; pp. 21 - 39
Main Author Lewis, Theodore
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Journal of Technology Education 2004
Subjects
Blue Collar Occupations
Career Academies
Definitions
Educational History
Elementary Secondary Education
Engineering Education
Higher Education
Magnet Schools
Massachusetts
Program Descriptions
Reputation
Technology Education
White Collar Occupations
Massachusetts
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Summary:In the long march from manual training, the subject which today is called 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. At its origins, the subject of technology was premised upon blue-collar knowledge. The content was derived from the practices of crafts-people--blacksmiths, machinists, and cabinet-makers. The intent of early advocates was not for this knowledge to be used to reproduce the blue-collar classes that invented it, by teaching it to their children exclusively. Rather, it was legitimate education that would be valid for all children. In this paper the author examines the phenomenon of pre-engineering as the most recent claimant to the technology education tradition, and argues that pre-engineering is the latest evidence of a decided turn away from the blue-collar traditions of the field, toward white-collar academic traditions.
ISSN:1045-1064
1045-1064
DOI:10.21061/jte.v16i1.a.2