Abstract

This chapter provides the reader with an insight into the complex and at times challenging journey that D&T in England has taken over the past sixty years. The chapter begins with a brief introduction into the subject’s early beginnings and its rise to prominence internationally at the time of the introduction of the first National Curriculum for the subject in 1990. It discusses the reasons for its strong curriculum position held as a mandatory subject for all pupils to study up to the age of 16 and the advantages that provided for the subject’s development, through to its latest position as indicated in the most recent version of the National Curriculum. It debates the place and influence that D&T has had within the global development of Technology Education, while the internal and external factors that have influenced the subject’s growth and progress, its demise and recent resurgence are examined. Such aspects as various governmental influences and the impact of the national examination system are scrutinised. The chapter also provides an insight into the various distinct and significant features of the subject content itself. These are considered alongside on-going developments of technologies, that have affected what is taught and how it is taught. Woven into the narrative at pertinent places are the beliefs and opinions of various stakeholders who were involved in developing the original concept in the late 1980s through to those who are still involved in shaping D&T in England at this present time.
Design and Technology; National Curriculum; Technology Education; Subject content; National Examinations