Preparing the Technology Education Profession for the Future.

Overview & Synopsis

The first step in determining how to prepare the future teachers who will teach in the field of technology education in the 21st century is to determine what technology education itself will be like. If one purpose of technology education is to prepare people to adapt to new situations and control their own destinies, then the role of educators in the technologies should be to determine what learning is of most worth in the ever-changing, dynamic, worldwide technological society. Traditionally, educators have separated liberal education from technological education. This can no longer be the case. Teacher education programs must be revamped radically and must receive adequate staffing and funding to prepare future teachers who will be able to provide technology education that is both job specific and broad enough to focus on the role of the individual in a free society. Research is necessary to develop pedagogical methods adequate to prepare teachers who can fuse the knowledge about the concepts, relationships, and consequences of technical means with the knowledge and know-how for using and designing appropriate technical means. (MN)