An episode in technology curriculum refinement: it’s only another design brief...

This paper describes aspects of the revision and refinement of Technology curriculum provision in one Australian state. Within the redesign of the whole Birth-Year 12 curriculum there were particular issues and challenges facing those responsible for the Technology Learning Area. The paper reports on differences between the existing and the proposed frameworks; competing educational interests in the field; process-content issues including the proposal for a new strand of 'critiquing'; an attempt to move away from a singular construct of design 'process' as a core methodology; the outline of technological literacy as a basis for Technology curriculum design; issues of cross-curricular relationships with other Learning Areas, and debates and proposals for a name change for the field. While the proposals are currently in the final stage of refinement and are not conclusive, the theoretical curriculum issues addressed in the paper will be applicable to many Technology Education revision processes.