David Layton

Revaluing the T in STS

In the past the T in STS has frequently been subsumed under Science, the first s. The paper argues for the recognition of technology as an autonomous co‐equal to, and not a subordinate branch of, science. Issues are raised about the uniqueness of technological knowledge, characterized by being structurally orientated towards concrete praxis. Comparison of the constitutive and contextual values of science and technology from standpoints including community norms, technology transfer, adoption of technological innovations, technological senility and gender establishes the value‐ridden nature of every phase of technological activity. An association with moral education seems an inescapable consequence of this revaluation of the T in STS and a question is raised about the implications of this for STS teachers.

Constructing and reconstructing school technology in England and Wales

The British government has claimed that no other western country has given such prominence to technology in the curriculum for all pupils of compulsory school age. The paper considers this innovation in the national curriculum of England and Wales from a number of perspectives. The first reviews the social processes by which ‘design & technology’ assumed the form it took in the original Statutory Order of 1990 and by which it underwent reconstruction, leading to the revised Order of 1995. In so doing, it explores the development of a national policy for school technology, comparable to that enunciated for school science in 1985. A second perspective focuses on the increasingly important role of technology in the governments overall educational policy, especially in relation to the better preparation of pupils for the world of work and the securing of parity between academic and vocational courses. A third theme concerns the changing relationship between school science and school technology.

Empowerment of People: The Educational Challenge of Science for Specific Social Purposes (SSSP)

Writing about public understanding of science, John Ziman has identified an important difference in viewpoint between ’insiders’ and ’outsiders.’ For practitioners of science, those engaged in ’making knowledge,’ and working on science from the inside, the emphasis is predominantly ’on the possibilities of discovery and of validation.’ In contrast, the outsider’s view is ’overwhelmingly instrumental.’ Science is of interest to non-scientists primarily becuase of its potential for use.

Education of a lifetime

Festschrifts for physicists are by no means uncommon, but those for physics teacher, such as this, are rare indeed. Wonder and Delight is a collection of essays and extracts in honour of Eric Rogers, a Cambridge graduate who taught in English public schools (Clifton, Bedales and Charterhouse) in the inter-war years and who was subsequently a professor of physics at Princeton University in the US. In 1963, on the untimely death of Donald McGill, who had just been appointed organizer of the Nuffield Foundations O-level physics project, Rogers took over and retained an association with the project, including the later revision of its materials, throughout the 1960s and most of the 1970s. He died in 1990, shortly before his 88th birthday.