Why universities should take notice to what’s happening at GCSE level in schools: the fly, the spider and the bird

Universities have a key role to play in the secondary school curriculum; with recent announcements about the Ebacc, schools feeling the financial pinch and difficulties in teacher training recruitment I think its essential that they engage with what is happening in schools at subject level. These are my views about the perfect storm that design and technology is findings itself in and what the consequences of this might be at HE level. 

Applying to any course students must have some prior experience or qualification. It’s rather like the old lady who swallowed a menagerie to catch a fly:

• To apply to a design related degree they (usually) must be studying a design-related A level, such as D&T, and have a portfolio to bring to interview (the bird);
• To study A level D&T they (usually) must have studied GCSE D&T an achieved a C grade or above (the spider);
• To study GCSE D&T year 9 pupils must have achieved a certain mark/ behaved in a particular way/ shown a clear aptitude for D&T (the fly).

Although in this situation nothing is being swallowed, but a lack of nourishment could lead to extinction or at least being placed on an endangered list.

The fly

The GCSE D&T ‘fly’ is caught in a perfect storm.

• As was reported in the summer, there has been a dramatic and steady decline in the number of pupils studying D&T at GCSE since 2004. At the time I didn't think the changes to league table measures and the introduction of the Ebacc were a reason for this. but after Nicky Morgan set the target that 90% of pupils will be studying the Ebacc I've changed my mind.
• D&T is not part of the Ebacc (a measure of success for schools and pupils), along with other creative subjects including art and design, music and drama.
• School budgets are being cut and D&T is expensive.
• The national data on pupils’ achievement in D&T, as reported by Diana Choulerton in the summer, reveals that pupils’ achievement in D&T is below of that made in other subjects.
• Recruitment of trainee D&T teachers has been dire this year.

So with no teachers to teach it, no money to teach it, low achievement rates and it’s not part of the new ‘measuring system’ the situation for the fly is looking rather dire.

The spider

With the potential of less pupils studying D&T at GCSE, there will be fewer pupils who are qualified to study A level D&T.

I’m already picking up from D&T teachers that schools are cutting A level D&T from their curriculum, even though the results from these departments is outstanding. 

Not all applicants will study A levels, some will have BTECs, usually studied at further education (FE) colleges. Recent news items about FE’s funding crisis could impact on this route into HE design and creative courses.

The bird

In 2012/13 8.9% of undergraduates were enrolled on a Creative Arts and Design degree. Within this broad category are courses such as product design, fashion, architecture and computer gaming design, many of which  that do require either A level D&T and/or a portfolio to be brought along to interview.

With no A level D&T or portfolio from the coursework this bird could develop some characteristics akin to a dodo. But then these are the creative subjects and they should have a creative solution.

I think it’s time that universities began to look more closely at the potentially far reaching impact of the Ebacc focus in schools, even though these pupils are more than four years away from entering university.

Possible next steps:

• Lobby government via a number of campaigns ‘Bacc for the future’ and ‘Designed and Made in Britain...?’ :

• Get involved in schools, link u with D&T departments;

• Advise on D&T curriculum developments;

• Encourage your undergraduates to Get into Teaching.

Publishing & reading D&T research in the UK: where next?

Eddie Norman is asked a number of pertinent questions in his blogpost last month, here I will attempt to answer some. Feel free to comment below, Tweet to me, or email with your thoughts and ideas; standing still at the fork in the road is not an option. 

I want to respond to Eddie's questions at the end of his blogpost:

However, who in England (apart from the teacher training survivors in HE) is now conducting research in D&T? And who is reading about the research that has been completed? It has to be time for some serious discussions and meetings of minds, or where will the tradition that John Eggleston started and many have supported go next?

1. What is currently happening in education research that involves teachers?

There are two parts to consider here: where is the research being shared and who is generating it?

Social media users will be familiar with the surgency of Teachmeets and ResearchEd, two movements that I believe are filling gaps created by the decline in HEIs involvement in teacher training and education research, and funding for CPD in schools. 

Teachmeets are fun, interactive and a place to learn new tips and ideas for use in the classroom but very few of the ideas shared are based in rigorous research. ResearchEd's focus is on 'working out what works' in education research; still embryonic in some ways but rapidly growing, gaining voice and authority as it helps teachers make sense of the plethora of education research. Its maybe too early to measure their impact but there is a groundswell of support for them - they are teacher driven, immediate and practical aligning to John Eggleston's call for research that is 'immediate, practical and relevant'.

These two are about sharing education research but where is the research coming from? I think there are three worth considering here. Firstly most university trained teachers now have the opportunity to achieve Masters credits, which will have come from them probably conducting research about their own practice and usually involves action research. Secondly schools are receiving funds for research from the DfE and organisations such as EEF to try out and test ideas. Thirdly there are teachers completing their Masters, groups of like-minded teachers getting together formally and informally in schools, sometimes working with university lecturers, to question and explore what is happening in the classroom. But where does this research go? Where is it published, interrogated and shared?

2. What  is happening in D&T education research?

This week I am attending PATT29 in Marseille listening to over sixty papers presented by researchers (teachers, academics, postgraduate students) from all over the world; all of these papers are about design and technology education in pre-school, primary, secondary, tertiary and higher education. Twelve papers are presented by UK based researchers with twenty different named authors. But how many UK D&T teachers know this is happening? Unless you're one of the four teacher-authors or have been following my #patt29 on Twitter you probably don't. You're missing out on some great stuff and I would encourage anyone to access them when they are made freely available on the ITEEA website; the papers have involved pupils, D&T teachers, trainee D&T teachers and senior school leaders, with some great ideas to help D&T teachers in the classroom; ranging from thinking about the history and possible future of food teaching in schools, why pupils should talk about robots in D&T, how demonstrations are used in D&T lessons, global perspectives in D&T, and so on - inspiring. And I haven't mentioned the other 51 papers from places such as Sweden, NZ, Canada, South Africa, Israel and France. 

As I wrote in my comment on Eddie's post, there is also local, small scale, classroom based research happening by D&T practitioners (teachers on MA courses and those who are studying for their PGCE/BSc in D&T ed) but what happens to this work - who hears about it? Their departments, peers and family is the probable answer. This is where I think Teachmeets and ResearchEd have captured teachers' imagination - its quick  and accessible; getting your work published in peer reviewed journals is time consuming, mentally challenging and can seem complex to the uninitiated - if you're a teacher is it worth the effort? Yes. One way a subject gains and retains its credibility is through sharing its research. Research needs to be read, critiqued and used in the classroom or to inform policy. 

So we have the research being done and there are potential traditional (such as DATE:IJ) and new (Teachmeets and ResearchEd) research outlets so how can these be brought together? And who will read the research?

3. What of the future?

This is where my thinking is still developing, I can only consider scenarios and possibilities that I'm happy to discuss, explore & throw away.

Firstly I think it's important to keep the DATE:IJ open access (I.e. Free) but it needs more promotion both by those who publish it and those who feature in it. I'm not sure many D&T teachers even know it exists.  As I wrote in my comment: some work needs to be done to see who reads it now and then social media used to share the research, A quick look on Twitter and I have a list of over 200 D&T teachers who are on Twitter with maybe another 100 D&T departments using it to share their students' work, on Facebook there are 2522 members of the D&T teacher group, D&TA's Facebook page has 3000+ likes - surely this network can be used to promote and share the D&T research?

Secondly I think the research can be inaccessible. The advice we give to students is 'read the abstract to check if it's useful for you' but so many abstracts are inaccessible to not only trainee teachers but also academics. Maybe a synopsis of the research could be published on a Facebook page or blog?

Thirdly face to face sharing is important but where is this done in the UK? With no UK D&T research conference or space at the D&T events there is no outlet for this. Maybe a new approach is needed and the teachmeet, researched or three-minute thesis models could be used at the D&TA and TeachDesign conferences?

I know the impact the research I have read and done has had on my teaching both in schools and higher education, I thrive on the mental stimulation it gives me as I question why and how, so this post is written from a selfish position. I believe in the importance D&T to pupils and society but I particularly value good D&T and I believe D&T is good, and can be even better, if we carry out, publish, read and use research. Eddie's questions must be debated as D&T and teacher training in England goes through significant changes.