NAAIDT: Making Choices at KS4

	Introduction
	The Current Position
	The New Opportunities
	The General Issues and Challenges
	Course Comparisons
	NAAIDT Advice to Schools
	Teaching the New Courses

Design and Technology at Key Stage 4: Making Choices

Introduction

"The Government is emphatically for D & T. When the Department consulted last year on SCAA's draft curriculum we asked a number of questions about D & T. We did not ask whether it should be in the curriculum from 5-16. The Secretary of State had already decided that it should, despite the fact that a number of people had argued to the contrary. We were the first country in the European Union to introduce the subject into a National Curriculum for the whole of the statutory school age. We were certainly not going to be the first to remove it. So that debate is over".¹

¹The Secretary of State for Education and Employment, in her speech to the 1995 DATA Conference.

From September 1996 all pupils starting their Y10 course will be required to be taught the design and technology Programme of Study, as detailed in the statutory Order, leading to either a full, combined or short GCSE or equivalent. Full GCSE courses are planned to occupy 10% timetable time and short courses 5%.

5% curriculum time equates to between 60-70 hours plus homework time over 5 terms. Short courses can be either 'long and thin' (5% in both Y10 and Y11) or 'short and fat' (10% in either Y10 or Y11).

Both full and short courses will be available from most examination boards in the following focus areas: Graphic Products, Food Technology, Textile Technology, Systems and Control Products (full course only), Resistant/Compliant Material Technology, Electronics Products, Construction Technology.

Some examination boards may also offer a limited range of Combined GCSE courses (eg D & T with Business Studies).

GNVQ Part 1 courses are being piloted this year. It is expected that only Manufacturing and Engineering will meet the design and technology requirements at Key Stage 4.

A GNVQ Part 1 course will require 20% curriculum time. (A full GNVQ course at either Foundation or Intermediate level is considered to be equivalent to 4/5 GCSEs and therefore will require a 40% curriculum time block.) This latter course is not usually awarded pre-16, but in following a GCSE course some pupils will cover aspects of Foundation or Intermediate GNVQ courses, so their work for GCSE D&T may contribute to certain GNVQ units. Some examination boards will cross reference these in their syllabus details. There will not be a requirement for simultaneous dual assessment; pupils can hold on to aspects of their work for assessment later.

Examination boards will continue to offer GCSE courses in Child Development, Textiles, Home Economics, Consumer Studies, Food and Nutrition, but these courses will not meet the National Curriculum requirements for design and technology.

At present, only syllabuses which use the title prefix "Design and Technology" will meet the statutory requirements.

The Current Position

Until this year, all Key Stage 4 pupils had been required to take a full GCSE or equivalent course which included a mandatory core in the use of resistant materials. Despite organisational difficulties due mainly to lack of additional resources, the first year's examination results nationally were encouraging.

Best practice was seen where:

	adequate time was provided for course planning and assessment;
	there was"strong senior management support for design and technology with an appropriate administrative and timetabling framework and effective departmental management"²
	core and extension aspects of the course were taught by a single specialist teacher with no break in the continuity of teaching;
	there were "high standards of specialist teaching based on sound understanding of designing and clear objectives of the content and skills expected"²
	teachers managed the requirements for two separate pieces of coursework and/or portfolio and set appropriate deadlines and support structures;
	pupils had high expectations based on clear objectives and a commitment to an agreed course of action;
	groups were of a size which enabled constructive teacher interaction and individual project management. The practical limit is 20. In excess of this "teachers find it difficult to resource lessons adequately, or to provide opportunities for sufficient practical work. Sometimes, they are rightly concerned about pupils' safety".²

²OFSTED review of inspection findings 1993/94.

The New Opportunities

The new requirements provide:

	an opportunity for pupils to express clear preferences through their choice of design and technology course;
	an opportunity for the teaching team as a whole to be a community of specialists, deployed to the maximum benefit of students;
	an opportunity to include reference to the world outside school and work related learning as authentic components of a design and technology course;
	an opportunity to develop clear, coherent pathways at 14+ and 16+, including links with vocationally relevant courses;
	an opportunity to simplify demands of assessment for full courses and single focus especially.

Issues and Challenges

	Both full and short courses are now available which could be taught by a single specialist - how will pupils recognise the different courses as being design and technology courses - what are the commonalities we should strive to assert (and build on throughout Key Stage 3)?
	Single materials courses could reinforce gender stereotyping - how can this be avoided?
	Pupils who wish to continue with the present core plus extension model will be able to take two D & T short courses in different materials areas. The present core plus extension model has resulted in overload for pupils and staff and some lowering of the quality and quantity of coursework produced - will studying two short courses have the same effect?
	There may be sufficient commonality between short and full courses content to allow some joint teaching - will this be advantageous or simply lead to more confusion?
	Pupils taking a short fat course in Y11 will effectively have only two terms to complete the course and may not benefit from the long summer break as a period of reflection or to develop their major projects. Such courses will ideally need to start in the summer term, giving rise to possible timetabling difficulties, Y10 pupils on a short fat course may lack maturity and experience: Y11 students on a short fat course will also have the disadvantage of discontinuity in Y10.
	Pre-National Curriculum, the national take up for full GCSE technology subjects was of the order of 60% to 80%. A school's own pre-NC data could provide a useful planning starting point if choosing a mixed economy of full and short courses (the provision of full GCSE courses post-NC must surely be at least as good as provision pre-NC!)
	Entry fees for short courses are unknown at present. Entering candidates for two short courses may be considerably more expensive than entry to one full course.

Course Comparisons

Short GCSE Courses		Full GCSE Courses
	They can cover the NC requirements in 5% curriculum time
	A full range of grades will be available
	They may provide some flexibility of planning for Key Stage 4
	They could result in more choices for pupils
	They may result in fewer resource implications in terms of qualified staff, materials and equipment.
But:		Full GCSE Courses
	Will they have any currency value to employers or others?
	Will they lead to pupil dissatisfaction because they are not "real courses?"
	Will they inevitably lead to a lowering of standards because of time limitations?
	Will they prepare pupils adequately for progression to further study post-16?
	In combination, will they overload pupils (and staff)?
	Will the quality of the learning experience by compromised because of time constraints?
	Will short, fat courses lead to lack of continuity of learning?
	Will a pupil's absence, even for only a short time, be disproportionately disadvantaged?
	Will they result in increased stress on teachers caused by increased work load due to additional course planning, marking, assessment, report writing, managing resources and materials.
	Will they result in additional organisational problems relating to the storage of work, monitoring, and organising of coursework?
	What courses, if any, will be offered to pupils for the other 5% of curriculum time (D & T benefits from long timetable sessions whereas Modern Foreign Languages, for example, usually prefer single periods)?
	Will the entry fees for two short courses be more expensive?
	Will the choice of courses reinforce sex stereotyping? Although this applies to all courses - short or full - except where the full course allows for working in more than one focus area.

NAAIDT Advice to Schools

Any decisions regarding which courses to offer should be taken on the basis of:

clarity - pupils and parents understand what they can expect to gain and where it might lead to;

coherence - the objectives and course content are carefully planned and assembled to comprise a meaningful and worthwhile experience for pupils.

continuity - courses build on previous experience and provide progression in the skills and knowledge pupils will seek to develop for their chosen learning pathway and career choices.

Try to offer full GCSE design and technology courses for all in the first instance.
If resources force a compromise then aim for a 10% technology options block which provides at least as many full course entries as you were achieving prior to the National Curriculum.
If you are forced by circumstance to accept a mixed economy model, adopt long thin courses and avoid short fat courses for D & T.
Think carefully about who will take the short course and why. Less able pupils may struggle to succeed in such a short time and the more able may question the value of taking a course leading to an unproven qualification.
If your curriculum model means that a matching 5% course will have to be identified, choose a related discipline such as IT or Business for preference to enable a combined GCSE to be achieved.
Avoid the use of single, short lessons.
Group sizes should not exceed 20 maximum and ideally should be lower for GCSE courses in workshop based options or courses requiring specialist food preparation areas, to enable safe working practices and good quality teaching and learning to take place.
Short courses will highlight the quality of the Key Stage 3 curriculum. In order to meet the demands of a short course pupils will need to be well prepared through study of all elements of the Programme of Study in Years 7 to 9.

Teaching the New Courses

All new syllabuses, both for full courses and short courses, must necessarily prescribe that pupils cover the Programme of Study content listed in the Order for Key Stage 4.

Particular attention is drawn to the following:

All pupils are required to design and make products of quality which can be tested in use. Design and Technology teams in schools should plan together how a common understanding of designing can best be developed regardless of which materials area a pupil has chosen. Departments should strive to develop a common language for designing and procedures to moderate the standard of work produced across the different materials areas.
"Pupils should be given opportunities where appropriate, to develop and apply their information technology (IT) capability in their study of design and technology"³. Design and technology teachers can complement the IT related work done elsewhere in the school by making their particular contribution. Computers should be used to enhance designing and making through Modelling, Manufacturing and Control.
All syllabuses must require pupils to understand and use control and systems in their own work. This should be a key feature of any technology course. A simply passive awareness of control will not suffice. Be wary also of syllabuses which attempt to describe systems too broadly.
Design and technology at Key Stage 4 is set within an industrial and commercial context and is well placed to provide pupils with an understanding of the world outside school. All syllabuses must require some association between the work done in school and similar work in industry. Schools will need to plan how this can occur and are advised to establish working relationships with some industrial or commercial partners.

³ National Curriculum Orders

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