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Reconstructionism in Technology Education

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Shaping Concepts of Technology

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Abstract

This paper points out that technology education has historically had many principles and practices which reflect an underlying philosophy, but that the philosophy has not been made explicit by many technology education practitioners. As philosophy helps technology educators understand alternatives, make decisions and take action in both curriculum and instruction, it is important for technology educators to ask philosophical questions at the onset of their work to understand the implications of their actions. A brief discussion about some of the philosophies that inform educational practice in North America provides a background for an analysis of the different philosophies in relation to technology education, and provides insight into the significance of reconstructionism, an outgrowth of pragmatism, as a philosophy in which to frame and describe technology education. This is illustrated through several examples of a reconstructionistic approach to technology education.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada

    Ann Marie Hill

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  1. Ann Marie Hill
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands

    Marc J. De Vries

  2. Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Arley Tamir

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© 1997 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Hill, A.M. (1997). Reconstructionism in Technology Education. In: De Vries, M.J., Tamir, A. (eds) Shaping Concepts of Technology. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-5598-4_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-5598-4_11

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-010-6361-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-011-5598-4

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