The Research On Technology Education For General Senior High School

This dissertation is divided into five parts, consisting of eight chapters:Part One serves as Chapter One. It introduces the causes for this selected topic, the aims and purposes of this research, and the identified issues. By literature review, it is found that this research project is the one to be waited for much more inquiry in China.Part Two consists of the following three chapters, aiming to construct the basic concepts about technology education for general senior high schools(GSHS). By exploring the differences and linkage between technological knowledge and science knowledge, defining the concept of technology, explaining the meaning of technology education for GSHS, examining the history of technology education in and out of China, making a specific analysis of the limitation of the practically conceptual warping of "labor" as well as labor and technical education, Part Two justifies the independent characteristic of technology and demonstrates the current connotation of technology education — moving towards technological literacy education.Technology is so sophisticated that it is difficult to be looked through vertically and horizontally. The empirical studies maintain that, as a unique knowledge, technology features on its nature of activity, a most distinguishing difference from science knowledge in nature. In essence, being internalized in different typological technologies and carriers, technology is a kind of wisdom and know-how for problem-solvers in real situation. Accordingly, this paper maintains a generic definition of technology- "some activity knowledge geared to meeting with people's needs by directly operating/controlling or orienting operated/controlled materials and facilities." From the perspective of technology education, technology can be broadly understood as some activity knowledge, involving the configuring and operating/controlling of such resources as money, instruments, materials, and facilities.Throughout the more-than- 100-year developmental tracks in technology education in some countries , it is found that, in the new era, although countries do not always use the same name, the integration of technology education into the comprehensive reform about GSHS is an international trend. The fact that technology education and vocational education is closely related in the development of technology education makes technology education having long been regarded as vocational education of some kind. And it is because of this that technology education can not enter into the field of general education. In fact, technology education is an important knowledge field; it can both occur in the activities of vocational education, and of course in those of general education. As an integral part of general education, technology education for GSHS is one of the fundamental approaches to the achievement of the goals. Its primary purpose is not to foster special talents, but to develop technological literacy for all students needed to survive in the 21^st society.Through the detailed examining of the historical development of technology education in China's GSHS since 1949, it is found that China began with practicing "basic production skills' education", followed by "labor education" in the so-called "cultural evolution" focusing on its function of moral education in 1970s.In 1980s,China implemented "labor and technical education"; However, it was obvious that the 1980s implementation was both carrying the meaning of "technology education" and the traditional context. Moreover, it is also found that their education from 1970s to 1980s seldom carried the scientific meaning. By in-depth criticizing the practically conceptual warping of "labor" as well as analyzing the original discourse of "labor and technical education", it is argued that the reconstructing of "technology education" is necessary through separating "technology education" from "labor education" conceptually. In this paper, it is found...