Research On The Implementation Guarantee Of "Design And Technology" Course In Primary And Secondary Schools In The UK

In the era of knowledge economy,the competition among countries is essentially the competition for high-quality talents,and the core of talent competition is comprehensive quality.The "Design and Technology" course in the UK,as an interdisciplinary and practical comprehensive course,plays a crucial role in cultivating students’ comprehensive qualities.China has established the comprehensive practical activity course based on the concept of quality education.After many years’ development,the implementation effectiveness of the comprehensive practical activity course is satisfactory,but the course implementation still faces many challenges.For example,the course policies are not perfect enough;the course status is not high;professional teachers are insufficient;teachers just get limited professional training;insufficient teaching and learning resources greatly reduce the effectiveness of the course;the activity bases and equipment are not complete,so the course can’t be implemented well.Whether these problems can be effectively solved will directly affect the effectiveness of the comprehensive practical activity course in cultivating students’ comprehensive qualities.There are many similarities between the "Design and Technology" course and the comprehensive practical activity course in terms of course positioning,objectives,content,histories,and implementation.Both courses experienced a chaotic and confusing stage at the beginning of implementation.The UK has established a "Design and Technology" course implementation guarantee system through several reforms to promote the successful implementation of the course.China can also learn from its successful experience and provide guidance for the successful implementation of comprehensive practical activity course.By reviewing the development history of the "Design and Technology" course in the UK,we can fully understand the changes in the implementation of the "Design and Technology" course,and explore the successful experience of the implementation of the "Design and Technology" course from the aspects of policy guarantee,teacher guarantee,resource guarantee,and base guarantee,in order to provide feasible suggestions for improving the implementation guarantee system of comprehensive practical activity course and promoting the successful implementation of the course.The main body of this study consists of six parts,as follows:The first part outlines the development process of the "Design and Technology" course in the UK.The development process is mainly divided into four stages:embryonic stage,establishment stage,adjustment stage,and mature stage.In the embryonic stage,the course content mainly focused on handicrafts.The course name evolved several times to establish "Handicraft,Design and Technology" course,laying the foundation for the establishment of the "Design and Technology" course.In the establishment stage,the UK established the "Design and Technology" course through legislation and incorporated it into the national curriculum,with clear provisions on the course objectives,content and so on.In the adjustment stage,the UK made multiple adjustments and improvements to the course objectives,content,teaching methods,and evaluation methods based on the implementation of the "Design and Technology" course.At this stage,the "Design and Technology" course basically took shape.In the mature stage,the UK focuses on improving the course quality through reforms,and establishes a mature course system for the "Design and Technology" course.The second part analyzes the policy guarantee for the implementation of the "Design and Technology" course in the UK.There are four aspects: firstly,the policy provisions about the course implementation institutions.The Department for Education,local education authorities,and schools are interconnected.They are responsible for the course implementation.The second aspect is the policy regulations on the implementation content of the course,which elaborates on the specific content and requirements for the implementation of the "Design and Technology" course in the national curriculum standards.The third aspect is the policy provisions about the safety in course implementation,which explain the safety standards before,during,and after the practical operations of the "Design and Technology" course.The fourth aspect is the policy cases of the course implementation,analyzing the policy cases of the "Design and Technology" course implementation in local education authorities and schools under the guidance of "National Curriculum: Design and Technology".The third part studies the teacher guarantee for the implementation of the "Design and Technology" course in the UK.There are three parts: firstly,"Design and Technology" teacher initial training introduces the initial training modes led by universities and by primary and secondary schools;the second part is the "Design and Technology" teacher introduction training,which states initial training objectives and training content;the third part is "Design and Technology" teacher in-service training,which explains the content of teacher in-service training provided by higher education institutions,educational institutions,and professional associations.The fourth part summarizes the resource guarantee for the implementation of the "Design and Technology" course in the UK.There are two categories: one is the guarantee of teaching resources,which elaborates on the "Design and Technology" course teaching resources provided by television stations,professional associations,and educational institutions;the other one is the guarantee of learning resources,which introduces the learning resources provided by broadcasting companies,museums,tutors,and websites.The fifth part explores the base guarantee for the implementation of the "Design and Technology" course in the UK.There are mainly two types: one is the campus base for course implementation,including Timetabled Teaching Spaces,Teaching Support Spaces,and Non-Teaching Support Spaces;the other one is the off campus base for course implementation,including historical sites and cultural venues.The sixth part analyzes the inspiration from the implementation guarantee of the "Design and Technology" course.Based on the successful experience of the "Design and Technology" course in the UK,the following four suggestions are proposed to address the difficulties in the implementation of comprehensive practical activity course in China: strengthening policy guarantee for course implementation,establishing teacher guarantee for course implementation,establishing funding guarantee for course implementation,and expanding resource guarantee for course implementation.