Engineering news
Design and technology education in secondary schools is at “crisis point”, but China still looks to the UK as a subject leader, Richard Green, chief executive of the Design and Technology Association, has said.
Green told an audience at the Design Museum earlier this week that “we are still regarded as world leaders in D&T education” and that China and other far eastern countries were “looking very closely at how these skills can be developed in their pupils”. At the museum, adventurer and broadcaster Ben Fogle unveiled the winners of the first ever 'Great British Make Off' national schools design and technology competition.
Green, who travelled to Shanghai and Nanjing last week to talk about design and technology education to an audience of Chinese teachers and lecturers, said it was both “fascinating... and terrifying for the UK”.
He said the Chinese were acknowledging that their education system was good at developing knowledge, but that a risk-averse culture was making it less good at innovation. “This is a problem the country is now aware of – and is looking to change,” Green said.
At the museum, a Chinese presenter pointed out that there are tens of thousands of Chinese citizens employed in making iPhones, but the country’s share of the profits was only 1.8%. “They don't want the back of an iPhone to say, ‘made in China, designed in California,’ but ‘designed and made in China'.”
Green said that China saw design and the opportunity for schoolchildren to learn how to innovate as a means of addressing gaps in its education system, and the UK as positioned to help. He said design should be a crucial part of the curriculum in this country. “Yes, we need maths and science – subjects that are quite rightly prioritised – but by allying them with a subject that develops innovation and technical ability, we maximise their impact – and give relevance and realistic contexts for learning.”
He said the government talked about promoting STEM careers but that the high-profile Your Life campaign didn't mention design and technology. “It's not too dramatic to say that D&T education in many secondary schools in England is at a crisis point.” Design and technology should be added to speeches about the importance of STEM. The government should commit to high quality design and technology education at all schools, Green said.