Understanding technology education from a South African perspective

This book is intended for Technology Education teachers, curriculum implementers, curriculum developers, designers, supporters and critics alike. Critiques are challenges, and challenges are stepping stones for growth. We have attempted, from a South African perspective, to cover many topics that are relevant to Technology Education as it unfolds in the General Education and Training band (GET). In doing so, we have ensured that the focus is on teachers and how to improve their teaching. Teachers are encouraged to find and solve problems or to create problems that their learners should be able to solve. Care must be taken that these are actually worth solving. This book is primarily focused on teachers as curriculum implementers, who have to be able to make sense of the curriculum in order to impart it to the learners. The focus of this book is to help teachers as lifelong learners to do so. We hope that this book will help to inspire teachers in particular and its readers in general to want to know more about technology and Technology Education. In the spirit of each one teach one, we hope that the messages contained within this book will be passed on.
The editor, Dr Thabo Pudi, is a senior lecturer in Technology Education at the University of South Africa. His qualifications include both a doctoral and a Master’s degree in Technology Education, and a BEd in both management and psychology. He also studied electrical engineering in which he obtained a National Higher Diploma. Dr Pudi’s experience includes being a principal of an FET college. He is also responsible for research in the fields of Technology Education, education management and psychology. He is a subeditor for the journal Africa Education Review and editor of the conference proceedings for the International Association for Cognitive Education in Southern Africa (IACESA).