New STEM knowledge; emerging through collaboration

Set within the context of secondary age phase education in England and Wales, this paper presents preliminary findings from the early stages of a larger research project. The work builds upon the premise that as an educational construct, Design and Technology (D&T) is not fully understood by those working outside of compulsory education, and as a result it struggles to achieve the recognition and status held by its counterpart STEM subject disciplines. Following a brief outline STEM education from a United Kingdom (UK) perspective, this paper moves to discuss the origins of D&T, and subsequently its value both within the English and Welsh school curriculum when positioned within the STEM agenda. Exploring the attitudes of practising D&T teachers, this work investigates how knowledge and understanding of STEM education is developed; how new knowledge is gained, and through collaboration how it evolves and is subsequently shared. Participants are encouraged to relate the positioning of D&T within the area of STEM education, and situate D&T learning within the wider social and economic context, and in doing so support participants, working within the structure of functionalist educational policy to become agents of change. Constructivist grounded theory is the adopted research method, and empirically grounded data is used to elicit stakeholder viewpoints, and emergent findings are discussed in relation to D&T’s purpose, value and place both within the curriculum, and also in terms of its potential contribution to the advancement of a STEM-literate society.