Primary Teachers' and Students' Understanding of School Situated Design in Canada and England

摘要

How do teachers in primary schools translate curriculum requirements for teaching design, within technology frameworks, in their primary classrooms? We call teachers' and students' designerly thinking and behaviours ‘school situated design.’ The results discussed in this paper are part of a larger study that explored: the relationships between designerly thinking and behaviours situated in primary/elementary classrooms in Ontario (Canada) and England (UK); beliefs about how designing is learned in schools and how they compare to learning and designing in the ‘real world’ and children's and teachers' understanding of design. Data were collected from teachers, children and designers through interviews, classroom observations and dialogue, photographs and design documents. This paper focuses on the ‘school situated design’ evidence from the study – the teacher and student data – and refers only briefly to designer data to compare school activities to ‘workplace design.’ We call professional designers' designerly thinking and behaviours workplace design. Similarities and differences between primary school situated design in Ontario (Canada) and England (UK) are discussed.