From birth, children are surrounded by objects that have been designed and made -the buildings in which they live and play, the clothes they wear, the food they eat. The aim of design and technology (D&T) within the early years curriculum is to help children make sense of this 'made world' by designing and making things of their own - a vehicle, a den, an articulated caterpillar, sandwiches - anything that is relevant to their world and which will develop their understanding of that world, how it affects them and how they can change it.
Design and technology relates to two distinct but interrelated skills. Design is the thinking element of making; technology relates to making something for a purpose. This does not mean design is simply about drawing something before going on to make it. Planning a meal, deciding a colour scheme, choosing where to put a shelf, are all aspects of designing - thinking about making and modifying.
D&T is an area of the curriculum that many practitioners neglect, deterred by their own lack of technological and design know-how - hands up who can programme the video at home? - or sidetracked by their rush to promote the 'more important' skills in language and numeracy. Research has shown that practitioners' lack of confidence (and parents' - see box, right) does appear to restrict opportunities for D&T. But in fact, D&T requires of practitioners many of the same skills that they use to support these other areas of the early years curriculum.
Importance
The importance of D&T within the early years curriculum should never be underestimated. We are living in a time of rapid technological change. Helping children develop skills in D&T will not only help them make sense of the world at present, but equip them to cope with future technological changes.
D&T is covered in the Early Learning Goals under 'Knowledge and understanding of the world' (see goals box), but it is important to recognise the way it is mutually supportive of all other areas of learning. Just as it draws on concepts and skills from these other areas, so it also provides a rich source of activities to further develop these skills. Through D&T, children can develop, for example:
* speaking and listening skills, by discussing plans, explaining choices and evaluating results * physical control and manipulative skills, by working with materials and tools * personal, social and emotional skills, by sharing and taking turns in collaborative activities and gaining confidence in undertaking work alone * mathematical skills, through making decisions related to pattern, shape, position, size, quantity, sequence, addition and subtraction * creative skills, by experimenting with a range of materials in both 2D and 3D * observational skills, by exploring their 'made environment'.
D&T experiences should, therefore, be set within a holistic curriculum framework that emphasises its relevance to our everyday lives.
Effective approach
To be effective, design and technology should involve lots of thinking on the part of the child. It should give children opportunities to reflect on the purpose of the object they are going to make (contrast this with creative development, where the focus is primarily aesthetic), to make choices, to try out new ideas and to evaluate their work.
The most effective way to support design and technology is to take an approach which encourages active learning through play. 'Designerly play' may take place in activities that are planned and supported by a practitioner and in those which are directed and controlled by the child. Sometimes an activity will have no outcome - children will simply be experimenting with materials. Sometimes it will extend into a finished product. Both activities are worthwhile. Role play offers huge scope for D&T work, but can equally extend from stories, outdoor play and other interests (see role play box).
The range of experiences offered to children to develop their D&T skills needs to:
* be primarily purposeful but also include imaginative activities. For example, using ready-made objects as props within play provides evidence of children's understanding of technology, such as making a 'mobile phone' from Duplo that was discarded from an earlier play activity.
* be relevant, familiar and appropriate to a child's experience, interests and stage of development. At home, children may see a parent using an electric drill, operating a video recorder with a remote control or using the controls on a microwave oven. These experiences provide children with a bank of technological knowledge which may be used in role play.
* be fun, exploratory and capable of exciting children's enthusiasm, interest and curiosity - for example, when looking at and evaluating damaged pop-up books to see how they work.
* use the senses; sight, smell, touch and sound play an important part in the act of making things. For example, in food technology, when making a sandwich, children can explore the textures, smells and tastes of the ingredients. When creating sound makers, they can control the sounds by making adjustments to the 'instrument' - for example, by adding layers of papier mache to the top of a tube, which when dry will form a drum head.
* provide opportunities for children to select and use materials and tools for a purpose and to develop their skills of cutting, joining and folding in using them (see page 20).
Scaffolding
Crucially, the experiences offered to a child need to be planned to ensure that they build progressively on what is familiar to the child, her interests, her existing knowledge and her current skills, and that they provide a progression in the way materials and tools are introduced (see page 20).
To be successful, an activity must encourage children to draw on, say, existing mathematical and cutting skills, while also providing the potential to extend them.
By 'scaffolding' experiences in this way, practitioners will steadily build on children's skills and understanding of concepts, and so promote their self-confidence in their designing and making activities and enable children to become independent learners with a positive disposition towards acquiring knowledge. Careful planning and support from practitioners will, therefore, be crucial.
