Chapter 2 explored the strand of generating designs through two case studies. This chapter and the next continue to show the curriculum in action through a series of case studies. This chapter specifically explores preferred futures as one of the key features of the Australian Curriculum: Technologies (ACARA, 2023).

This chapter introduces the concept of project management through a community project approach. Several examples are provided to show a range of products that have been designed and produced for ‘clients’ in local communities. The advantages of incorporating a community project approach as part of a balanced technologies curriculum are discussed and the benefits are highlighted. This is in keeping with the definition in the previous version of the Australian Curriculum: Technologies (Version 8.4), which states that a project represents a

In this final part, different approaches to technologies education are examined. Both pedagogy and assessment practices are examined, and at the end you are invited to take a position on your own personal approach to teaching technologies to young children.

This chapter focuses on the range of pedagogical approaches available for technologies education in schools and early childhood settings. As you read this chapter, consider how the different approaches concentrate learning. What do children gain? What do children miss out on? What is the role of the teacher? Which pedagogical approach suits you best? Why?

This part of the book will examine valued forms of knowledge that are sanctioned through the national curriculum development processes.

The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA, 2023) suggests that digital systems support new ways of collaborating and communicating, and require new skills such as computational and systems thinking. These technologies are an essential problem-solving toolset in our knowledge-based society. The Australian Curriculum: Technologies recognises the need for different types of thinking. Although design thinking was featured in Part 1, this chapter takes a deep dive into the place of digital technology in children’s lives to set the foundation for examining computational thinking in Chapter 6.

In Chapter 5, Digital Technologies as a subject area was discussed. This chapter continues the exploration of concepts and teaching practices for Digital Technologies by going more explicitly into computational thinking.

This chapter begins with a general discussion of computational thinking and concludes with case examples of digital technologies in action in the classroom/centre. Through studying computational thinking in action, it is hoped that you will come to understand this concept and develop a range of ways in which you can teach it meaningfully to children in the early years and from the Foundation to Year 6 levels (Figure 6.1).

Chapter 7 examined food specialisations. This chapter continues to examine the contexts of technologies by looking at engineering principles and systems, and materials and technologies specialisations. Engineering as a context for the study of technologies is an area for primary and early childhood teachers to consider when planning for children’s learning. This area opens up new possibilities, particularly for girls (Figure 8.1). As a profession in Australia, engineering is male dominated. Engineers Australia (2022, p. 17) found that

The terms ‘technology’ and ‘technological literacy’ are heard in many different forums (e.g. Seery et al., 2018). Newspapers often feature articles relating to technology and many politicians associate economic success with technological products and capabilities. Yet what do we really mean when we talk about technology, and what constitutes knowledge in technology education? This book brings together research on technologies education. You are invited to reflect critically upon this research by recording your reactions to the examples of teaching practices, children’s comments and work samples, as well as the research, presented in each chapter.

Chapters 5 and 6 examined the subject Digital Technologies in detail. In this chapter and those that follow, the contexts of technologies will be studied: food and fibre production and food specialisations (this chapter); and engineering principles; and systems and materials and technologies specialisations (Chapters 8 and 9). This chapter will look specifically at food and fibre production and food specialisations (Figures 7.1–7.3). In the process of studying fibre production, the fashion industry will be explored.

Chapter 1 examined technology, exploring a range of perspectives. The chapter also introduced an overview of the Australian Curriculum: Technologies and the Early Years Learning Framework. This chapter discusses what is unique about the nature of technologies education and unpacks some of the key ideas found in the Australian Curriculum: Technologies. Examples of creating preferred futures, and engaging with project management, systems thinking, design thinking and computational thinking, are all considered unique to technologies education (Hallström and Klasander, 2019). This chapter focuses specifically on the most obvious of these ideas: generating designs (see Figure 2.1). Through a series of case studies, it explores the various features of a design brief and the design process in action (Figure 2.2).

The previous chapters examined the idea of a design brief and creating preferred futures. Design thinking that is supportive of the Design and Technologies subject was explored, and through a series of case studies children from birth to 12 years were shown engaging in design thinking to generate and produce solutions to problems they were interested in solving.