The relationship between science and technology in the primary curriculum - alternative perspectives

Abstract

The removal of subject-content overlap in the National Curriculum for England and Wales under Sir Ron Dearing (DfEE 1995) may have drawn subject boundaries more firmly in the primary classroom, but the author believes that a special relationship can still be claimed for science and technology. Before going any further, there is an immediate need to clarify terms. Are we talking about information technology (IT) or design and technology? Whilst acknowledging the huge contribution that IT makes to scientific discovery I have chosen to restrict myself to a definition of 'technology' as 'design and technology' for the purposes of this article.