In this episode, I explore the boundary between pedagogy and curriculum intent in D&T education. I reflect on how we can make our implicit modelling of design strategies more explicit to enhance pupils' learning and metacognitive awareness.
Drawing from my classroom experience, I consider those moments when I implemented activities like Design Fiction or 635, but didn't articulate why I'd selected these approaches or when pupils might choose to use them. I question whether I was sufficiently explicit when making material choices—why select 4mm acrylic rather than 6mm?—and how sharing this reasoning might have deepened pupils' design thinking.
Unlike simple demonstration of techniques, explicit modelling reveals the decision-making processes underpinning good design practice. While this connects to aspects of Rosenshine's principles of instruction, D&T presents unique opportunities as our projects unfold over weeks rather than single lessons.
This approach has relevance beyond the National Curriculum, with international educators similarly exploring how to make design thinking visible to learners. Whether you're teaching in a secondary school in Birmingham or a technology college in Melbourne, making your design decisions explicit helps pupils develop their own design capabilities.
As you plan your next scheme of work, which design decisions might you make visible to your pupils? How might explicitly modelling your thinking transform their understanding of the design process? I'd love to hear how explicit modelling works in your context.
Acknowledgement:
Some of the supplementary content for this podcast episode was crafted with the assistance of Claude, an AI language model developed by Anthropic. While the core content is based on the actual conversation and my editorial direction, Claude helped in refining and structuring information to best serve listeners. This collaborative approach allows me to provide you with concise, informative, and engaging content to complement each episode.
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