Editorial

Abstract

With the publication of the Interim Report of the Design and Technology Working Group of the National Curriculum, it is possible to see how far the subject has come and what challenges lie ahead. Over the last decade and a half, the craft skills model has been altered almost beyond recognition to a design and technology problem-solving approach. This is not to say that everyone agrees on what design and technology is or how it ought to be taught but progress has been made on these questions. Girls have come to study the subject and we are aware of the need to make the subject more 'girl-friendly' Others outside of the area have become more conscious of the importance of design and technology both for the economic life of the nation and for the essential understanding of the educated citizen. Hence the recommendation that design and technology be part of the 5-16 national curriculum. The Interim Report has proposed a cross-curricular model, the features of which need discussion, clarification and experimentation. COT though only one of several elements of the new area of learning, has the opportunity to take up the challenge and set down the pattern of responsibility and study for design and technology within each individual school.