Making the Cut: Rationale The Technology (Mandatory) Years 7‐10 Syllabus states that the aim of the course is to develop student’s ability to investigate, design and produce a quality solution to a design brief and do this in a safe and responsible manner while justifying their solutions. Making the Cut focuses on the study area of food technology and allows students to develop their skills both in theory and in practical applications in the kitchen. The units outcomes are justified by the unit description, which states that in today’s world the art of the preparation, creation and presentation of a good old fashion home cooked meal has become a lost art, with many preferring to attend restaurants’ and eateries for what they consider a quality meal that they never could prepare, or many who simply fall victim to the consumer need for the instant gratification offered by fast food outlets. This unit of work teaches students the basics of the kitchen, as they are encompassed in the Technology (Mandatory) Syllabus outcomes. These outcomes revolve around promoting good kitchen practices in regards to food safety preparation and presentation, as well as teaching the basics of good nutrition and doing this in an environment where safety is paramount and the proper measures are taken in the use of kitchen utensils and appliances. The final solution/assessment for the unit will ask the students to prepare, cook and present a full three‐course meal. The unit’s sequence allows students to start from the very base foundations, and acquire skills as they learn. The first activity of the unit calls for students to share what they already know about the concepts of Food Technology. The students are provided with an overview of the unit where they are given a where and how of the unit direction, informing them of the skills and knowledge they will be given and will be assessed on at the closure of the unit (McBurney‐Fry 2002.) The unit then looks at the Occupational Health and Safety aspects of the kitchen, with which students are required by law to know and abide by. Students then investigate food properties, the functions, use and maintenance of utensils, methods of food preparation and processing, recipe interpretation and presenting food for visual appeal. These skills are all brought together in their final solution which will be to produce a full three‐course meal, which will be presented as their major design project. Within this unit of work there are several references made to teaching with the aid of ‘e‐learning,’ this type of learning directly involves a student with an item of technology, more so the internet. Throughout the Technology (Mandatory) course the overall aim of the teacher is to make students more aware and in touch with the available technology of their era and as this technology evolves so to should a student’s interaction and teacher’s interpretation of the syllabus.
Students these days are becoming less and less accustomed to the idea of using a library and reading books to source information. Students are far more inclined to log on and browse the internet, raking half the time and effort. Revolutionary types of resources are now available to students with ‘e‐books,’ and live streaming videos available at the click of a button. Betts (1994) stated ‘multimedia creates rich learning environments where kids really do thrive.’ It us the aim of the teacher, by the introduction of ‘e‐ learning’ into this unit of work to encourage an already enthusiastic group of students to be captured by the use of various form of multimedia and other online resources. As well as gaining students attention, the use of multimedia the use of “e‐learning” will undoubtedly further their knowledge and perfect those vital life skills in which the can take with them into the real world. Group work is a very important part of both teaching and learning in high school. Ones peer’s are a very influential part of adolescent life. Peer pressure, for the most part can govern what one will wear, how one will speak and act towards others, and even how one can learn and be taught in the classroom. In this particular unit of work, cooperative learning is identified at the beginning of the unit, where students are divided up into groups of 4‐5 people, commonly known as bays, for the entirety of the unit. Each lesson students are to complete the given tasks with the aid of theses other members of their bay, unless told otherwise. “Students are encouraged to learn cooperatively as they work together to maximise the leaning experience” (Cineli 1994). The key word in this statement is cooperatively. In order for this type of teaching to be successful, students must be mature in their task allocation amongst themselves, and also their managing of resources. Teachers should have little, to no involvement in the delegation and managing the bay and how they organise themselves unless there is a problem. As a result of this kind of structure and its constant need for cooperation and allocation of tasks and resources, timing and workflow planning is a large part of the marking criteria for this unit. These particular qualities teach a student the important life skills in recognising the need to share a workload and complete separate tasks individually or in subgroups in order to save time. This kind of organisation and cooperation is paramount for those becoming involved in such an industry or any type of workforce prior to leaving schools. The term constructive pedagogy is the basis behind the structure of the entire unit of work. With the correct application of a number of different teaching styles and techniques the criteria for an ideal pedagogy of technology education can easily be constructed. A key feature to constructive pedagogy
is a quality‐learning environment. This is whereby the classroom is constructed in such a way that fosters positive learning and a quality approach to content. There should be high but realistic expectations coupled with rigorous structure in order to keep students focused and on task. Care must be taken as to not overload students but only give them scaffolding and structure in which to thrive. The classroom should also have a positive and cooperative attitude toward learning as can be seen in the many forms of group work and student centred learning. The next key component of a positive pedagogy is significance and relevance to the student. Due to the content of this unit, it is difficult for this classroom not to include information that students would find relevant and quite useful prior to finishing school, hence the attitude and way that students approach tasks and classroom activities throughout the semester. The central term used in the creation of pedagogical learning is intellectual quality. This term refers to the deep knowledge and understanding and enforcing problematic and higher order thinking. This kind of learning is achieved through the different styles used in this unit of work especially, as students are asked in many instances to take a problem and deconstruct it for an answer, shown in the final assessment task. “E‐learning” and “cooperative learning” are examples of the kind of teaching methods in this unit that encourage substantive communications and metalanguage.