Why Design and Technology Education Never Settled, and May Never: A Historical-Conceptual Analysis of a Hybrid Curriculum

McLain, M ORCID: 0000-0002-8691-3155 Why Design and Technology Education Never Settled, and May Never: A Historical-Conceptual Analysis of a Hybrid Curriculum. International Journal of Technology and Design Education. ISSN 0957-7572 (Accepted)

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Abstract

Design and technology (D&T) education has occupied a distinctive yet persistently contested position within general education since its formal inclusion as a foundation subject in the national curriculum for England in 1988. Despite repeated reforms, longstanding difficulties concerning assessment, curriculum coherence, teacher supply, and subject status have proven remarkably resilient. This article offers a historical-conceptual analysis of the emergence and evolution of D&T in England, situated within a selective international perspective. It argues that these enduring challenges are best understood not as outcomes of policy failure or poor implementation, but as structural consequences of D&T’s formation as a hybrid curriculum, combining partially reconciled traditions of craft, design, and technological knowledge. Drawing on curriculum theory and international scholarship, the analysis traces how attempts to stabilise this hybrid subject have resulted in recurring cycles of epistemic expansion and contraction. To move beyond nationally specific accounts, the article proposes a typology of technology, engineering, and/or design (TED) education, conceptualising international variation as alternative curriculum settlements within a shared problem space. The typology provides a comparative framework for analysing how different systems anchor epistemic authority, define educational purpose, and organise assessment. The article concludes by considering the implications of recognising D&T as an inherently tensioned hybrid curriculum for future research, policy, and curriculum design.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Liverpool Institute for Research in Education (LIFE); curriculum theory; design and technology education; epistemology; historical-conceptual analysis; hybrid curriculum formation; 1203 Design Practice and Management; 1302 Curriculum and Pedagogy; Education; 3903 Education systems; 4010 Engineering practice and education
Subjects:	L Education > LB Theory and practice of education > LB1603 Secondary Education. High schools
Divisions:	Education
Publisher:	Springer
Date of acceptance:	3 April 2026
Date Deposited:	07 Apr 2026 14:31
Last Modified:	07 Apr 2026 14:31
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/28342

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