Evidence of a problem
Owers' thesis makes reference to a problem faced by our society as a whole. This also impacts on Education who have responsibility for passing on a slice of our culture. But our culture has been shown to be burdened by adverse value judgments in the context of sustaining ourselves economically. Because the problem resides in our collective value judgments, the evidence is not easily perceived.
However, the thesis provides evidence in a number of key areas as follows:
1. Anecdotal evidence
Once the idea of anti-business/anti-industry sentiments have been grasped and accepted, the prejudices are easy to recognise. Some 65 anecdotes appear in Appendix 5, and they provide examples from across society including Education.
Read the thesis, particluarly Chapter 8- the perception of technology, Page 142 (search for p152 in Acrobat), and Appendix 5.
2. Survey
As part of the research programme, a number of research exercises were conducted including a survey of A-level students. Some 3100 students completed a 3-page questionnaire that was machine read producing data for statistical analysis; there are more than 80 graphs. Appendix 7 provides a summary including findings such as:
- Students not taking Maths find it uninteresting with a median of 2 on a 1 to 9 scale,
- Both those who take Maths and those who do not, consider Maths important for getting a job; they both rated it a median of 8 on a 1 to 9 scale.
There are many other findings that are interesting as well as serious causes for concern.
Read Chapter 8, Page 142 (search for p152 in Acrobat) of the thesis, and Appendix 7.
3. Literature
Before 1760 there was no concerted hostility towards industry and business in the UK, but that changed in the period up to 1790. This change was driven by forces outside education, but the cultural context and associated value judgments have significance. Modern literature includes texts arguing that the value judgments of the past are in the present.
Read the thesis, particularly Page 138 (search for p148 in Acrobat).
4. Teachers
Teachers in training were asked to form subgroups of 4 or 5 and reflect on their perceptions of industry, to reach consensus, and commit their 'collective view' to a flip-over chart. The outcomes were essentially negative, and failed to comprehend our dependency on the products and services of industry. With such attitudes trainee teachers could not deliver Economic and Industrial Understanding as required by the Education Reform Act of 1988. But of course teachers and teachers in training have never received any formal instruction on the key role of our wealth creation activities, and the pivotal role of technology within those processes.
Read the thesis, particularly Chapter 8, section 08.05 starting Page 143 (search for p153 in Acrobat).
5. Insight
People with a non-technological background have the greatest difficulty comprehending the issues. Even so, from their earliest days they have been socialised into using tools and technologies as tools as extensions of themselves in order to enhance their productivity and capability. Without exception we are all tool and technology users, and in fact we are totally dependent on our tool-culture to function as individuals and as a society.
Read the thesis, particularly Chapter 3 - The origins of technology, Page 21 (search for p31 in Acrobat) and Chapter 10 - Conclusions and Recommendations, Page 232 (search for p242 in Acrobat).
6. History
Many in our society have great difficulty attributing any intelligence to people who work with their hands, but they overlook the work of surgeons and dentists. However, when our Stone Age ancestors fashioned a cutting edge on a piece of stone to use as a tool, it was a deliberate act of hand-eye co-ordination, visualised and driven by the imagination. The cutting edge was a key concept in the culture of tools, evolving for our society into the technologies we know today. This happened because knowledge built on knowledge as social cumulation down the centuries, eventually enabling the achievement of the first precision flat surfaces. Precision technology was necessary for the development of electrical generation and supply systems with all the new industries and products that followed.
Read the thesis, particularly Chapter 4- The evolution of technology up to the Industrial Revolution, Page 30 (search for p40 in Acrobat).
7. Education
There have been a number of initiatives introduced with the aim of helping education to appreciate the importance of (1) industry, and (2) technology. These include:
• Industry Year 1986,
• Understanding British Industry (UBI),
• The Teacher Placement Service (TPS),
• The Technical and Vocational Education Initiative (TVEI).
Read the thesis, particularly Chapter 9 section 09.08 on Page 217 (search for p227 in Acrobat) and Appendix 11.