Curriculum Consonance and Dissonance in Technology Education Classrooms

In a time of increased accountability, a tightened curriculum, and fewer curricular choices for students, technology education in the United States is in the position of defending itself by “carving a niche” (Meade, 2004, p. 24) in the school curriculum. Justifying the place of technology education is becoming increasingly difficult, as there has been little agreement in either policy or practice over the definition and function of technology education. Within the past several decades, the International Technology Education Association (ITEA) has taken on the task of defining the nature of technology education and has created a series of standards, benchmarks, and curriculum documents that are focused on that goal. As Thornton (1988) noted, however, “curriculum decisions are ineffective unless they affect what teachers do in classrooms and what students learn” (p. 308).