Classifying Approaches to and Philosophies of Elementary-School Technology Education

In 1974, Hoots classified historical philosophies of elementary-school industrial arts (ESIA) into four categories: subject matter, in which children would study technology and its social impacts (e.g., Gilbert, 1966); arts and crafts, consisting of what Hoots (1974) called “concrete manipulative activities” (p. 225); method of teaching, in which industrial arts delivered, reinforced, and enriched the traditional elementary curriculum (e.g., Henak, 1973), and tools, materials, and processes, focusing, as the name implies, on technological materials and processes (e.g., Miller & Boyd, 1970).