Technological Education

The fundamental purpose of the technological education program is to provide students with knowledge, skills, and attitudes that will enhance their ability to achieve success in secondary school, the workplace, postsecondary education or training, and daily life.

The goals of the technological education curriculum are to enable students to:

• gain an understanding of the fundamental concepts underlying technological education;
• achieve the level of technological competence they will need in order to succeed in their postsecondary education or training programs or in the workplace;
• develop a creative and flexible approach to problem solving that will help them address challenges in various areas throughout their lives;
• develop the skills, including critical thinking skills, and the knowledge of strategies required to do research, conduct inquiries, and communicate findings accurately,
  ethically, and effectively;
• develop lifelong learning habits that will help them adapt to technological advances in the changing workplace and world;
• make connections that will help them take advantage of potential postsecondary educational and work opportunities.

Broad-based Technological Education

The technological education curriculum in Grades 9-12 encompasses ten subject areas, as follows:

The philosophy that underlies broad-based technological education is that students learn best by doing. This curriculum therefore adopts an activity-based, project-driven approach that involves students in problem solving as they develop knowledge and skills and gain experience in the technological subject area of their choice. Rather than focusing on specific occupations, courses in broad-based technology curriculum explore groups of related occupations and industry sectors within particular subject areas. So, for example, workplace preparation courses in construction technology enable students to acquire knowledge and skills related to carpentry, electrical/network cabling, heating and cooling, masonry, and plumbing. Broad-based technology courses enable students to develop a variety of transferable skills that will serve them well in a complex and ever-changing workplace. As students hone their interests and skills, they make also take focus courses that concentrate on more specific knowledge and skills in each broad-based area. For example the communication technology curriculum can be focused in areas such as photography, graphics design, and TV, video and film.