Technology education for children in primary schools in Finland and Germany: different school systems, similar problems and how to overcome them

Abstract

Even if the results of international student assessment studies such as PISA or TIMSS show that girls have been catching up in mathematics and natural sciences, there are still remarkable gender differences in the number of males and females studying and working in the technological fields after basic education. Technology is still a maledominated area. This is true for the German and Finnish societies. Results of the studies conducted in the UPDATE project show that influences on interest in technological themes take place already in early childhood. Therefore, efforts should be put in developing early childhood education and elementary school education, to raise girls' interests and motivation towards technology. This article reports the results of the UPDATE-WorkPackage3-project mainly in Finland and in Germany. It concentrates on studying elementary school pupils' (age 6-12), particularly girls' motivation towards the contents and methods of technology education. Various curriculum documents and national learning conditions are discussed and suggestions for the gender equitable technology education are made.A. Rasinen (&) Á S. Virtanen Á P. Ikonen

Effect of Middle School Students’ Motivation to Learn Technology on Their Attitudes toward Engineering

“…Diverse studies have also been carried out on the subject of technology in an attempt to understand students' learning motivation. Rasinen et al (2009) explored ways to improve the interest and motivation of female elementary school students in the subject of technology. In that study, the researchers suggested the need to develop various kinds of educational programs for the technology curriculum that would take gender-based differences into consideration.…”

Middle School Students’ Motivation for Learning Technology in South Korea

“…The male group had higher intrinsic motivation and career motivation compared to the female group, due mostly to the facts that the technology-related subjects have been male-dominated (Rasinen et al, 2009) and we are barely able to see female students learning technology, or female professional engineers and technicians (Chatoney & Andreucci, 2009, McCarthy, 2009Mitts, 2008;Sanders, 2001). Much effort has been invested in inducing female students to learn technology, which is why we need to further develop gender-specific educational approaches (Mammes, 2004).…”

“…Much effort has been invested in inducing female students to learn technology, which is why we need to further develop gender-specific educational approaches (Mammes, 2004). Along the lines of Rasinen et al (2009), it is thus advised that technology education programs should take gender difference into consideration to attract greater numbers of female students. Also notable is the study conducted by McSpadden and Kelley (2012), which hinted at the necessity of a brand-new method of education targeted specifically at female students.…”

Crafts and craft education as expressions of cultural heritage: individual experiences and collective values among an international group of women university students

“…crafts for decoration. In some cases education about crafts is included in teaching of art, design and technology, home economics, cultural and humanistic studies (for further information see Eurydice 2009;Rasinen et al 2009). A general explanation for the lack of crafts in the curricula was mainly the low appreciation given to non-academic subjects.…”