Exciting Times For... Soft Materials and Processing Technology

Technology is an exciting learning area - but wow, has it changed since I was at school! Back in the days of ‘Cooking’ and ‘Sewing’ when we made good old mac ‘n cheese or whipped up a cushion cover for mum’s couch. Today’s subjects might be almost unrecognisable for many students and teachers of years gone by - as times change, so must we.

The big ideas and significant learning in Technology have a specific focus on enhancing knowledge and understanding of:

• sustainability and sustainable practices - as kaitiaki, how we can protect our environment and resources for future generations;

• the composition and function of materials - what they do, how we use them and why informed decision making is so important;

• the development of feasible outcomes to solve authentic problems in a local contextensuring our end products are made in sustainable ways, meeting the needs of our end users, all with the aim of making someone’s life better!

All of this learning is underpinned by te ao māori, mātauranga Māori and Pasifika values ensuring our learners are exposed to a broad range of worldviews in their learning - as well as their own - and to support them in making informed decisions.

There are exciting times on the horizon for education in Aotearoa and we jumped at the chance to be a part of leading that change, as we move teaching, learning and assessment into the future. In 2023, Ōtūmoetai College was selected to pilot the new achievement standards in Materials and Processing Technology - one of only a handful of schools across the motu. This is an exciting opportunity for ākonga and kaiako to be at the forefront of Technology education in Aotearoa. Our Level 1 students are some of the first to experience the new approach to teaching, learning and assessment and they are making the most of every opportunity!

In February, 110 Food Technology and Soft Materials Technology students spent a day in the PAC collaborating across disciplines. The aim of the day was to develop students’ understanding of Design Thinking while immersing them into a problem solving design challenge. Students self-selected groups of 3-4 where they identified a problem that needed a solution and worked through the design process. They began by empathising with their end users to dig deep and really understand the issue. They then worked through the design stage coming up with a range of possible solutions, before refining to identify the most feasible outcome. Once they had determined their final solution they spent time rapid-prototyping a model representing their final outcome ideas.

It was great to see ākonga bring their ideas to life, without being confined to their ‘subjects’ and to understand that their experiences in Technology, no matter whether it is a food or soft materials focus, brings together knowledge and understanding from other learning areas and puts it into practice.

The collaboration during the Design Thinking challenge was spectacular and it was wonderful to see ākonga working together, utilising each other’s strengths and supporting each others learning to reach a common goal - the essence of our learning area whakataukī came to life with ākonga ‘paddling their waka in unison’. After all, he waka eke noa - we’re all in this together!

Lauren May - Food Technology

Carolyn Norquay - Food Technology

Charlotte Armstrong - Soft Materials Technology