In late February, the Education Policy Institute (EPI) released a research paper on the current plight of design and technology education in England, 'A spotlight on design and technology study in England'.

The Design and Technology Association is proud to be one of the facilitating partners for this research alongside The IET, ERA Foundation, Foster and Partners Architects and the James Dyson Foundation.   

In truth, the paper does not tell us much that we did not already know or suspect of the subject's current position in English schools; what it does do is provide a sound, data-driven evidence base for conversation, projection and growth. The subject needed this foundation on which to examine the issues in-depth and plan a strategy for development.

In this podcast, we temporarily abandon the usual format of Designed for Life, and I spend some time discussing the paper and its possible implications for the subject with Dr Alison Hardy, Senior Lecturer at Nottingham Trent University.  Many of you will know Alison, but for those that do not, she is steeped in design and technology experience and has taught and led the subject in schools before moving on to teach and research D&T at Nottingham. She is also the founder and host of the Talking D&T podcast, which I highly recommend.

This conversation forms a small part of the Design and Technology Association's plans to bring a debate about the future of D&T to teachers, subject leaders, senior staff, headteachers and governors, business and industry leaders and policymakers before we bring a clear message and potential solutions to the issues that exist to Party Conferences this autumn.

So put those headphones on, sit back and enjoy Designed for Life - In conversation with Dr Alison Hardy. 

This podcast has been recorded with the help of our sponsors, The Edge Foundation https://www.edge.co.uk/ inspiring the education system to give all young people across the UK the knowledge, skills and behaviours they need to flourish in their future life and work, and PTC Onshape Providing industry-standard cloud-based CAD to education  https://www.ptc.com/en/news/2020/ptc-onshape-education-enterprise-plan-available-free-of-charge

We are indebted to both The Edge and PTC Onshape for their continued support.