Send me a message. A museum floor changed underfoot and so did my thinking. After a visit to the V&A’s Design and Disability exhibition, I came home energised and unsettled—in the best way—and unpack how inclusive design moves from a nice‑to‑have to the engine of real innovation and dignity. It caused me to question a stubborn myth: that able‑bodied designers solve problems for others. The stories on display point to something richer—design with, led and instigated by Disabled people, whe...

Send me a message. Ever been told art and design and technology are basically the same because they share the word “design”? Let’s test that claim with real data and grounded classroom experience. In this episode I unpack how teachers and stakeholders describe the value of D&T and the value of art and design, then draw a clear map of where they overlap, where they diverge, and what leaders risk when they blur them into one. First, I outline five widely reported value themes for D&T: ...

Send me a message. In this episode, I'm excited to share three brilliant opportunities for you to get involved in research that's shaping the future of design and technology education. First, I'll tell you about the Redesigning Design and Technology project I'm co-leading with Ciaran, Andrew, and Amanda. We've identified 18 contentious questions that divide our community and created a survey where you can share your views on these crucial debates. This research feels particularly timely with ...

Send me a message. Reconnecting with purpose is essential when facing professional challenges. In this reflective episode, I share my experience of an unsuccessful professorial application and how it prompted me to rediscover why I'm passionate about design and technology education in the first place. The start of a new academic term offers the perfect opportunity to step back from the excitement and apprehension of returning to teaching and consider our fundamental values: What drives...

Send me a message. Recommended read: Studio Properties: A field guide to design education (edited by Derek Jones , Elizabeth Boling, James Benedict Brown , James Corazzo, Colin M. Gray, Nicole Lotz) Derek Jones and Alice Hellard explore the concept of design studio as a transformative educational approach that extends beyond physical space to encompass social dynamics, extended cognition, and embodied knowledge. • Design studio is not just a physical spac...

Send me a message. Michelle Gregson, General Secretary and Chief Executive of NSEAD, discusses the relationship between art and design and design and technology education, exploring their distinctiveness while highlighting their shared values and challenges. NSEAD operates as a learned society, subject association, and specialist trade union for art and design educationBoth art and design and design and technology subjects face similar challenges of reduced curriculum time and resourcesMich...

Send me a message. If you are interested in helping the Association evaluate their Inspired by Industry programme, sign up here: https://bit.ly/IBIinterest What happens when we look beyond textbook projects and expose 11-14 year olds to real industry design challenges? Tony Ryan, Chief Executive of the Design and Technology Association, reveals how they're transforming technical education from the ground up through their ambitious "Inspired by Industry" programme. Six years into his leadersh...

Send me a message. Max Pownall is a product design lecturer at Nottingham Trent University. Find out more about Max and his work: Instagram (NTU Focussed)LinkedInUni profileFinal Year Degree online degree showMentioned in this episode Events with Alison Hardy The Design Thinking Toolbox https://www.worldofbooks.com/en-gb/books/michael-lewrick/design-thinking-toolbox/9781119629191 Tools from the book at - https://en.dt-toolbook.com/t Support the show If you like the podcast, you can always ...

Send me a message. Holistic, summative assessment is essential for properly evaluating design and technology capability, drawing on research by Richard Kimball and Kay Stables that predates the National Curriculum and has been tested across multiple countries and age groups. Effective capability assessment tasks allow pupils to demonstrate ability to respond to an unfamiliar design contexAssessment focuses on students' design capability, not their knowledge of the specific contextTeachers s...

Send me a message. Formative assessment in Design and Technology requires structured peer feedback approaches to be effective. Research shows a significant gap in assessing technological knowledge, with most studies focusing on design knowledge instead. • Design crits from higher education can be adapted for classroom use through peer feedback • Research from the Netherlands identifies convergent feedback (clarifying ideas) and divergent feedback (promoting creative responses) • Teachers mus...

Send me a message. How do we effectively assess knowledge in Design and Technology education? It's a question with surprisingly few research-backed answers, despite its critical importance to teaching practice. I talk about this assessment gap in the second episode of my sub-series on D&T research. I remind listeners that D&T knowledge encompasses both conceptual understanding ("knowing what") and procedural application ("knowing how"), forming the foundation upon which capabil...

Send me a message. How do we measure what truly matters in Design and Technology education? The challenge lies in distinguishing between assessing individual knowledge components and evaluating the holistic capability that emerges when students apply their learning autonomously. In this foundational episode, I introduce a new mini-series focused entirely on assessment in D&T education. Drawing from research literature, I establish the critical difference between two assessment targets: s...

Send me a message. What makes for effective teaching in Design & Technology? Returning after a brief hiatus, I delve into the research-backed pedagogical approaches that can transform D&T education. This episode synthesizes my recent exploration of teaching strategies, clarifying the crucial distinction between curriculum (what we teach) and pedagogy (how we develop student capabilities). At the heart of D&T education lies a persistent misconception I'm determined to challenge: t...

Send me a message. In this episode of the Talking D&T podcast, I explore the pedagogical approach of product analysis, often known as IDEAS (Investigation, Disassembly, Evaluation, and Analysis). I examine how this signature pedagogy helps develop learners' understanding of technology in society—a core aim of the National Curriculum in England. I discuss how product analysis bridges curriculum and pedagogy by teaching pupils to examine artefacts through multiple lenses. When handled thoug...

Send me a message. In this episode, I delve into the pedagogical approaches that exist beyond the traditional 'design and make' activities in Design and Technology education. Drawing on research literature and classroom practice, I explore how 'mainly designing' and 'mainly making' activities can be powerful pedagogical tools when used deliberately and appropriately. I share insights from Bill Nichol's work on designing for future contexts, including how case studies and question cards can he...

Send me a message. In this episode of Talking D&T, I explore the complex nature of design and make activities in design and technology education. Drawing on research from Richard Kimball, David Perry, and Robert McCormick, I unpack the pedagogical approach of design and make that underpins our subject and challenge some common misconceptions about "the design process". A key insight emerges around the balance between process and outcome in D&T education. When we become fixated on the ...

Send me a message. Drawing a clear line between how we teach and what we teach seems straightforward—until you step into a Design & Technology classroom. In this thought-provoking exploration of pedagogy in D&T education, I unpack why teachers often blur the boundaries between teaching methods and curriculum content, sometimes without realising it. The heart of effective D&T education lies in developing students' design and technology capability, but this requires navigating compl...

Send me a message. Knowledge frameworks matter profoundly in Design and Technology education, yet teachers often struggle to distinguish between what students need to know for a specific project versus what builds lasting capability. This episode tackles that challenge head-on. In this episode, I explore the concept of knowledge frameworks in design and technology education, continuing my series on what research tells us about D&T. I delve into two types of knowledge that I believe are p...

Send me a message. In this episode of Talking D&T, I explore the complex role of values in design and technology education. Drawing on research from influential scholars like David Layton, Mike Martin and Rhoda Trimingham, I unpack how values aren't merely peripheral to D&T but are, as Layton puts it, "the engine of design and technology." I examine two key perspectives: values within design (how values influence design decisions) and values developed through design and technology (ho...

Send me a message. In this episode, I delve deeper into the forms of knowledge that underpin design and technology education. Building on McCormick's conceptual and procedural knowledge framework, I propose a more nuanced approach that considers design knowledge and technological knowledge as existing on a spectrum. I explore how these knowledge types can be visualised as intersecting axes, creating four quadrants that help teachers plan their curriculum more effectively. This framework isn'...