Information Technology Reference
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2 Education policy and the rationale
for technology development in
schools: political drivers
Overview
This chapter provides an overview and rationale regarding government policy
initiatives that have driven technology development in schools in the UK, since
computers were introduced in the 1980s. While for governments these rationales
have tended to be economic and vocational - that is, concerning technology skills
for employees in a global economy - for teachers the rationale has been more peda-
gogical and curriculum focused, addressing challenges in teaching and learning
and the transformative potential of technology. This chapter outlines the major
policy directions that governments have pursued since the 1980s and highlights the
impact of successive initiatives.
Introduction and context
'The introduction of ICT into schools represents one of the largest and
most complex curriculum innovations that has ever been attempted.'
(Scrimshaw 2003: 85)
Given the multiplicity of drivers and competing rationales for the introduction of
technology in education, this chapter will analyse those with the greatest currency
among educational stakeholders. From the number of attempts that have been made
to categorize these imperatives, it is clear that from these typologies there is a consen-
sus concerning which rationales have most legitimacy.
While there are political and economic drivers for technology in education ema-
nating from government, alongside a commensurate financial investment, it is impor-
tant to highlight how, for teachers, this has culminated in a mounting pressure to
integrate technology into classroom practice. However, we know from research on
policy implementation and innovation in education that systemic change (required at
this level in teachers' everyday practices) is either very slow or tends to fail, which again
highlights the complexity of the process (Loveless 2001; Younie 2007). At the heart
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