Stakeholder buy-in
The senior management team supported a physical upgrade to the department. Significant finances would become available in 2008/9 and then more in 2013, so a two-tiered approach was envisaged; stage 1 in 2009 and stage 2 in 2013. The department was overdue a major overhaul – the last major changes having been made almost 40 years before. However, this alone was not sufficient to guarantee spending – temporary measures had been implemented in the department in the past and could well suffice again if a clear strategy was not forthcoming. The Board of Trustees, principal and senior management team would need to be convinced of need for change to accommodate both the present needs of the department and the direction the subject of Technology could be taking in the future.
The first step for Matthew was to analyse the current state and future requirements of the department, from every angle. He undertook:
- a major audit of the existing equipment, machinery, furnishings and health and safety;
- the tracking of current usage of specialist rooms and an evaluation of the use;
- an analysis of the specialist material areas the department was currently unable to offer and an assessment of their worth; and
- an audit of the specialist competencies currently available by staff and the identification of any shortfalls.
Havelock North Technology Block
Open gallery of images
Keen to find out what solutions other big technology departments had come up with, Matthew gathered examples from around the country of successful Technology teaching environments (many in Beacon Practice schools) and identified their key features. During 2005he visited a number of schools, including Auckland Girls Grammar (where 'pods' of specialist activity were being used) and Havelock North High School (see photographs of the Technology Block in the gallery on the right). He was particularly impressed with Havelock North's new graphic studios that had been designed with ICT as the first and central aspect of the studio.
Once the current position and future possibilities had been examined, Matthew developed a presentation for the Board of Trustees, through a sub-committee and senior management team to get their approval of the scope and direction of the upgrade. This was an opportunity for Matthew to not only underline the importance of Technology to the school, but to challenge the thinking around what constituted ideal learning environments.
On the right are pods, on the left the workshops, and above right are the first floor staff area and resource rooms on the left graphic rooms.
The lockable pods for controlled access and supervision.
"The subject of Technology is uniquely positioned to offer students a broad range of experiences that explore the reasons why and how and solve pertinent problems in a range of dynamic forms," he says in his presentation. "Creating an environment that is functional and stimulating, modern and futuristic is our challenge – one that we need to rise to and be inspired by. This upgrade is an opportunity to make a different statement about the culture of the school environment."
Matthew presented to the Board a Department Overview (PDF 430kb) which included a full stocktake of the current physical set-up of the department. In terms of rooms these were summarized as:
- T2 – a wood-orientated workshop with timber store, project store, and polish area/small fan;
- T3 – a metal-orientated workshop with metal racks, heat bay and project store;
- T3 – a graphics room with Smartboard, projector, and eight computer workstations;
- T5 – a graphics room with projector and eight computer workstations; and
- T4 – an office with four workstations for staff, and storage units for documentation and graphic equipment.
Key elements of Matthew's presentation included his wish to change the style and configuration of the workshops, to become multi-material settings where a range of materials could be explored and utilised. "We have made significant steps away from the old 'Woodwork and Metalwork' mentality," he says, "and now need to capture the problem solvers, innovators and environmental thinkers of the next generation." He suggested that the machines that were 30-40 years old be rationalised and replaced on a rolling programme with computer numerical control (CNC) machines, and that the workbenches were also ready for a similar programme. "We live in a microchip/precision world and yet teach with tools from an era when there were no computers. It would be like teaching Computer Studies with the old, first-generation BBC computers," says Matthew.
A rethink of the layout and organisation of the entire environment, both within each workshop, and the support and entry areas, was required. Machines, for example, should be moved to one end of each workshop, and at the other should a dry area for design and modelling that provided students with facilities for 3D experimentation. Critical to the new environment would be the incorporation of new graphic studios situated close to both workshops – a computer suite of 30 machines and related hardware was needed, he says.
Taking a lead from Havelock North, where the Technology block has a distinct presence within the school, Matthew was also keen to create a foyer leading into the Technology block, with project display areas in the inner transit areas, and, in the future, interactive computer screens (for students to access information and exemplar work) for this area and visual displays projected upon glass panels, that could embrace not only Technology but Science as well.
In this initial presentation, Matthew also took the opportunity to open minds to the possibilities of broadening the subject base on Technology in the school, which offered the traditionally male subjects of Graphics and Hard Materials, and ICT via a separate department. "Should Wellington College offer students a 'Food and Nutrition' course with perhaps a focus upon hospitality and catering?" he asked. "A small but significant number of students do work in this industry – some for short periods of time, others for longer."
He also mooted the idea of offering a textiles/fabrics/fashion course. "These areas were meshed into the design suite of subjects offered in Technology Faculties I have worked in, within schools that were smaller than Wellington College. And, of course, textiles is a central factor in the design and implementation of product design – think of all things related to seating for example." For good measure, Matthew also tossed in the idea of incorporating an ICT Control / Electronics environment "one shared perhaps with Science where an increasingly electronic world is encountered and explained, and typical problems and solutions to everyday life can be investigated and explored."
Matthew felt it was important to aim high, and to present, along with important fundamental changes, the seeds of future possibilities that the changes he advocated could/should open up "With any proposed changes," he says, "I would like to suggest we consider some form of alternative energy plan, such as solar power. We have vast expanses of roofing which might not be available for Government subsidy but which will be a long-term investment sure to pay for its initial outlay within eight years. This may be considered beyond our brief, but if we in Technology cannot raise the issue who can?"
Matthew also brought up the issue of gateway practical apprenticeships. "Not withstanding all the above, there is a need for students to learn how to construct and work within the building industry" he says. "What may be offered on a preparatory basis is a foundation course for such industry led programmes. The facilities for such a venture need to be planned. By nature the activities will resemble building site experiences and planning for such is key to the success of such an environment."
