Teaching Technology - Design Briefs and Rich Tasks: Contradictions and Challenges Facing Future Teachers.

he teaching of Technology as a Key Learning Area in Queensland schools will become the focus for teacher education and professional development during the next decade as a new Technology syllabus is implemented in education systems in Queensland. Prior to the launch of that syllabus, there has never been an official Technology curriculum for Queensland primary schools. In addition, this will take place within a context of Queensland State Education 2010 (QSE-2010) which provides a "blueprint for the future of state education in Queensland... [and] ... is the key to delivering our vision of the Smart State... " (Bligh 2002). Thus, teacher education institutions in Queensland and schools are faced with enabling teachers to effectively implement a new Technology syllabus as well as embracing the principles of Education Queensland's New Basics framework which provides a suite of Rich Tasks. This paper explores the concepts of Design Briefs contained in the Queensland School Curriculum Council's new Years 1–10 Technology syllabus and Education Queensland's Rich Tasks and the implications this holds for conducting effective teacher education programs in Technology education. The intention is not to argue which of the two orientations is the better approach, but examines, through a case study of a school-University partnership in delivering a course for student teachers undertaking primary teacher education, the contradictions and the challenges facing those future teachers of technology education.