The viability of diverting from a linear to a parallel approach to the development of PCK in technology teacher education

The continual trend of the declining number of prospective student teachers in technology education necessitated a revisit and investigation of the entrance requirement (for technology teacher education) of having studied technology as a school subject. Subsequently a small scale, longitudinal, quasi-experimental research project was adopted with the aim to increase the number of prospective student teachers in technology education. As part of the project technology student teachers had to take the school subject in parallel together with the development of discipline knowledge within the broader development of their PCK. However, the viability of such a parallel approach of taking the school subject and developing discipline knowledge simultaneously was unknown. The purpose of the study was to determine the viability of technology student teachers taking the school subject technology and developing discipline knowledge simultaneously within the broader development of their PCK. The main research question was: What is the viability of technology student teachers taking the school subject technology and developing discipline knowledge simultaneously within the broader development of their PCK? The population consisted of the technology student teachers who enrolled for the 4-year pre-service teacher education qualification for the first time in 2016 and 2017, and a mixed-method research approach was followed. The qualitative findings did not indicate important differences in student experience between students with or without Engineering Graphics and Design (EGD) in year 12 for both cohorts. The quantitative findings indicated that although the students from both Cohort 1 and Cohort 2 who had studied EGD in year 12 achieved statistically significantly higher marks at the end of their first year than those who did not have EGD in year 12, students without EGD in year 12 from both cohorts also completed their second year successfully. It was found that the parallel approach to PCK development in technology teacher education seems to be viable to increase the number of prospective technology student teachers, with the requirement that it happens within a social constructivist, co-operative learning environment with ample opportunities for cognitive and practical apprenticeship in a community of practice.