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In this episode of Talking D&T, I chat with Simone Norman, a D&T teacher at Sutton High School in South London who also leads on equality, diversity and inclusion. Our conversation examines a fascinating paper from the PAT40 conference about conversation analysis and variation theory in technical education, which particularly resonated with Simone's teaching experience.
We explore how teachers plan and deliver technical demonstrations, examining the intricate interplay between verbal and non-verbal communication in the workshop. Simone shares compelling insights about the evolution of student-teacher conversations, from directing year 7 pupils to engaging in collaborative dialogue with year 13s about their design decisions.
One particularly fascinating thread emerges around the role of sensory learning in D&T - how sound, smell, and touch become crucial indicators of process success or failure. We discuss how teachers can deliberately plan for and use these elements in their demonstrations to deepen student understanding.
For D&T educators, this episode offers fresh perspectives on teaching technical processes and skills. Consider how you might more explicitly incorporate sensory awareness into your demonstrations, or how you could use planned 'failures' as powerful teaching moments. The discussion challenges us to think beyond just the end product and consider the rich learning opportunities within the technical processes themselves.
Whether you're teaching in England or following D&T education developments internationally, this conversation prompts important questions about pedagogical approaches in our subject. How might you apply conversation analysis principles to enhance your technical demonstrations? Let's continue exploring these ideas together!
Acknowledgement:
Some of the supplementary content for this podcast episode was crafted with the assistance of Claude, an AI language model developed by Anthropic. While the core content is based on the actual conversation and my editorial direction, Claude helped in refining and structuring information to best serve listeners. This collaborative approach allows me to provide you with concise, informative, and engaging content to complement each episode.

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