This chapter argues that technology education has a key role in enabling young people to actively participate in a world facing complex sociocultural and environmental challenges and an economy that is shifting from being knowledge driven to being innovation led. The aim of technology education internationally is to develop student technological literacy, and in New Zealand this literacy has been described as becoming increasingly 'broad, deep, and critical” in nature as it progresses (Compton and France 2007; Compton and Harwood 2008). Further work in New Zealand to explore the transformatory nature of this literacy, as learning in technology progresses, resulted in three phases being identified as foundational, citizenship, and comprehensive technological literacy (Compton et al. 2011).
The chapter discusses what teachers need to know and do, to support student learning in technology and become more technologically literate, particularly related to foundational and citizenship technological literacy. It also discusses how the relationship between student decision-making and their undertaking of technological practice supports their progression toward a more comprehensive technological literacy. Findings from New Zealand classroom-based research are provided to support these discussions.