Analysing teachers' approaches in design and technology in Botswana

Design and technology education in Botswana has gone through transforming phases since independence in 1966, with the influence of the European approach; predominantly the British model of design and technology. The 1992 National Commission on Education ( CE) reviewed the Botswana's education system and produced the National Commission on Education Report of 1993. Subsequent to this report was the Revised National Policy on Education (RNPE) of 1994 that laid down the framework of the Botswana Education system over the period of 25 years. Central to the episodes of the RNPE was the raising of the status of design and technology to one of the eight core subjects. It is to this end that the three-year design and technology Junior Certificate Programme was developed. This paper is an outcome of the fieldwork that was undertaken in Botswana in the year 2000. The principal purpose of which will be to discuss data gathering processes and how it was done, presenting teachers and pupils' datamaps. Quantitative and qualitative methodology in the form of participant observation, interviews and ethnography were employe