VIEW FROM THE CLASSROOM


How can teachers promote sustainability and climate change in the D&T classroom? Teachers can promote sustainability and climate change awareness through several practical approaches:


Product analysis becomes a powerful tool when students examine existing products through environmental lenses. Rather than simply evaluating function and form, students investigate material sourcing, manufacturing processes, distribution networks, and end-of-life disposal.


Simulation software allows students to test design decisions without material waste. They can model stress testing, optimise material usage, and explore multiple iterations digitally before committing to physical prototypes. Strategic curriculum planning can embed sustainability throughout lesson and unit sequences rather than treating it as an add- on topic. Each unit of study can include environmental constraints as core design parameters, making sustainability integral to the design process rather than an afterthought. Challenge initiatives like the Make:able Challenge or Young Green Briton Challenge provide structured frameworks that connect classroom learning to real-world environmental problems. These initiatives offer authentic contexts where students address genuine sustainability challenges while developing technical skills.


Decoupling designing and making encourages students to thoroughly explore problems and solutions before consuming materials. Extended design phases, including research, ideation and detailed planning, ensure that when students do make, their prototypes are purposeful and refined.


Reusable making resources offer excellent opportunities for hands-on learning without consuming materials. Robotics kits can be assembled, programmed, tested, and disassembled repeatedly, making them ideal for introducing topics like microprocessor control and mechanisms.


I


terative prototyping cycles that progress from low-fidelity models to refined prototypes embody the principle of “make the thing right” rather than simply making things. This approach develops both environmental responsibility and design sophistication.


What difference do you think this could make to the future?


The impact of embedding sustainability and responsible decision-making throughout D&T could be transformative, particularly when we consider that only around 50% of students will take a D&T-related KS4 qualification. This makes those students who do engage with D&T at a deeper level absolutely crucial - they will become the informed, conscious decision-makers our future desperately needs.


When they become architects, engineers, product designers, buyers for major retailers, or entrepreneurs starting their own ventures, their embedded understanding of environmental impact and systems thinking will directly shape what gets made, how it’s made, and what materials are chosen.


In essence, we’re not just teaching design skills - we have the opportunity to foster the generation who will determine whether


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we successfully navigate the environmental challenges ahead.


Many children believe that creative subjects like D&T aren’t as important as other subjects, is this something you see in your schools?


Yes, this is unfortunately a widespread issue I encounter regularly. Many students, and often their parents, have absorbed the message that creative subjects like D&T are somehow “less academic” compared to traditional subjects. This perception is deeply damaging and fundamentally misunderstands what D&T can involve. The irony is that D&T demands some of the most sophisticated thinking skills across the curriculum. Students must synthesize knowledge from multiple disciplines - mathematics, science, psychology, economics, environmental science - and apply it to solve real-world problems. They need to manage complex projects, work within constraints, iterate solutions, and justify decisions. These are exactly the skills employers consistently say they’re looking for. At the same time, Pearson’s 2024 School Report revealed teachers feel a greater emphasis on life skills would boost student engagement.


Some students are steered away from D&T precisely when we need more brilliant minds. We lose potential engineers, architects, product designers, and innovators. We desperately need students developing sustainable solutions, but if they’ve been convinced that D&T is less important, they may never discover their potential in these areas.


How can schools make creative subjects more appealing at GCSE?


By focusing on issues and problems that genuinely resonate with students and where they can exercise real agency, for example: Address problems students actually care


about - mental health apps, sustainable fashion alternatives, accessibility solutions for disabilities,


gaming peripherals, or food systems that tackle issues they see in their communities. When students work on problems they’re passionate about, the subject transforms from academic exercise to personal mission.


Give students ownership of problem definition - rather than prescribing narrow briefs. Let them identify what frustrates them about their world and design solutions. This might be improving school spaces, creating products for younger siblings, or addressing local environmental issues they’ve witnessed firsthand. Connect to their digital lives and interests - explore projects involving wearable technology, gaming interfaces, social media tools, or streaming setups, for example. Students who might never engage with traditional “workshop” projects become deeply invested when designing custom gaming controllers or developing apps for causes they support.


Highlight technological sophistication - this appeals to students attracted to cutting-edge fields. Emphasising CAD, robotics, and digital manufacturing shows D&T as technologically advanced and students see themselves as future innovators, rather than makers of bookends, bird boxes and drawstring bags.


Enable authentic choice in materials and processes - some students prefer digital design and programming, others hands-on making, innovation or textiles. When students can pursue challenges through their preferred medium while meeting the same learning objectives, engagement dramatically increases. Allow failure and iteration on their terms - when students are solving problems they care about, they’re more willing to persist through setbacks and refine solutions. The resilience developed through this authentic struggle is far more valuable than completing prescribed tasks successfully.


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