It’s time to study values at the core of food technology education

This paper seeks to explore the values of academic culture in the secondary teaching genre of food technology. Historically, education providers have displayed a traditional syllabus design and interpretation of the food technology industry. This paper argues that the NSW Food Technology Syllabi has largely been a re-badging of the former home economics/domestic science curriculum and warrants a new perspective. New societal values have influenced innovation in food products, from valuing indigenous bush harvest, links between naturopathy and food, and strengthening values that link eco-sustainability with synthetic foods. These new developments present a compelling case to rethink the future and content of food technology in schooling. It requires a new theoretical framework to accommodate the new understanding now evident in the subject matter as it now occurs “beyond the school gate” in the wider global economy. A key feature of this paper asserts that food technology education is overdue for a rethink that involves searching for a new coherent framework that can articulate both a core place for the study of values and a place for emerging knowledge with particular regard to innovation. The paper explores the merits of technacy and innovation theories that when combined, creates a powerful and unifying method for both affective and cognitive learning and assessment for guiding skill and practice.