This study examined and compared the objectives and points of view found in technology education, technical studies, and courses in technology in selected European countries. The specific countries discussed included France, Greece, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, and West Germany. Technical education in each of these selected countries is described, and the ways in which the subject is viewed is analyzed in light of several global trends concerning the purpose of technical education. These global trends include: (1) technology and social education: the polytechnic approach; (2) interdisciplinary technology: the project method; (3) technology and people: group work; and (4) technology and disciplinarity: the analytical method. Trends in forms of teaching technology in the countries are also examined: (1) technology as a guiding theme; (2) technology as an end in itself; (3) technology as a subject in its own right; and (4) technology as a form of motivation. (JD)