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Importance of career and technical education
Importance of career and technical education
Importance of career and technical education
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Career and Technical Education
Career and Technical Education (CTE), previously called Vocational Education (VE) is defined as preparation of students to be college and career ready. CTE programs are doing this by providing core academic skills, employability skills and technical, job specific skills.
Career and Technical Education has its roots deep in the early days of United States history, dating back to as far as 1776. The idea that we needed to train young people to be useful citizens, in productive careers, which would help eliminate poverty was paramount at that time.
Additionally, it was felt that a right to free, public education would aide in the need to educate future leaders. It was thought that apprenticeships would lead
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the way to formal schooling in the needed trades. By the early nineteenth century the workforce leaders and public education system began working together to provide a supply of educated workers for a variety of jobs. It was this schooling, specialized in training students to enter a specific area of the workforce, that paved the way to creating the basic structural framework for career and technical education. Between 1876 and 1926, schools combing hands on learning and classroom learning began to emerge. Additionally, the United Stated government began to explore bills that would eventually be passed to support career and technical education. After World War I, we began to see great acceptance of CTE, and that acceptance seemed to be contagious. The United States Career and Technical Education programs to include adult education and retraining programs to facilitate adult citizens reentrance into the workforce. World War II created an increased need for individuals with technical skills for defense purposes and therefore fortified the need for Career and Technical Education. After almost thirty years in the health care industry as a Registered Nurse with a bachelor’s degree and master’s level course work, working from an entry level Certified Nurse Aide to Director of Nursing, I left practice in industry for education. It was clear that in industry we needed entry level health care providers. There was a shortage, a dire need for quality, entry level providers. As the President of the Chautauqua County Home Care Association, at the time, I repeatedly heard that providers were in need of Personal Care Aides, Home Health Aides and Certified Nurse Aides, our entry level workforce in health care. Early on in my Presidency, I posed to question, “using our current resources, how do we get there?” Upon personal investigation, it became very clear that Career and Technical Education in the field of health care was not only a viable solution, but one that could meet the challenges of providing college and career ready individuals for health care. Many people oppose or fault CTE because they say it discourages high school students from going on to postsecondary education and deters them from reaching their full potential as a student. There is also a notion of CTE programs being a last resort for less able students, and a “dumping ground” for schools who see a student as difficult and a high risk for dropping out. “College for all,” or “get a good college education,” often echos from parents, teachers and the general population, but research has indicated the traditional path from elementary school to high school and then off to college is not always the best or most successful path for all students.
Career and Technical Education is an option for high school students, college students and adults. It has given high school students an alternate pathway which has proven to engage students, better performance and positively impact graduation rates. Postsecondary Career and Technical Education programs, have increased postsecondary completion rates and are preparing students and adults for in demand careers nationwide. Research indicates that state dollars spent on Career and Technical Education yield big returns for state economies and CTE has addressed the needs of high growth and high demand industries to help close the skill gap we often see. Career and Technical Education has potentiated the ability to prepare youth and adults for a vast range of high wage, high skill and high demand careers, filling the need across the country, especially in health …show more content…
care. Recent education research has shown similar conclusions regarding the positive impact of Career and Technical Education.
This being said, reform minded educators, industry leaders and lawmakers have used the concurring research findings to push forward with support for CTE programs. Thus, we see the growth of Career and Technical Education programs and the positive impact it is having on today’s workforce.
Additionally, and most importantly we see an alternative for our young people. Career and technical education is providing for a pathway that prepares them for an entry level career by giving them job specific technical skills, while also giving them the core academic skills, employability skills which make them both career ready and college
ready. A high school student can enter the LoGuidice Education Center’s Health Careers program as an eleventh grader. It is a two year program, where the students meet daily for approximately two and one half hours during the regular academic school year. The two year Health Careers Program provides a basic foundation in anatomy and physiology, diseases and disorders, medical terminology, medical ethics, nutrition, human growth and development, including geriatrics and early childhood development, infection control, maternal/child health and pharmacology. Students in the program will learn to assist with routine personal care, perform basic nursing procedures and to function as a part of the health care team. Additionally, Clinical experiences in year 1 and 2 allow students to explore different areas of the health care field including nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy, nutritional support, laboratory technology, sterile preparation, radiology, respiratory therapy and dialysis. Finally, a year two internship lets students explore their individual health care interests in greater depth. Students become certified in CPR (Adult, Child and Infant) AED and First Aid and CERT (Certified Emergency Response Team) and can take the New York State certification exam for Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) with opportunities to work in both Long Term Care, Home Care and in the hospital setting. By the time they have completed the two year program and taken advantage of the opportunity to become New York State Certified as a Certified Nurse Aide, they are career ready. Students participating in the LoGuidice Health Careers Program will develop a strong academic foundation for any health related career they may choose. Students will learn to be quality, kind and compassionate care givers, with a strong background in hands on personal care skills that will serve them in any health related profession, including certification as a NYS Certified Nurse Aide. They will develop strong leadership, communication and personal care skills, allowing them to be model health care team members. By completing the program they will be career and college ready for any given health related opportunity. Students choosing the Certified Nurse Aide Certification opportunity will have experience that will allow them to challenge out of year one LPN and RN classes. Upon completion of the program students will have the background to enter the health care field as an entry level provider, with an earning potential surpassing minimum wage. Students completing our program often will seek continuing education opportunities in various Health Care related Associates, Bachelors and Masters level programs and return to our community as quality care providers. Thus we have created an alternative path and environment for our high school students to become successful and productive, quality care providers within our community. I truly believe Career and Technical Education is positive force within our educational system that is having an enormously positive impact across our nation.
The university-statehouse-industrial complex has grown such that the traditional models of primary and secondary education have survived two or three decades beyond their practical use. With a public school system that segregates and discriminates based on, “college material or not?” (Brolin & Loyd, 1989) and a university system that places only one in five graduates in work in their field of major (cite), our educational system has passed its prime and is still training and educating for 20th century job markets that no longer exist. The way that we educate and what we educate for and why needs rethinking from the top down and needs to be more practical and pragmatic. Career and technical education (CTE) consisting of specialized, targeted, and focused vocational programs at all levels do more than just prepare a student for a real job – these programs have practical education and socialization value that conventional classrooms centered around a teacher’s monologue for many do not. Nowhere is the added value of such targeted programs more useful and valuable than in special classes, courses, and CTE training aimed at students with disabilities.
Washington believed that education was an important tool for moving up the social and financial ladder.
High Schools That Work (HSTW), a school improvement initiative of the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB), has documented achievement gains by career and technical education (CTE) students at participating sites (Bottoms and Presson 2000). At HSTW sites participating in 1996 and 1998 assessments (Frome 2001), CTE students showed math and science achievement equal to the national average of all high school students—and exceeded the national average of CTE students in math, science, and reading.
In the United States, the history of Career and Technical Education evolved within four major periods. First, the Awakening period which began in 1776-1826, when the right to a free public education was expressed. During this era, educational opportunities in labor and industrial education were being demanded. The rising working class began to press for an education that were more appropriate for their labor and industry’s needs (Awakening 1776-1826, 1976). Even Benjamin Franklin who represented the Awakening middle class was on board with the rise of technical and vocational education which were taught primarily by private masters or contracted apprenticeships (Cohen, 1976).
Dana Goldstein a journalist from The Nation says that, “47 million American jobs are expected to be created between now and 2018, and about two-thirds will require some sort of education beyond high school.” In making this comment, Goldstein is showing us that the only way to be prosperous in the future is to educate our children. Goldstein goes on to say that, “27 percent of workers with occupational licenses earn more than the average recipient of a bachelor’s degree.” In other words, Goldstein is trying to tell us that a bachelor 's degree isn 't the only way to go and that we need to increase funding for vocational schools and community
Attendance at a technical college or local 2-year school was deplorably referenced to as “loser’s territory” and if you dared to enroll in one anyway and followed through to graduation, well you were congratulated but to a lackluster fanfare. Some community college graduates still receive this reception upon exit of a community college but attitudes are definitely changing. Today more than ever, degree-seeking individuals are paving the path to their careers through the entrance and exit doors of community colleges. These well-informed leaders of the new school have realized a smarter way to education; that a bachelor’s degree or taking a traditional route to obtain one is not necessarily the best or right way to be a successful and employable member of society.
...of the basic purposes of education: career preparation." I don’t agree with this at all. I think that college should really be a little of both. Obviously you go to college to get a degree, which starts you in a career, so that’s the career preparation part of it. But, there’s also so much more to college that helps you with later in life.
Career and technical education courses are intended to prepare high school students to enter the work force in a skilled trade. It equips the students with the experience and education necessary to succeed in an average skill level job while maintaining the student’s interest. In an article that focuses on an aviation CTE program, a “senior policy analyst at the Morrison Institute, said that Career and Technical Education provides another opportunity for students who struggle in high school.” The assumption is that students who struggle in high school presumably do not want another four years of education to attain a bachelor’s degree. Until recently, schools have been excessively geared towards college readiness. The dogma was elementary school, high school, college, without exception. With this “one size fits all” education system in place, a different education course had to evolve. CTE courses offer a break from the tedious grind by introducing career readiness as an alternative. In place of the four years in a college, CTE programs gives student...
Education has always been in existence in one form or another. As each child is born into this world regardless of who or where they are born, life lessons immediately begin. He/she will learn to crawl, walk, and talk by the example and encouragement of others. Although these lessons are basic in the beginning they evolve as the child grows. However, the core learning method of a child does not change. Learning from others, they will watch, listen, and then act for themselves. Thomas Jefferson believed that an education would lead men and women to the ability to be self-governed and become positive contributors to society (Mondale & Patton, 2001). Today, we can see how true this is by the examples of others. Those that are given the opportunity for education are more likely to find jobs and develop skills that not only improve a community, but influence the economic growth of their nation (Ravitch, Cortese, West, Carmichael, Andere, & Munson, 2009, p. 13). On the other hand, if an education is not provided to individuals, they can become a hindrance to that nation’s growth.
Vocational and technical schools offer these people a second chance at finding the career that they will love. According to fifty-year-old Jeff Martinelli, “For a guy like me, with no college, it’s become pretty bleak out there” (qtd. by Egan 106). Martinelli spent most of his life operating heavy machinery at Kaiser Aluminum until it shut down a few years ago. He started working there right out of high school and didn’t pursue any further education. Now, he has no certification and no degree. It is nearly impossible to find a good job without either a degree or certification. Vocational schools offer people like Martinelli a second chance. He can take just one year and do a program at a technical school to get a certificate. With that certificate, he will be able to provide for his family again. At a technical school, they don’t just have young people straight out of high school. According to Fox Business, interest in vocational schools spans high school students, 4-year school graduates, and people who want to improve their skills or switch careers. That means that everyone has a chance to get the job that they are passionate about, no matter what their previous
Murray, Charles. “What’s Wrong With Vocational School?” Reading for Today. Ed. Gary Goshgarian. New York: Pearson Education Inc., 2008. 269. Print.
Life is gold, why not enjoyed while we can? But can we really enjoy without an education, a certificate or a degree? In the article titled "The New Liberal Arts,” author Sanford J. Ungar says that vocational education leaves out training in areas that students will need to succeed. According to Ungar, "The career education bandwagon seems to suggest that short cuts are available to students that lead directly to high-paying jobs--leaving out 'frills ' like learning how to write and speak well” (191 ). Schools promote different things to catch the attention of students; however, it’s not about what the schools are promoting but the actual education acquired at the end. Although vocational
First and most important reason why a totally free education scheme means a better educated society is equal opportunities. Foster (1993) explains that
...o be the best leader and commander possible, as well as serving to ensure that others find their lives easy and free. Horace Mann, pioneer of American education simply commented, “a human being is not attaining his full heights until he is educated.” If humanity is to stand tall and successful, every member must first be educated.
Education plays a vital role in shaping tomorrows’ leaders. Not only can we become a better nation by acquiring the skills necessary to be productive members of a civilized society. Increase knowledge to actively achieve and meet challenges that can produce changes in which are productive for attaining business innovations, political and economic objectives.