Critical Reflection--April Tallant

Doing, not Naming: CTE and Vocational Education

The field of education seems to love the act of re-naming. Showing someone how to do something becomes “modeling”, English becomes “English Language Arts”, high schools become “academies”—what was old becomes new, and the new is familiar. What was known when I was a student as “vocational education” is now known as “career and technical education” or “CTE”. I’ll get to the re-naming, and its implications, in a moment, but first let’s get, along with old names, old ideas out of the way. My high school had a large “vocational” department that offered, at least, courses in cosmetology, metal-working, auto-repair, and industrial design. As students, our perceptions of the program echoed the school’s diploma design (you could receive either a college prep or vocational diploma), just as there were two degrees, there were two types of students—the kids that wanted to go to college, and the kids that wanted to stay in town and work after graduation. These divisions carried class and intelligence assumptions with them that now make me ashamed. Despite student perceptions of the program, my small-town community seemed to whole-heartedly support vocational education. Many residents got their hair cut at the high school (I got my first perm there, for something like ten dollars), brought simple metal repair jobs or projects to the school, or hired out students to work in an early release program. After I finished college and moved around looking for the non-existent work in the fields of my majors, I often wished I were qualified to answer the ads for cosmetologists that I saw in every town I lived in. Why couldn’t I read literature and have a concrete, technical skill? Why can’t my students receive an education that reconciles these two worlds?

As I process my experiences this year along with my formal study of education, knowledge of kinesthetic learning styles and constructivist approaches merge with student questions of “when will I ever use this?” or “how can I get a job?”—it seems that the tangible skills that traditional vocational programs provide could be rolled into the progressive and student centered philosophies of today’s education. According to the Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE 2008), CTE now covers a variety of fields—from the more traditional, (trade and industrial, family and consumer sciences, business and marketing), to areas not traditionally considered to be part of a school curriculum, (public safety and security, technology, and health occupations) (ACTE, 2008). Developing strong and relevant CTE programs within public high schools could not only provide students with job skills and certifications, but also work to connect the traditional curriculum (math, ELA, science, etc.) to real-world problems and scenarios. Having graduated from a graduate program that required a course load that was half theory, half practice, I know that the connections between thinking and doing are real, and believe that almost all of my students crave this type tangible education.

Despite what you might not have heard, CTE is experiencing a bit of a come-back in schools throughout the country, and even within New York City. In fact, “[i]n his State of the City address this year, Mayor Bloomberg named expanding CTE schools a main priority, announcing that three CTE ‘demonstrations schools’ would be opened by 2009” (Green 2008). This movement is based upon the success of programs throughout the city. In the Bronx, students at the Bronx School of Law and Finance develop practical skills—how to trade stocks, invest virtual money, even wear a suit, all in an attempt to not only prepare them for the world of work, but also for college (Green 2008). All courses echo the schools technical themes, “with English teachers instructing on e-mail etiquette […] and history teachers assigning Thomas Friedman’s ‘The World is Flat’” (Green 2008). In Brooklyn, students at Franklin K. Lane High School students are able to take courses in design technology that focus on the Adobe Creative Suite 3 software, a creative industry standard. This course work is then integrated with the school’s math curriculum (Adobe 2008). In Queens, students at Thomas Edison High School have transferred their course work in design into a small business, “where students create jobs for outside customers, mostly teachers and others within the school district” (Adobe 2008). These existing programs are not only rigorous, interesting, and relevant to students in an urban setting, but they are also CTE programs.

Mayor Bloomberg is, in this world of data-driven instruction, promoting CTE programs because they are proven to work. CTE schools have “posted some of the most remarkable results in the city—Regents scores and graduation rates are well above the citywide average” (Green 2008). At the Bronx School of Law and Finance, “95% of the school’s first graduating class was accepted to college, and 80% of those seniors were headed to four-year colleges” (Green 2008). A study by the Center for an Urban Future found that “CTE students in New York graduate from high school at sharply higher rates and are four times less likely to drop out before graduating than the city’s overall high school population” (Fischer 2008). The report also shows that “attendance at New York City’s […] most successful CTE schools […] runs as much as ten points above the city average. CTE students in the five boroughs achieve superior educational outcomes despite the fact that compared to the citywide high school population, students at the 21 CTE high schools tend to be poorer […]; more likely to be over-age for their grade level; and lower-skilled in terms of standardized testing fore English and Math” (Fischer 2008). CTE seems to provide the relevance students and teachers want, with the results administrators crave.

In the face of such results, the field of CTE is attempting to reconcile the way many students, teachers, and administrators view CTE within schools. Rather than view students that participate in technical courses as not headed towards college, a “Career Academies” movement has developed. This movement attempts to “bring the two ‘tracks’ together” (ACTE 2008) and recognizes “the need today for all students to have some post secondary education/training” (ACTE 2008). These career academies have three elements—“small learning communities (SLC), integrated curriculum, and links to employers and higher education” (ACTE 2008). This movement conveniently merges with the small schools movement that has taken New York City, and the nation, by storm. In fact, many of the schools we work in may, technically, fall under this type of organization. In fact, the New York City Board of Education initially promoted the idea of Small Learning Communities (in their definition “schools-within-schools”) under the umbrella of CTE programs.

The convincing results from CTE schools and their engagement with the new systems of school organization both excite me and make me nervous. I would love to teach ELA to students who feel that their education tangibly links towards some end, be it a skill, a paycheck, or a college, and truly believe that students will attend and stay in school if they feel that they are getting something that they can take away from their four years (sadly, many don’t see the traditional curriculum as “something”). However, as I read the Board of Education’s implementation plan for CTE/SLC (for 2004-2007), it all seemed familiar. It sounded almost exactly like my school’s own write-up. However well my school serves its students, it does not provide a real CTE curriculum. The media class I teach as an elective does not, truly, provide students with tangible technical skills, although I recognize that, in an attempt to put best faces forward, it might be framed as such. My fear is that, rather than a true CTE program, small, stressed, well-meaning schools will implement programs that are more smoke than fire, asking content teachers to teach technical courses that become secondary concerns—another prep or after-thought. It is, I believe, imperative that the reconciliation of the ‘two tracks’ (be they college or CTE, learning or doing) lie within students’ practice, not teachers’ and administrators’ justifications and theories. Students want to and should, do it for themselves.

References

ACTE Online (2008). Association of Career and Technical Education. Retrieved July 15, 2008, from http://www.acteonline.org/

Adobe Systems Incorporated. (2008). Adobe Showcase: Adobe Case Study: New York City Department of Education. Retrieved July 15, 2008, from http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/showcase/index.cfm?casestudyid=288791&event=casestudydetail&loc=en_us

Fischer, D.J. (2008, May 19). Vocational Education Means Schools That Work. City Limits. Retrieved July 15, 2008, from http://www.citylimits.org/contnet/articles/viewarticle.cfm?article_id=3558

Green, E. (2008, March 3). In Bronx, the new face of vocational education. The New York Sun. Retrieved July 15, 2008, from http://www.nysun.com/new-york/in-bronx-the-new-face-of-vocational-education/72149/