Philosophy

of

Career and Technical

Education

Jason SchenzelCTE-502

5/10/2010

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My philosophy of Career and Technical Education revolves around a few basic principals. First, I

believe that formal education is a necessity in the recipe for success. Gone I believe are the times where

a student could drop out of high school and still find a rewarding modest paying career. Another belief

of mine is that education should prepare people for specific jobs rather than just a broad field

education. Having a highly skilled workforce is dependent on people being well-versed in their field.

My third belief is that legislation has provided the foundations for Career and Technical Education and

will continue to be influential in the future. Lastly, I believe that the explosion of technology over the

last 20 years has helped Career and Technical Education grow and will continue to be a driving force

going forward.

Formal education is necessary to succeed

I strongly believe that people need a formal education to succeed. The education process is

essential to the positive growth of our minds and our personalities. Education serves as the exercise

that our brains need to become fully functional. Marian Cleeves Diamond writes, “…,the nerve cells

have more dendrites in college-educated people than in people with only a high school education.” In

addition, education helps to form and grow our personalities. The education process helps to give us

the information and discipline that we need to shape our values and morals. If the education process

was out of the equation then students would have to fend for themselves to learn these things. That

can be a scary proposition depending on where they turn to.

Beyond the physical and moral benefits lies the fact that education also provides us with life

skills. Sewing, cooking, mathematics and team work are all examples of things that are needed to be

successful in life. John Dewey illustrates his philosophy on the purpose of education, “To meet the

needs of the individuals and prepare people for life.” (Gordon, 2003 p.33) Without education we would

not be prepared to go out into this world and be productive members of society.

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Education to prepare for specific jobs

Another belief that I have is based on the purpose of Career and Technical Education as being

there to prepare people for specific jobs. It is essential for a student to get specific training and

education in their field of choice. The general degree requirements serve their purpose in building our

minds and personalities, but at some point the focus needs to be narrowed. There is the need to fine

tune the education to match the specific skills and knowledge that are necessary to perform certain

jobs. Each job has a set of proficiencies that are needed in order to be successful at it. If one does not

attain these proficiencies from education they will struggle in their position.

The foundations for Career and Technical Education are based on this principal. Dating back to

the Morrill Act of 1862 where the focus was to, “… create and maintain agricultural and mechanical arts

colleges.” (Gordon 2003, p.53) Then it continued to be more refined with acts such as the Smith-Hughes

Act which helped to create and build separate training programs. This lead to a more specific focus

Career and Technical Education with the goal of bolstering the skills of people in a certain professions.

Legislations impact on Career and Technical Education

Legislation has and will continue to have an impact on Career and Technical Education. The

Workforce Investment Act of 1998 is one such piece of legislation that has had a significant impact. One

of the provisions of the act establishes a Twenty-First Century Workforce Commission. The purpose of

the commission is, “… to study matters related to the information technology workforce.” (Gordon, 2003

p.93) The commission of 15 members was comprised of industry leaders, educators, and government

officials who were to study the issue and report back to the President and Congress. The commission in

2000 published the report “A Nation of Opportunity: Building America's 21st Century Workforce.” In the

report the commission outlined what they found to be the nine “Keys to Success” for building a highly

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skilled workforce that is prepared for the 21st century. This report brings to light the importance of

information technology and ways in which businesses and education can help in building a more skilled

workforce.

Keys to Success:1 Building 21st century literacy 2 Exercising leadership through partnerships 3 Forming learning linkages for youth4 Identifying pathways to IT jobs5 Increasing acquisition of IT skills6 Expanding continuous learning7 Shaping a flexible immigration policy for skilled IT workers8 Raising student achievement9 Making technology access and Internet connectivity universal

Technology and Career and Technical Education

Technological change over the last twenty years has been a driving force behind the growth of

Career and Technical Education. Future technological advancements will continue this trend of growth

and at times will come from within Career and Technical Education itself. Gordon states, “In many

school districts, vocational teachers were leading the technological invasion in hope of preparing

students for the computerized, information-based world in which they would work”. (Gordon, 2003

p.14) So not only has the advent of technologies created a new demand in Career and Technical

Education, but the teachers and students in Career and Technical Education have helped to be the

driving force behind additional technological advancements. And so Career and Technical Education and

technological advancements will continue to feed each other as they both grow in the future.

In conclusion, my philosophy is simple and I will infuse my beliefs into my future teachings. I

believe that education is necessary for success in this world. I also think that there is the need for being

educated to do a specific job. Legislation in our country has been instrumental in laying the ground

work for Career and Technical Education. Our countries legislators will continue to be there to help

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pave the way for Career and Technical Education in the future. Finally, as technology evolves so too will

Career and Technical Education. The demand for a highly skilled technology work force that is needed

to support technological evolution will be feed by Career and Technical Education. Things have come a

long way from the Apple IIe days on the monochrome screen to the full color glory of Internet to most

recent times with the explosion of mobile computing applications. Kavalier and Flannigan (2006) point

out that, “In our 21st century society – accelerated, media-saturated, and automated – a new literacy is

required…” With the “What’s next” on the horizon it is sure to bring about more learning opportunities

in Career and Technology Education and those folks that are learning and teaching it will be sure to be

right there making it happen.

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References

Diamond, Marian C. (1996). “The Brain . . . Use It or Lose It, Mindshift Connection” (vol. 1, no.1).

http://www.newhorizons.org/neuro/diamond_use.htm.

Gordon, Howard R.D. (2003). The History and Growth of Vocational Education in

America. Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press, Inc.

Jeffords, James M. (1997). Senate Report 105-109 http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi- bin/getdoc.cgi?

dbname=105_cong_reports&docid=f:sr109.105.pdf.

Jones-Kavalier, Barbara R. and Flannigan, Suzanne L. (2006). Connecting the Digital Dots: Literacy of the

21st Century. EDUCAUSE Quarterly Magazine, Volume 29, Number 2, 2006.

Skinner, Rebecca R. and Apling, Richard N. (2005). The Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical

Education Act of 1998: Background and Implementation

http://www.ccsso.org/content/pdfs/Perkins_CRS_Report.pdf.

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