LANSING – If career and technical education programs are going to gain the recognition that state leaders want, everyone involved needs to change how they talk about those programs, Governor Rick Snyder, Superintendent of Public Instruction Brian Whiston and Talent and Economic Development Director Roger Curtis said in various presentations to the Governor’s Education and Talent Summit in Lansing on Wednesday.
Whiston and Curtis said it was a start to that conversation change when they appeared together at one of the breakouts to discuss changes to CTE.
“We know that by working together, both our departments can make that happen,” Whiston said.
Snyder, as he has at some previous summits, noted that he inherited separate events on education and economic and talent development.
“It’s increasingly important that we not create those as two separate silos,” he said, adding that he prefers talent development to workforce development.
Snyder said it was that talent development that would drive state economies in the coming years.
“The defining factor is who has the best talent,” he said. “I’m extremely convinced it can be a strategic advantage.”
Snyder said it was important to change the terms used to change the perspective on the programs.
“It shouldn’t be skilled trades, it should be professional trades,” he said.
Curtis said educators have to change how they discuss CTE versus college preparation. “We all know the stereotype: you’re smart enough, you should go to a four-year college; you’re not smart enough, you should go to voc tech,” he said. “The world has changed. Unfortunately, a lot of the mindset has not.”
Whiston said he still heard of school counselors who would urge students to follow a college preparatory curriculum based on their grades and had seen emails from university admissions officers recommending that students not take CTE courses if they are considering the institution. “We have to fix that roadblock,” he said. “We have to build a system that supports students and the choices they make.”
“This is not about vocational tech or college ready,” Curtis said. “This is about everything. This is about preparing a student for a career and being part of our democracy.”
The state also, though, has to find ways to reduce the caseloads for those counselors and to give students they time they need for some true career exploration, he said.
Whiston and Curtis both also urged business leaders to reach out to school officials to discuss their needs. Whiston said Dearborn Public Schools developed a health care program while he was superintendent there because the local hospital said it was facing a shortage of workers.
Whiston urged teachers to speak up about what they need – and policy makers to listen. “In any other field, when there’s a problem, you go to the experts,” he said. “Certainly, we want to hear from our teachers, who know what we need to do to make our students successful.”
He and Snyder said the state also needs to find ways to ensure better training for teachers and career paths that do not include moving into administration.
“Great teachers at some point in their career become an administrator because they see it as a career opportunity where they would have really loved to stay as a teacher,” Snyder said of the current system.
“We have to provide support to teachers,” Whiston said. “And then honoring the master teachers and allowing them to help other teachers be successful.”
Part of that support, he said, is boosting starting pay to a level commensurate with some other professions requiring similar preparation and training.
Snyder said there also needs to be more room for non-traditional teachers, with those master teachers serving as mentors.
Snyder, Whiston and Curtis also said the state has to shift what it considers to be achievement in the classroom.
“It’s not how long have you’ve been in the classroom, but have you mastered the skill set to move on?” he said. “That’s what we do in a career. You get evaluated on how talented you are in a skill set.”
The key shift in education is allowing students to choose an area of study, Whiston said. “Let’s let the student decide what they want to do and then let us build a pathway to help them get there,” he said.
Whiston said he would like to see every student asked what problem they want to solve and use that as the basis for their educational path.
Curtis said the vision will mean a substantial shift in how schools operate.
“The days of the bell rings and you change class and the year ends and you change grade really doesn’t work in what we’re trying to do,” he said.
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