There's an untapped opportunity to invest in connecting core subject curriculum to inspiring careers. A high school student's bottom line is getting through the "boring" classes—taking enough English, math, science, and social studies units, completing homework, and passing tests. This will hopefully translate into a future of earning a living and doing something they love.
We need to make reading Shakespeare and solving geometry problems relevant to student futures by introducing how inspiring careers connect with every unit of the curriculum. This post explains how an innovative model can make core subjects more relevant and examines the gaps in existing CTE pathways.
Are you looking for solutions to help students get from homework to dream work? Learn more about a platform that cuts through the noise and connects careers to the curriculum.
Why should every curriculum unit connect to CTE pathways?
The gap between vocational training and core academics needs to be filled. Students deserve an experience dedicated to exploring how their core subjects prepare them for the world of work.
Teachers are taking it upon themselves to find class-to-career connections to include in their lesson plans. As inventive as this sounds, constantly outsourcing matching themes isn't sustainable for a full unit, let alone a year-long curriculum.
The ultimate goal of core subjects should be introducing, marketing, and selling their value by integrating CTE pathways in a way that demands little additional teacher training.
What does exploring CTE pathways through core subjects look like?
A high schooler should be able to connect whatever ELA unit they're on with their identified interest in business marketing. What does Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau (required reading) have to do with marketing? Have a read of a sample, courtesy of ChatGPT.
As cool as this example is, teachers and students don't have to rely on the outputs of agile but uncertain AI tools. Making classroom-to-career connections is a standards-aligned affair. Core Curriculum State Standards (CCSS) can integrate with Advance CTE's career clusters framework to ensure students learn high-quality academic and CTE pathways content.
And even if the typed-out explanation above is foolproof, it wouldn't hold a candle to an immersive, gamified learning experience.
Imagine a Duolingo-style learning pathway that transformed each bullet point of ChatGPT's response into a variety of bite-sized, research-based instructional activities for students to:
Identify CTE pathways of interest
Test their knowledge on their current core curriculum unit
Introduce relevant CTE pathways skills that address that unit
With this model in mind, let's take a refresher on why it's needed, given the access, equity, and scale gaps in existing CTE pathways comprehensive curriculum, and edtech market solutions.
Specializing in a CTE pathways curriculum isn't realistic for uncertain students
Traditional education pathways take the blame for not equipping students with the real-world skills needed to thrive in today’s highly competitive job market. Earlier this year, a Gallup survey reported that most Gen Z students feel optimistic but unprepared for their future.
CTE programs are helping about 12.3 million students nationwide identify their career interests early on and plan courses and training that align with their chosen profession. From getting more hands-on experience to finding opportunities to earn industry-recognized certifications, students have unique ways to entice potential employers after graduating high school.
However, many high students aren't sure enough about their interests and skills to specialize in a field this soon, especially if they plan on attending college after graduation. That doesn't mean they should experience a traditional education pathway with zero career exploration beforehand, which is another area of concern.
There aren't always enough students enrolled or resources to support
About 85% of high school graduates took at least one elective dedicated to diving into a career. However, career exploration takes up just a small fraction of the week for students who aren't on a vocational track. Plus, the variety of career exploration options illustrated in the above career clusters graphic designed by Advance CTE doesn't always span the full list. Considerations include:
Funding
School location
Partnerships with local businesses
Demand for CTE pathways in the local area
We should be patient and willing to build robust programs across the country, but not at the sacrifice of more graduating classes and not exploring CTE pathways that can uniquely inspire their future. We need a solution that bridges this gap.
That's why edupreneurs have tried to address the problem by introducing plug-and-play platforms that don't require as much long-term commitment to learning a specific CTE pathway.
Supplemental programs don't address the core subject experience
A growing number of edtech solutions on the market immerse students in the world of in-demand careers. Students can build career-readiness skills in wide-ranging industries like computing, entrepreneurship, and multimedia arts, even earning industry credentials across the several weeks of enrollment during:
Enrichment
Afterschool
Summertime
An elective during school
With this supplemental CTE pathways model, exploration isn't limited by the robustness of whatever state they live in, or school/district students attend. Companies are choosing to democratize access to learning about CTE pathways. While the effort is noble and necessary, there's still a noticeable gap between products like these and their impact on helping student's bottom line.
When students return to their traditional classroom setting, the connections between the engaging career possibilities they've been exposed to and how core subjects can help them get the skills and grades needed to keep pursuing this interest won't magically connect in their minds. We can't expect them to. It's up to more mature learners (adults) to design this experience.
Conclusion: Explore CTE pathways through core subjects
The need to introduce students to careers through their homework makes sense if we remember the bottom line for high schoolers.
This is not a call to disband CTE pathways curriculum or enrichment programs. They have their place in the grand scheme of helping students explore careers. But this innovative model has a place in student life too.
Their main job is to get through their core classes—take enough English, math, science, and social studies units, complete the homework, and pass the tests. We need to do what we can to make the experience more enjoyable and valuable to the people putting in the work.
Interested in learning more about the innovative CTE pathways model described in this post? Explore how to bring Homework to Dreamwork to your school or district.