December 2016 Newsletter

Three – Make that Four Reasons Why You Should Support Integrating Global Content into Career Technology Education

 

While Career Technology Education (CTE) is not new, the last decade has certainly brought innovative thinking to CTE programs, district-wide approaches, and state-level initiatives. Last month Congress, through the House Education and the Workforce Committee, issued a statement titled, “CTE Benefits Everyone.” But how global are these CTE programs, why does it matter, and what should you do?

  1. The industries represented by CTE have more local-global connections than previously AND the jobs themselves have exposure to different cultures and countries at a much lower level within corporate hierarchy. Many entry-level positions require global interactions upon hire, which is a significant change from the days when international conversations were left to top executives.
  2. Students understand they are living in a flat world and want the opportunity to solve complex problems within their coursework to prepare them more comprehensively for the work world. Businesses know it too and look to hire recent graduates who have experience, knowledge, and skills and are prepared to hit the ground running.
  3. Embedding global content into CTE coursework exposes students to a broader set of career choices and global challenges within any industry. It also better prepares them to work domestically with people of diverse backgrounds.
  4. New resources exist to make the case, inform practice, and build a culture of awareness and to introduce teachers to tools to understand and integrate the concept of global competence into their units and courses. 

So, depending on your realm of influence – funder, educator, administrator, advocate – what is your take action step? Understanding your context and what is already in place is important. Use tools like this to get a sense of the global connections already present in your community. Let your colleagues know of your interest in global and find out what is happening in classrooms in local settings, then find ways to connect your network to what you are learning – virtual exchanges, personal conversations, and agenda lines can all be used to share practice and determine logical approaches for your context. Take your time and make it count – students are relying on you!

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Interested in learning about specific teachers who have already embedded global into their CTE coursework? Download our white paper here.