Working for a living EXPERTS FAVOR AN INTEGRATED ACADEMIC AND HANDS-ON APPROACH TO LEARNING BY CHRISTINA SCHWEIGHOFER The dream is for every American to complete secondary education, go on to college and land a lucrative job. But the truth is, in California, only three out of four students graduate from high school. Those who do are often not ready for a four-year college. They need remedial classes in English or mathematics, sometimes in both. The vocational path, on the other hand, carries a stigma associated with issues of civil rights and equal opportunity. Lately, experts and politicians have been calling for an integrated education model that blends the best of both worlds. They favor pathways that will give students academics and work experience, while preparing them for postsecondary education and for a career. One initiative working along these lines is the Linked Learning Alliance, a statewide coalition of educators, employers and community organizations in California. Linked Learning’s approach is for high schools to offer rigorous academic instruction with a demanding technical curriculum and field-based learning. Students are prepared to work in one of California’s 15 major industry sectors, from agriculture to arts and from medical technology to transportation. They graduate ready to either work or go on to college without remedial classes. Studies have shown that students who are engaged in an integrated learning environment learn better and faster, because they learn in context; they are more likely to graduate from high school than students who are educated in the traditional system, and their college attendance rates are higher. Financial benefits have been documented especially for
They graduate ready to either work or go on to college without remedial classes.
minority students: Four years after graduation from high school, career academy graduates were earning more than their traditionally educated counterparts. Nancy Hoffman, an educational expert with Jobs for the Future, a national nonprofit organization based in Boston, has done research on vocational education systems in European countries. In her book “Schooling in the Workplace,” published by Harvard Education Press in November, Hoffman looks at the lessons the United States can learn from abroad. A hands-on learning model is one of them. In a recent interview with Pasadena Weekly, Hoffman said, “Research will tell you that hands-on learning is a more engaging way to learn.” She pointed out that young people “want to know what it is like to work” and that it is “important for them to learn responsibility and autonomy.” Hoffman believes that career and technical education (CTE) should go beyond work-study programs and internships; work should be the focus of learning, rather than an add-on. Critics of any type of CTE at the high school level argue that early tracking leaves too little flexibility later on and that it will be hard for people to switch from one profession to another. Hoffman has no such worries. She counters that this only happens if the skills taught “are really narrow” and that Americans will “always reinvent themselves as the economy changes.” In the context of integrated learning, Hoffman sees work ahead not only for high schools, but also for community colleges, which, especially in California, tend to see their main role in transferring students from high school to a four-year college. Bob Miller, vice president of Educational Services at Pasadena City College, pointed out in an interview with the Weekly that “workplace training is a mission of community colleges.” He explained that PCC tries to align its program with employers’ needs by having advisory committees for each CTE program work with local companies. ■ E D U C A T I O N G U I D E 2 0 1 2 P A S A D E N A W E E K L Y • 17