How All Educators Can Benefit From CTE Teachers

Did you know that CTE is a unique combination of English, Math, Science, Social Studies and even World Languages? Did you know that every CTE pathway integrates academics as a standard practice? Did you know that enrollment in CTE is a strong predictor of staying in high school – especially for boys? Did you know that other teachers could benefit from collaborating with CTE teachers and students to create relevant and/or practical short or long- term projects? Did you know academic and technical teacher collaboration is one of the hardest tasks to complete?  If you answered, “yes” to one or all of these questions – you are a CTE educator! If you answered, “no” to one or all of these questions – keep reading…

I believe the “blaring” reflection is around the last question. We won’t spend too much time on the question because for some it is an observation and for others it is a real-life experience.

Did you know academic and technical teacher collaboration is one of the hardest tasks to complete? 

It may sound like, “I have my own way of teaching (teaching style) and I believe we need to focus on (fill in the blank as you deem appropriate)” – that blank is one’s philosophy. Based on this exchange or lack thereof, the two teaching styles and beliefs don’t line up. It may be that the rigor does not seem equal to one, it could be that one only has a reference point that is grounded in the latest trends of business/industry, it is not an area known or desired to learn for the other, or maybe it is simply the fear of changing? I believe it is mindset and a stance to not be open-minded and/or willingness to truly compromise. So what, now what?

I believe, we CTE educators must go back and find a way to collaborate with other teachers (academic or technical) to create learning that is interdisciplinary. Why interdisciplinary instruction? The Science Education Resource Center is a grant-funded office at Carleton College and they define interdisciplinary instruction like this:

…“entails the use and integration of methods and analytical frameworks from more than one academic discipline to examine a theme, issue, question or topic. Interdisciplinary education makes use of disciplinary approaches to examine topics, but pushes beyond by: taking insights from a variety of relevant disciplines, synthesizing their contribution to understanding, and then integrating these ideas into a more complete, and hopefully coherent, framework of analysis.”

It is our hope that then there is compromise on teaching styles, philosophies and open-mindedness. And an authentic willingness to collaborate; and this way we are all riding the same bus for our students to engage in intensive real-world, problem based learning opportunities that lead to internships, apprenticeships and placements before graduation = collaboration amongst CTE and Academic teachers…the benefits of CTE MATTERS!

By Dr. Eboni Camille Chillis, Coordinator of Career, Technical & Agricultural Education, Clayton County Public Schools