There is no doubt we have seen a resurgence in career pathways for middle and high school education.
Building a system of high-quality career pathways was a key focus back in the 1990s when I taught public school technology education. While the concept of exploration career pathways is very much the same today as it was back then, there are a few key differences today.
Who Teaches Career Pathways
Exploration career pathways are no longer the sole responsibility of technology education teachers. A broader approach to STEM education that seeks to insert STEM into all learning areas has opened up career pathway teaching opportunities for math, science, and English teachers, among others.
[one_half valign=”top” animation=”none”]
This presents a new set of challenges for teachers who may be less familiar with the career pathway content that they are delegated to cover. For example, I work with a middle school math teacher who must now familiarize herself with a whole new set of teaching concepts to meet the required learning outcomes for her class.
This is where content and curriculum, like the Design and Technology curriculum from LJ Create, can be an extremely helpful resource. This curriculum covers the areas of robotics, mechatronics, IT, manufacturing and more all under the umbrella of STEM.
[/one_half]
[one_half_last valign=”top” animation=”none”]
[/one_half_last]
How Career Pathways Are Taught
Previously career pathways were taught in a modular rotation framework. For example, a class of 20 students would be divided in half with 10 students learning one pathway from one teacher and the other 10 learning a different pathway from another teacher. These groups of students would then rotate until all the pathways were covered.
Now we’ve returned to this modular framework but instead taught via whole class concepts. That means a teacher will teach all 20 students one subject at a time, moving from one pathway to the next. This places pressure on the teacher to have an in depth understanding of all career pathways – not necessarily the one pathway they have been most comfortable teaching.
It can also create challenges for administrators to get their teachers up to speed, which is another reason why content and curriculum resources are so important.
New Career Pathways Have Emerged
Technology disruption in industry has opened up new areas of learning.
For example, the need for American workers in manufacturing has led to the development of the Mechatronics pathway, and a heightened cyber warfare threat has led to the development of the Cybersecurity pathway. We’re also seeing a heightened focus in the areas of Transportation, Distribution and Logistics and Computer Science.
As technology continues to disrupt and industry continues to evolve, I’m sure we will see even newer career pathways emerge over time as well.
