Amtek Company’s Gary Daniels recently sat down with District Administration Magazine to talk about the changing face of CTE education.
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One key aspect Gary has continued to see throughout the course of his career (early on as an educator himself and now as he works with a variety of schools here at Amtek) is how STEM and CTE are inherently combined — and have always been.
You can read Gary’s comments in full in District Administration Magazine’s article here. Here’s a snippet:
“Educators can sneak all the pillars of learning into most CTE lessons… Math, science and ELA were all part of a rocket-building class he (Gary) taught at his former school.
‘Rocket-building, with its angles and dimensions, teaches science and math,’ he says. ‘But students were also required to research the history of rockets and create a brochure, bringing ELA skills to the fore.'”
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While teaching STEM concepts isn’t a new idea, the technologies used to teach STEM concepts has changed. Traditionally siloed programs, like machine tooling or welding or automotive technology, are no incorporating 21st century STEM technologies into their shops and labs. For example, welding classes are turning to augmented reality and machine tooling programs are using 3D printers.
It remains that STEM has always been inherent to CTE. Harrisonburg City Schools in Virginia is a great example of a city that has blended STEM learning into all subject matter areas from elementary school up. There isn’t one teacher or one school dedicated to STEM. Rather, there is an immersement of STEM in all learning areas, including CTE. The city’s CTE programs do the same things they have always done — project-based learning that incorporates STEM learning objectives. This is the model that many CTE programs aim to achieve.
