Career technical education at “both the secondary and post-secondary level should be highly-valued, well-funded, and effectively-implemented,†said Mark Phillips, professor emeritus of secondary education at San Francisco State University in a recent blog featured on the Washington Post.
Society must shed its negative notions about vocational education as a dumping ground for non-academic students if it wants to adequately prepare all students in the global economy, noted Phillips.
“This bias against vocational education is dysfunctional. It is destructive to our children. They should have the opportunity to be trained in whatever skills their natural gifts and preferences lead them to, rather than more or less condemning them to jobs they’ll find meaningless,†Phillips said in his blog.
“…It is also destructive to our society. Many of the skills most needed to compete in the global market of the 21st century are technical skills that fall into the technical/vocational area.â€
Shifting perception and societal values around CTE will take time, he acknowledged, but quality CTE programs exist across the nation and their success with students will help to highlight their value, he noted.
Erin Uy, Communications and Marketing Manager
Tags: postsecondary, Secondary, technical skills