December 1998
Linking School-to-Work Humanities, Teaching
The Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory's Education and Work Program is taking on two new activities coordinated by a multiregional federal team working to implement the School-to-Work Opportunities Act. One activity focuses on the integration of humanities and school-to-work, while the other looks at the incorporation of school-to-work concepts in teacher preparation programs.
"Coordination is difficult, but for school-to-work to be successful many partners need to be involved," says Carla Nuxoll, the U.S. Secretary of Education's Regional Representative for Region X in Seattle. The partners on the team are the U.S. education and labor departments' offices in regions VIII, IX, and X based in Denver, San Francisco, and Seattle, respectively.
The teacher preparation project will involve surveying:
- Deans of all public and private teacher education programs in 15 western states and Guam
- A sampling of directors of professional development in school districts across the three regions
- State teacher certification officers
- A sampling of professors in the 10 largest teacher education programs in the three regions
The survey will focus on preservice and inservice education, the perceived need for new training in school-to-work concepts, and existing state certification requirements that may incorporate school-to-work concepts. NWREL will analyze survey findings on a multiregional level, regional level, and state level for use by policymakers and planners. Based on the survey results, NWREL will formulate recommendations for next steps.
The other project, "Balancing Life and Work: Humanities as an Integral Part of Career Pathways," involves a 15-state search for innovative ways teachers are integrating secondary school subjects such as literature, the arts, history, sociology, government, economics, and geography with career development and exploration programs under such banners as school-to-work transition, tech prep, professional-technical education, and cooperative education. Teachers in comprehensive high schools, regional occupational programs, and alternative schools are invited to submit successful locally developed or commercially available curriculum and instructional strategies.
"The importance of the humanities can't be overstated," says Nuxoll. "It's a challenge to bring the rich study of literature and the world of work together in a way that does them both justice. For example, too often, the study of English, when it's discussed in relation to school-to-work, is reduced to resume writing and business letters, which while important do not encompass the full richness of the study of literature."
Examples of integration of humanities and school-to-work concepts might include analyzing how global economics and trade policies affect jobs, putting current occupational trends in historical perspective, or relating great literature to one's own career hopes and experiences.
Findings will be posted on a Web page as well as compiled in print. Three models, one in each U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Labor region, will be invited to further develop, document, and disseminate their instructional strategies through professional conferences, journals, and teacher inservice workshops.
McClure will present preliminary findings from both the humanities and teacher preparation projects at Building a School-to-Work System, a technical assistance conference sponsored by the tri-regional team. The conference, for representatives from school-to-work partnerships, will be held at the Westin Los Angeles Airport Hotel, February 11-13. For more information about the conference call John Harp, Department of Education, Region X, (206) 220-7803. .
| Previous Article | Next Article | Contents | NW Report Index |
This document's URL is:
Home | Up & Coming | Programs & Projects: NW Report | People | Products & Publications | Topics
© 2001 Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory
Date of Last Update: 9/28/01
Email Webmaster
Tel. 503.275.9500
