The Pros and Cons of a Career-Based Curriculum for High School Students in the United States - Essay Example

Submitted Exploring the Pros and Cons of a Career-based Curriculum for High School s in the United States The problem of being “confused” or “undecided” with their career paths after high school is a big dilemma for graduating high school students. Different constraints like financial capability, present grades, and perceived as well as actual inadequacies deter a lot of students from pursuing college education and better career options. All around the world and even here in the US, there is a high school student wondering what he or she wants to do after getting their high school diploma. Should they work? Or should they go to college? And if they work, at what position would they apply or what job will they be qualified in? I they decide to pursue higher education, what degree should they take? In this regard, high school curriculums should create a system wherein students will be allowed to focus more on their career paths after high school – thus, high schools should adopt a more career-based curriculum. I. Advantages of Career-Based Curricula A. Prepares the students for the real world through practical education and hands-on experience in their chosen fields The need for a more students to enter career fields with higher wage margins and pursue higher education is imperative in our highly globalized world and the continued expansion of our economy but the business sector and many institutions of higher learning see a large gap in readiness for these roles for high school students in the traditional education system. (National High School Center) The solution to this need are the establishment of career academies which are learning communities existing within the traditional high school system that offer a “multi-year program in which the curriculum integrates academic and career/technical education courses, organized around one or more broad career themes” (NCES as cited by Stern et al. p.4). These career academies have been implemented for more than 40 years and have been evaluated for the last 30 years for their efficacy in lowering the drop-out percentage, encourage and ready students to pursue higher education, and train them for higher than basic wage margin careers. In David Stern’s and his colleagues’ report, they have identified strategies that career academies apply to reach these goals (Stern et al. p.5-6). Career academies offer college-preparatory curriculum with a career theme. The college-preparatory curriculum includes all the necessary academic courses to meet the standard for high school graduation and prerequisites for college entrance that are in-line with the Academy’s field of expertise. The common career themes include health care, business and finance, communications media and transportation technology and the students get hands-on experience in these fields though the Academy’s partnerships with prospective employer companies. Career academies also partner with postsecondary learning institutions so that students who want to pursue higher education in their field of work can do so. The combination of academic work with practical knowledge on particular interest fields makes students see the paths that they can pursue after high school. Furthermore, because they are applying what they learned earlier, they know the purpose of studying which makes them more engaged in going to school and finishing their secondary education (Shernoff et al. p. 158). B. Creates a more engaging atmosphere for learning which makes students strive to continue their education Many students complain that they don’t want to go to school because they find it boring and they don’t know where to use the stuff they learn in school (Shernoff et al., p. 158). With the career-based learning system, the components of traditional teaching techniques like lectures, discussions, and exams will be of equal parts with practical and hands-on activities which are either done individually or in a group. The students are also not just confined to the four corners of their class room but they get to experience work in the facilities of the partner companies of the Career Academy. In the presentation of Nathan Hale Career Academy, they have included a sample curriculum that includes activities such as job shadowing (wherein student performs an on the job training for a day), interviews with persons in their chosen field, and several consultation sessions with career advisers with the parents of the students so as to properly guide the student in her choice of a career major (Nathan Hale Career Academy). The approach in learning of career-based curriculum does not only enhance academic intelligence but also cultivates the skills of the students in the particular field that he or she chooses. This tone is reflected in an interview of Poglingco in 1998 of a student in a career academy as cited in the study of Stern et al. (p.2) “When I talk about the academy, I would very much highlight the fact that it sounds like all you do is work, you're college prep and everything like that, but actually it's not. Our first year, when we thought it was going to be very boring, we were hardly ever in the building because we'd go on field trips every two weeks, to get us more involved in what the academy is about. Instead of us just sitting in class and learning about it, they took us out and hands-on and said, ‘Well, this is what we do and this is what you will do.' And that's one thing I can point out to them, it's not boring. It may be harder but it's not boring. They give you a lot of things to deal with and a lot of things to accomplish.” C. Allows for better appropriation of resources and funds for education, rather than wasting these because of mismatch in student’s interests and capabilities In the Digest of Education statistics authored by Thomas Snyder and Sally Dillow, the total expenses for public and private education from pre-school to graduate school amounted to $1.1 trillion for A. Y. 2010-2011. Of these sum, $637 billion would go to elementary and secondary schools to meet the educational needs of more at least 49 million students. In fall of 2012, the National Center for Education Statistics estimates that 14.8 million students enrolled for grades 9-12 but among these students about 7% or roughly 1.4 million will drop-out from high school (nces.ed.gov). It is such a shame that a lot of students will not be able to finish their secondary education. And not only that, the budget that the government allots for education is fixed already once it is released so that means, if a number of students drop-out the budget allotted for their education will be wasted. Yes, there may be many different reasons that causes students to abandon their study but if adapting a career-based curriculum would help curb the drop-out rates then this will be advantageous not only for the student but for the country as well. The student will be able to apply for higher wage positions if he or she finishes high school most especially if he or she finishes in a career academy and the money that the federal government allotted for these kids will not go to waste. II. Disadvantages of Career-Based Curricula A. Students don’t have the proper maturity yet to make important life decisions. Choosing a career is life changing and is one of the most important decisions anyone will ever make. In a career-based curriculum, most students get to choose their career major before during the 10th grade and with their choice, appropriate courses will be given them so as to give them specialized learning appropriate for the careers they have chosen. When these students graduate, they are more likely to pursue college courses and work related to their career majors in high school and thus it seems as though the kids have chosen their career paths while they are still 15-16 year olds. According to the study conducted by two physicians at the Children’s Hospital in Boston and Harvard Medical School, the human brain’s expansion and the consequent building of connections slowly peaks when the person is about 25-30 years old (Ruder). This suggest that the brain of teenagers, including those in grades 9-12 are not yet mature and this poses the question if it is ok for them to make decisions regarding their career path at such an early age. B. Career-based curricula may make students decide to work right after high school instead of pursuing tertiary education. Although the US is one the leaders in postsecondary education, only 68.1 percent of the 3.4 million students that will be graduating high schools for 2012 will immediately enroll in college (nces.ed.gov). Rest of the students will either go to work to continue their education later but more will opt not to pursue higher education anymore. The trend of high school students not opting for tertiary education is expected to rise with the rice in number of those that opt to go to career academies because they already can have relatively good and stable jobs after high school. But this will be bad in the long run because many of the higher positions need to be filled up with persons who have finished college and postgraduate courses. If only a few opt to pursue higher learning then there will be a shortage in the qualified people to do these particular jobs. Experience may be a big boost to land a good job position but for managerial and executive posts, then it is imperative that the people working for these jobs be academically qualified as well as experienced. C. There will be a need for new faculty with the capability to teach in the career academy and this combined with other materials needed for the laboratory classes would mean higher cost for education. It is true that there will be a need for double the number of faculty and staff if a state-run high school decides on putting up a career academy and the wages of these personnel as well as their benefits would take a toll on the educational budget of the federal government. The additional rooms and equipment needed to train the students for various trades will also make the need for finances higher for secondary schools. This may mean that private schools would have to increase their tuition and other school fees and the already limited budget for education provided by the government to state-run high schools will be totally inadequate and this might lead to increase in taxes so as to support the state-run high schools. For the academic year 2010-2011, the education sector’s budget of $1.1 billion dollars comprised about 7.8 percent of gross domestic product (Snyder and Dillow, p.5) and actually that is a pretty big chunk out of our federal government’s budget. If no such curricula are implemented in traditional high schools then the money for education will be used to upgrade the facilities of the school and they will also be used to get the salaries of existing faculty and staff higher so that they won’t leave the school to pursue other careers. III. Conclusion and Recommendations In every case there are always two sides and for us to evaluate the merit of a proposition, the advantages must outweigh the disadvantages or if not, then the perceived problems should have solutions that can be implemented effectively as the proposition is applied. As mentioned in the introduction, there is a need for students to step out of high school as equipped adults ready to fill the roles in higher wage job positions and or ready to enter college with a strong sense of direction and purpose. In this regard I believe that the current system employed in our schools is not enough to cater to the demands of the business sector and the academe. The existence of career-based curriculum in high schools has cemented the fact that it is an effective means to make student remain in school and with the experience included in the course then the student will be better equipped for jobs with more responsibilities and higher wages. With regards to the aforementioned disadvantages, there are some practical solutions that can be implemented so that these disadvantages will not hinder the learning of the attendees of the career academy. 1. In response to the problem of immaturity in decision making, the implementation of the career-based curriculum has a part wherein the students and his or her parents do several career planning and consultation sessions with the school’s guidance counselor so as to guide the students in making the right decision for a career path. Furthermore, it doesn’t mean that the students can’t change their career major after they have chosen it in high school. The hands-on experience they get in career-based curriculum would actually allow them to test if they really are for the career that they want and will also allow them to test which among the particular careers they would want to pursue without the heavy consequences of doing these career changes when you are already and adult. 2. The constraint of getting career academy graduates to pursue higher education is not a constraint at all. The industries here in the United States really need a strong work force and if the students decide to defer their education to work to save up for college then that is just wonderful! In reality, more students from Career Academies go to attend college eventually after high school than those from traditional high schools because they already know that they can go further if they attain a higher education because the students already have the experience needed to excel in their fields under their belts. 3. The additional cost of hiring personnel and procuring equipment is cheap compared to the additional GDP that the skilled workers who graduated from these career academies would provide. Also, the schools themselves can hire back their students that have not found jobs yet to work in the school as teaches and support staff so that the school will be maintained and education will continue. Career academies are also given by bonus funds by the federal government so the expenses will be more than covered in the long run. I think that career academies are the answer to making education here in the United States available for all. As Sugar said after their class with Miss Moore went to look at the toy store at the really expensive toy boat: "I think…that this is not much of a democracy if you ask me. Equal chance to pursue happiness means an equal crack at the dough, don't it?" (Bambara, 507) Democracy is having equal rights and chances to pursue a good life. For me career academies using college preparatory curricula or career-based curricula is the stepping stone that many Americans need to be able to get a good life though education and skills development. The students in this case will be empowered and equipped to deal with the realities of life and they will be free to choose the future that they want because they are given access to education as well as employment. References Bambara, Toni Cade. The Lesson. Nathan Hale Career Academy. How to Expand your High School Career Development Program. Nathan Hale High School, School district of West Allis-West Milwaukee. Power point presentation. Web. (no date) National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Fast Facts. Web. (June 2012) National High School Center. College and Career Development Organizer. National High School Center at the American Institutes for Research. Web. (April 2012) Ruder, Debra Bradley. A Work in Progress: The Teen Brain. Harvard Magazine. Web. (May-June 2013) Shernoff, David J., Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly, Schneider, Barbara, Shernoff, Elisa Steele. Student engagement in High School Classrooms from the Perspective of Flow Theory. School of Psychology Quarterly, Vol. 18, No. 2 (2003) pp. 158-176 Snyder, Thomas D. and Dillow, Sally A. Digest of Education Statistics. Institute of Education science. National Center for Education Statistics, Washington, DC. (June 2012) p. 2-6 Stern, David, Dayton, Charles, and Marilyn, Raby. Career Academies: A Proven Strategy to Prepare High School Students for College and Careers. Career Academy Support Network. University of California at Berkeley. Web. (25 February 2010) p.2-6 Read More