This site is a class blog space for new Career and Technical Specializations and Heathcare Science teachers enrolled in the New Teacher Institute (NTI) at Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Publish or Perish
I view the Perkins Act as the foundation that helped to create CTAE as we know it. Being that Perkins created our jobs, programs, and a world of opportunity to students across the country, we owe it to keep the legacy alive and growing. The best way to ensure that funding keeps coming our way is to make sure that our work as CTAE teachers reaches those outside of the walls of our schools. If all we do is sit back and accept the money we are given, we are all easily forgotten. It's when our programs are able to branch out into the community and remind the general public, as well as our local/state/national legislators what we are doing and why we are important that our future is secured. Setting up career fairs, job placement programs, articulation agreements and other ways to place our students and their success, in the public spotlight reminds the public that, despite recent national trends and bad news, the future of the American workforce is bright and secure with their help in continuing to support Perkins. We are all familiar with the idea of "publish or perish" and the role it plays in education. Nothing could be more true when it comes to securing CTAE funds at any level. If you are working hard, and getting your hard work recognized, than you exist in a world where funding will find you. If your program is barricaded at the end of a cinder-blocked hallway, it becomes very hard to argue for more funding than you've had in the past. Get your students' work out there, and your future as well as the future of Perkins is more secure.
I agree with the sentiment that we need to make our work better known by the public. I would also add that successes need to be documented and presented to lawmakers in a way that they can understand. For example, we should get to a point where we are able to make comparisons, dollar-for-dollar, in order to make our case.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting your view on the allocation of Perkins funding. I agree with your view of providing a reminder to the public of the importance of CTAE education. The best measure of success is to produce a product, in this case the student, which gains the attention of the community as you have well defined. Articulation agreements are a vital component to the success of our students. As CTAE instructors we are responsible for identifying new pathways that will improve the sustainability of the future workforce. As CTAE instructors, we should also work with our administrators to place students into internships that extend the classroom learning environment. Internships and work related learning activities showcase the leadership and teamwork attributes instilled in the CTAE classroom. Internship and work related opportunities help to link the development of the student with the activities acquired in the classroom. Advisory members offer a great avenue to display the characteristics developed in the CTAE student. This allows advisory members to function as advocates at the local, state and national levels for the survival of the CTAE classroom. Once again thanks for bringing this point of view to the discussion.
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