School and the World of Work

School Science and Mathematics, Mar 2004 by Flick, Lawrence B, Lederman, Norman G

An electrician and a physical therapist technician both need significant science and mathematics background, but they will develop this background in apprenticeships and community college. However, students will not be prepared for this post-high school education if they have not persisted in enough middle school and high school science and math. Teachers are in a prime position to work with parents, counselors, business, and industry to help students develop a vision of the role of academic skills, in general, in life after high school and science and mathematics, in particular. Developing this vision will ideally include the understanding that each career step puts them in a position to envision the next. The student who persists in high school math and passes the math tests to enter a skilled trade is in a position to envision another step to earning a business degree or a degree in construction management.

There is a lot at stake in how we as teachers and science and mathematics educators view the relationship between school and work. The world of work is far more complex today than it was when many of us were getting our first taste of a career. To view career education as the domain of vocational programs differentiated from so-called academic programs is a narrow conception that does not serve the majority of our students. For vocational teachers to view their programs as narrowly focused on a particular career is also a narrow conception that does not serve the best interests of students. It is not reasonable to connect all subject-matter content to a career, just as it is not reasonable to assume that particular subject matter or skill applies to only one career. We should encourage students to explore contrasts between school content and the contemporary workplace that can help students envision lines of work-even those that have not yet appeared or that students have not yet learned about. The worlds of work and academic pursuits have a natural relationship that should facilitate-not impede-the complex transition from school to work.

References

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