Educators must not overlook opportunities that exist to build useful delivery approaches such as school-based enterprises, mentoring, and portfolios into the thematic curriculum. These delivery approaches should not be used one time in a single instructional setting, but may be used as often as they can have positive impact on student learning. Persons responsible for creating the thematic curriculum must consider, therefore, which approaches can strengthen the curriculum and next determine how much each different approach will cost to implement and maintain in relation to its potential benefits. From this consideration should emerge a list of the options and where they will fit into the curriculum.
The thematic curriculum can be logically linked to delivery options because it has much in common with a number of delivery approaches, some that focus on school-based learning and others that focus on work-based learning. Other approaches can be used in conjunction with the curriculum to help link the school and the workplace. Delivery approaches described in this section include school-based enterprises, linkages, partnerships, job shadowing, mentoring, youth apprenticeships, portfolios, and senior projects. Each has the potential to offer students more relevant learning experiences as they study about and explore broad curriculum themes.
School-based enterprises provide students with opportunities for realistic workplace learning in the school environment. School-based enterprises may be defined as any activities through which students produce goods and services that have utility, and that can be sold to other people (Stern, Stone, Hopkins, McMillion, & Crain, 1994b). Typical school-based enterprises may include a day care center, an automotive service laboratory, or a cosmetology center. Other examples that are less frequently found in schools include home-building, restaurant management, retail store management, automobile sales, crop-raising and livestock production, book and periodical publication, environmental quality and energy conservation, reconstruction of local historical landmarks, and small-scale manufacturing (Stern et al., 1994b).
When school-based enterprises are established, students should be active participants in the process. Decisions must be made about the organization and vision of the enterprise, the incorporation of policies, and what products and/or services to provide. Early on, students must be involved in marketing research which considers customers, goods, services, and sources of raw materials. Students should also have extensive involvement with financial and management aspects of the enterprise such as budgeting, conducting inventories, setting appropriate prices for goods and services, and locating suitable facilities within or near the school. Care should be taken not to establish an enterprise that will compete with taxpayers' businesses in the same locality, since taxpayers' money may be invested in the school-based enterprises (Stern et al., 1994b). Although school staff members are ultimately responsible for establishing the enterprise, student participation in this process enables them to experience how a business or industry is established. Participation also encourages students to develop a holistic view of the enterprise, rather than viewing it as a specific job or set of tasks. And finally, the enterprise can serve as a useful vehicle for educating students about a broad theme such as an industry or field.
A "World Wide" School-Based Enterprise
Students at Adams High School in Rochester Hills, Michigan, have numerous opportunities to interact with cyberspace through their web-creating enterprise. The increasing demand for Internet web sites has established a need among Pontiac area businesses for "homes" on the World Wide Web, and Adams High students have taken on the challenge. Partially funded through a state school-to-work grant, the course is taught by a social studies teacher. Assisted by the local Chamber of Commerce, the teacher recruited 12 companies to be on the class client list. Student teams have worked with these companies, assisting them by creating their own commercial Web sites. For this service, each company donates $350 to the class and also participates in planning meetings and provides students with mentoring experiences. The course is an art elective with the official title being Visual Communication. A course in art basics serves as a prerequisite. An administrator with the Rochester school district indicated that the course exemplifies what school-to-work is since it engages businesspeople in the classroom and brings students into the workplace (Trotter, 1997).
One illustration of student involvement in an enterprise may be seen at Robert E. Lee High School in Staunton, Virginia, where students under faculty supervision developed an interdepartmental business enterprise called the Balloon Shop. Orders for helium balloons and bouquet arrangements are taken and filled daily. Students apply the strategic planning skills required to open a new business such as marketing research, pricing, merchandising, promotion, customer services, human resource development, supervisory skills, and product management. Emphasis is also placed on developing work-related skills such as human relations with customers and colleagues, communication skills, problem-solving, teamwork, producing a quality product, selling, and product knowledge. In addition, basic employability skills acquired include being on time, maintaining an orderly work area, following written and oral directions, accepting instructions from management, exhibiting initiative, and controlling one's behavior. The Balloon Shop school-based enterprise provides unlimited opportunities for students to become better prepared for both life and entering the workforce (Asselin & Mooney, 1996).
Providing students with exposure to broad themes such as industries and fields using school-based enterprises may require teachers to have more than just a bit of knowledge about the workplace. Actual long-term workplace experience and exposure to related industries or fields can help teachers serve effectively as adult-worker role-models. This type of interactive, hands-on professional development provides educators with important knowledge and skills that can make the difference between success and failure of a school-based enterprise (Jordan, 1996).
One example of how educators can learn more about the workplace may be found in the Cincinnati, Ohio area. The Great Oaks Institute of Technology and Career Development and the University of Cincinnati sponsor a program that places K-12 teachers and administrators in local businesses for one week. The purpose of the program is for educators to better understand the local economy and employers' requirements. Educators participate in sessions on economics, decisionmaking, career trends, and school-to-work issues. Three-and-a-half day job shadowing experiences are provided for each participant. Educators may focus their experience in one workplace or divide their time between several employers. Businesses involved in the program range from small, family-owned companies to large manufacturers. As a culminating activity, educators create activities to help their students understand workplace realities (Jordan, 1996).
Often when educators are exposed to the workplace, the experience can serve as a starting point for curriculum change. In Philadelphia, teams of educators who work in the city's career academies have participated in teacher internships. Educator teams have explored businesses and industries through job shadowing experiences, interviews with human resource personnel, and team-building exercises. After completing these experiences, educators discuss what they have learned in the workplace and decide what aspects of their experiences might be incorporated into their academy curricula (Rahn, 1996). These two professional development examples exemplify the ways that teachers can learn more about an enterprise and thereby be better prepared to guide students through its establishment and operation.
Another important contributor to the thematic curriculum's success consists of linkages and partnerships between the school and local industries, businesses, and the community. Linkages and partnerships are quite similar in that they both involve the school or school representatives in establishing meaningful connections with workplace and community representatives. Their differences are typically of an informal versus formal nature. Linkages tend to be more informal, whereas, partnerships are more often formalized through some sort of official agreement. Take for example, a drafting/CAD teacher who is employed each summer by a manufacturing company. Through informal connections with this company, the teacher is able to access company employees that can be guest speakers in her classes and serve on the drafting/CAD program advisory committee. Through periodic contacts with the company's personnel manager, she also has informal access to student internship and graduate employment opportunities. A partnership, on the other hand, might be established between a school and an employer to share equipment or between a high school and a community college to formalize collaboration for a Tech Prep program.
In fact, the opportunities for linkages and partnerships are almost limitless. Provided in Figure 5-1 are examples of the many benefits that can accrue for schools through the establishment of linkages and partnerships.
Figure 5-1. Examples of Benefits to the School Through Linkages and Partnerships
- Job shadowing and internship opportunities for students
- Employment opportunities for graduates
- Summer employment opportunities for teachers
- Donations of equipment, materials, and employee time
- Access to guest speakers, judges, and evaluators
- Access to employer equipment and services
- Access to business and industry technical workshops and conferences
- Improved communication with employers
- A better understanding of employers' expectations
It must be recognized that linkages and partnerships are much like a two-way street. Both the school and the workplace expect to gain from their connections with each other. If school officials decide to establish a linkage or partnership without giving consideration to how a business or industry might benefit, they have not really considered what linkers and partners do. Realistically, linkers and partners must participate, collaborate, share, and gain from the experience. Otherwise, an unbalanced connection will be created. Listed in Figure 5-2 are several benefits that may accrue for employers who link and partner with schools. These are just a sampling of the many benefits employers may gain through their associations with schools.
Figure 5-2. Examples of Benefits to Employers Through Linkages and Partnerships
- Access to program students and graduates
- Technical assistance from school faculty members
- Improved communication with educators
- A better understanding of educators' expectations
- Access to school classroom and laboratory use for employee training
- Opportunities for employees to volunteer their services to the schools
- An increase in the company's visibility in the community
- Solutions to business problems/creation of new or improved products
Job shadowing and mentoring are among the most powerful work-based learning experiences available to students. Job shadowing places less responsibility on the adult worker and more on the student. When a student has a job shadowing experience, he or she closely observes one or more workers performing regular duties and tasks in the actual work environment. Opportunities are provided for students to ask related questions as long as they do not disrupt adult workers' normal work processes. Students are usually required to note different aspects of the workers' activities and performance so they can discuss these areas during debriefing meetings with other students and teachers. With proper direction from teachers, students should be able to easily relate classroom learning to their job shadowing experiences.
One example of job shadowing may be found at the Rindge School for Technical Arts in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where each student participates in two, three-hour job shadowing experiences per quarter. A "Job Shadow Fair" takes place each quarter, with participating employers presenting information about job shadowing opportunities. After students choose their job shadowing experiences, they are required to arrange an employer interview and obtain approved transportation to the site. They must take notes at the job site and prepare oral and written reports which are presented in class (Nielsen Andrew, 1996).
Mentoring may be defined as an organized, work-related relationship between an experienced worker and a learner, in which the worker assigns and monitors the learner's work activities and offers support and guidance. Support and guidance is particularly important when a young person is being mentored because the young learner may need assistance when he or she "goes through a difficult period, enters a new area of experience, takes on important tasks, or attempts to correct earlier mistakes" (Stern, Finkelstein, Stone, Latting, & Dornsife, 1994a, p. 56). Mentoring extends beyond preparation for life and earning a living. Successful mentoring depends on having experienced adults with an interest in the development of `whole students.' This means the mentor should not take responsibilities lightly. Mentoring tasks can be time consuming and just plain hard work, especially when young people are the ones being mentored.
Teacher visits with workplace mentors can help them to help students relate their work experiences to a broad industry or business theme and to classroom learning. Mentors should, therefore, take time to show students various departments in the workplace and explain how each department links, functions, and contributes to the overall operation of the industry or business. Students can also observe mentors at work, noting activities and comments as journal entries.
Job shadowing and mentoring experiences can expose students to a range of theme-related functions, concerns, issues, and technological knowledge and skills. Whether a student is preparing to enter the workplace, preparing for further education, or both, job shadowing and mentoring experiences provide exposure and learning that is difficult if not impossible to duplicate in regular school settings.
Apprenticeship has existed in the United States for hundreds of years. In fact, formal apprenticeship programs predated passage of the Declaration of Independence. Apprenticeship has survived over the years and continues to be a useful way of preparing people for employment; however, it has been overshadowed by school-based occupational programs provided by high schools and community and technical colleges. During the past decade, concern began to be raised about the capacity of U.S. workers to compete in the global workplace. Some of this concern eventually led to exploration of how other countries were preparing their workforce. Study results showed that apprenticeship was the central focus of workforce preparation in a number of European countries. Soon, several pilot apprenticeship programs were initiated in the U.S.; however, these programs were termed youth apprenticeship since they enrolled persons who were still students in school.
Youth Apprenticeship, Wisconsin Style
In the early 1990s, Wisconsin officials decided to make a major investment in youth apprenticeship. Patterned after the German apprenticeship model, students in several hundred Wisconsin high schools are offered opportunities to work in businesses and industries as a substitute for some of their high school studies. Students currently have 14 apprenticeship options from which to choose, with the most popular being automobile repair and printing. In the future, the number of choices may expand to 40 or more. Wisconsin youth apprentices are paid for the approximately 30 hours a week they work, with the remainder of their time being devoted to academic and work-related studies. Students enroll in the Wisconsin youth apprenticeship program for two years as contrasted with three-and-one-half years required in the German model. Even though the Wisconsin program has been hailed by some as being very successful, questions have been raised by taxpayers about the program's high cost and the lack of opportunities for apprenticeship students to obtain a more classical education and to enroll in post-high school studies ("The Heartland's German Model," 1997).
Youth apprenticeship builds on the legacy of traditional apprenticeship; however, it has some rather unique characteristics:
In youth apprenticeship, the workplace is viewed as a learning place, not simply an environment where students gain practical experience and specific job skills (Bailey & Merritt, 1993). Skilled craftspersons provide on-the-job training, monitor students' progress, act as resources to students during their work experience, and provide them with performance feedback. Apprentices typically rotate through a systematic schedule of varied assignments at the work site, and have a gradual increase in job responsibilities. Many youth apprentices are paid for their work. For example, in Pennsylvania, youth apprentices spend two days each week on the job beginning in 11th grade and three days per week in 12th grade. Participants receive wages that gradually increase during participation. In Maine, apprentices work at the job site for 30 weeks per year in the 11th and 12th grade, and 34 weeks in grade 13. A year-round stipend with annual increases is provided (Reisner, McNeil, Adelman, Kulick, Hallock, & Leighton, 1993).
Youth apprenticeship and the thematic curriculum are actually quite compatible. For example, youth apprenticeship links school-based and work-based learning, a combination that thematic curriculum proponents view as a powerful instructional approach. Additionally, youth apprentices are exposed to a broad range of workplace experiences which align reasonably well with the thematic curriculum view that students should have a theme-wide (e.g., industry or field) focus to their studies. Will youth apprenticeship thrive and continue to grow? Only time will tell, but for now it is clearly a useful option that links closely with the thematic curriculum's philosophy and operation.
Portfolios and senior projects may be implemented in almost any school or program. However, portfolios and senior projects that are connected with thematic curricula have the potential to link students' school- and work-based learning in very positive and meaningful ways.
Portfolios are certainly not new to either education or the workplace. Both art and architecture students are often required to prepare portfolios that include the work they have completed in different courses. When these same students are seeking employment, their prospective employers may ask to see portfolios containing samples of their work. Likewise, persons who are applying for positions in broadcasting are often required to submit portfolios containing tapes highlighting their broadcasting experience. Student portfolios typically include samples or a complete set of work completed during an extended period of time such as a school year, a semester, or a grading period. Although the traditional portfolio is flat, students should not be restricted to this format--especially if they are studying in areas where bulky items are created.
And what are some of the benefits associated with student portfolios? The following are a few examples:
Benefits that portfolios have for students thus extend beyond determining if they have completed certain classroom objectives. Students who have gained expertise with portfolio preparation are in a much better position to "sell" themselves to employers. Obviously, a traditional résumé does not communicate what a student has accomplished in school. But a résumé plus a properly prepared portfolio can accurately communicate these accomplishments.
Student Projects with an Integrated Instruction Focus
Students who attend Bethlehem (Pennsylvania) Area Technical School (BAVTS) participate each year in what is called the Integrated Culminating Experience (ICE3). The ICE3 includes three different levels of integrated, yearlong projects. The purpose of the projects is to ensure students have acquired academic and vocational-technical skills that are important for their future success. First-year students each conduct an in-depth exploration of a specific career. Second- and third-year students are engaged each year in both research and a hands-on trade or technical project. For each project completed, the student must prepare a formal research paper and make a formal presentation. A team of BAVTS and participating district educators worked together over a three-year period to develop the standards, materials, and processes that are included in the ICE3 project. Educators involved in the process included vocational-technical, math, and English teachers; guidance counselors; and special education staff. Revisions to the project continue as feedback is received through its use with students ("The Integrated Culminating Experience," 1996).
Many teachers include some sort of project requirement in their courses. In concept, the senior project is not much different from the course requirement. However, it differs markedly in scope and emphasis. First, the student completes his or her senior project during the greater part of the senior year in high school. Second, the student is guided and evaluated by a panel that is typically composed of representatives from different academic and vocational teaching areas as well as business, industry, and/or community representatives. This panel approves the project proposal and evaluates project completion via an extensive written report prepared by the student and an illustrated oral report given by the student. Third, the project typically involves some sort of link between the school and businesses, industries, and/or the community. And fourth, satisfactory completion of the project is usually required for graduation.
With all the work that goes into a project of this sort, what sorts of benefits are derived? Typical benefits include the following:
There are certainly other benefits that may accrue through the completion of senior projects. Examples of benefits include the development of student expertise in team building, leading, coordinating, planning, and evaluating. Because the senior project can develop students in more comprehensive ways than is usually accomplished in individual classrooms, it is indeed an option that should be considered for inclusion in any thematic curriculum.
As the thematic curriculum is being planned, it is important to decide which delivery options should be included and which should not. Since inclusion of delivery options in the curriculum is largely a function of the locality, the extent of local support, and other related factors, options that are chosen may need to be tailored to local education and workplace constraints. Linkages, partnerships, job shadowing, mentoring, youth apprenticeship, portfolios, and senior projects all have the potential to link learning in the school with learning in the workplace. However, their linking can occur in different ways. For example, students' job shadowing and mentoring experiences can cause them to appreciate their school studies more and give them greater motivation to study and learn. Although portfolios and senior projects tend to be supervised by educators, involvement of workplace representatives in the assessment of these portfolios and projects can serve as a valuable link between education and the workplace. Educators who recognize the potential that delivery options have when they are combined with the thematic curriculum, and follow up on this by deciding which options should be included in their schools, will not be disappointed. Each delivery option has the potential to serve as a powerful intervention when it is used with students.
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Trotter, A. (1997, February 19). Web lets schools put new spin on student businesses. Education Week, p. 8.