Career Technical Education (CTE)
As more people become aware of the importance of career information technology and education, it has grown in popularity worldwide. However, many are still unaware of what “career and technical education” truly means. As a result, over the past 30 years, there have been many misunderstandings, uncertainty, and inquiries concerning CTE.
Students in high school, middle school, and post-secondary institutions are taught specialized career skills through the practice of career and technical education (CTE).
CTE is divided into 16 career clusters that relate to several high-demand professions:
- Health Science
- Business
- Sales
- Finance
- Information technology
- Science, technology, engineering, and math
- Manufacturing
- Logistics
- Hospitality
- Government
- Law
- Agriculture
- Human services
- Construction
- Training
- Arts, audio/visual technology, and communications
In this article, we will examine each CTE cluster in-depth to learn what each one entails and why it’s significant.
Infographic: How Does Career Technical Education Work?
Technology-A Good Career Path
Students in high school, middle school, and post-secondary institutions are taught skills-based careers through the practice of career and technical education (CTE).
First CTE Careers
CTE emphasizes talents. This differs from conventional, university-based education, which is theory-based. Although the theory is included in CTE, it is often only included in introductory texts.This is crucial because CTE careers demand that candidates have relevant work experience before beginning their professions.
After all, many CTE pathways lead students to professions that involve lifesaving. For example, government, legislation, agriculture, and construction all have a specific connection to other people’s safety and health. Because of this, CTE instructors frequently emphasize practice and advancement more than memorizing textbook material.
Second CTE Tracks
Practically any educational age group can benefit from CTE since pupils can develop crucial abilities well into adulthood and comprehend any profession’s principles as early as sixth grade. Because of this, middle schools, high schools, and post-secondary institutions offer CTE tracks.
Then, students can obtain the certifications necessary to begin their careers—many of which are in high demand. CTE tracks, however, do not restrict pupils to a specific profession. Many students use these courses to prepare for community college or university.
Due to the following two advantages, CTE stands apart from many other educational specialties:
- CTE is particular.
- CTE is incredibly versatile.
These traits typically fall on either side of the educational spectrum. Either a teaching strategy is broad, adaptable, or rigid and particular. Students benefit from the best of both worlds with CTE.
Let’s now explore the career groupings that CTE provides to pupils.
The Career & Technical Education Tracks
The career clusters of CTE are unique, specialized fields of knowledge in high-demand professions. Consequently, different tracks have higher demand than others. Additionally, as a region’s economy and culture evolve, tracks fluctuate in popularity. In addition, CTE monitors change in response to novel discoveries, best practices, and other improvements.
In other words, the CTE courses offer students diverse employment options that let them pursue their passions. Although CTE graduates frequently continue their studies at four-year universities and even pursue postgraduate degrees, they offer an alternative to traditional schooling.
Together, this means that CTE career tracks educate students on life skills and job abilities, launching their lives and transforming them into valuable community members. But this is merely a summary. It would be best if you looked into the unique variances in career pathways in your state because some states, like Florida and Texas, have their career clusters.
Career In CTE
Let’s examine some of these career options offered by CTE in more detail.
1. Health Science
Nursing, patient care technicians, and certified medical assistants are popular careers in the health sciences. one of the most common CTE job paths today is health science.
However, why is health science so well-liked? Three main points sum up the situation:
First, today, more people are alive than ever before in history.
Compared to past times in history, people are living longer today.
For the past ten years, the US’s emphasis on universities has diverted students from vital medical support responsibilities.
Therefore, today’s health science students have fantastic chances to launch successful careers as patient care technicians, nurses, and more. This is significant because it demonstrates to pupils that they don’t have to complete ten years of post-secondary school to assist others. The day after obtaining the necessary certificates, students in the health sciences can begin saving and improving patients’ lives.
These certifications consist of the following:
Medical Administrative Assistant with certification (CMAA)
Clinical Medical Assistant (CMA)
Phlebotomy Technician (CCMA)
Registered Nurse Assistant (CNA)
The National Healthcareer Association (NHA), one of a select group of prestigious healthcare certifiers, is the source of many of these credentials.
All around the United States, it has been used for many things. It mostly assists CTE instructors who are specialists in their industries but lack formal education training. But the study of health is just the beginning. More than a dozen more in-demand professional paths are available through CTE.
2. Business
Due to its adaptability, business is one of the CTE courses that are most frequently taught. A business experience gives CTE students an advantage in practically any job area, particularly management. Although CTE doesn’t cover the same ground in business as a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree, it gives students the fundamental skills they need to support the expansion of existing enterprises or even launch their own!
CTE students can obtain certifications to demonstrate their business management and administration proficiency. Even though they are less frequent than health science certificates, they are nonetheless useful complements to any student’s résumé.
These accreditations consist of the following:
Project management expert (PMP)
Professional Scrum Master (CSM)
Green Belt in Six Sigma
Certified Microsoft Office User
Any business, regardless of its sector or target market, might use the help of experts with business operations knowledge. But business is just the start. Common office tasks are covered by additional tracks, all of which are far more specific than merely “business.”
3. Sales, Marketing, and Service
Customer acquisition and retention are sales, marketing, and service foundations. They each deal with a distinct aspect of the client experience, yet they are all vital to a company’s continued success. For example, marketing begins the customer experience by converting enquirers into leads for sales.
Sales work with the lead to convert them into paying customers.
Service, also known as customer success, ensures that customers are satisfied and remain with the business for as long as feasible.
Every organization, then, needs workers who represent each of these three fields. CTE helps students combine their talents to create a good customer experience by preparing them for the fundamentals in these areas.
4. Finance
The financial Students in the CTE track learn how to manage extensive accounting, bookkeeping, and other tasks. It equips students with a solid basis for comprehending money, sales, expenses, profit margins, and more.
This is the best situation for someone just entering the financial industry, whether working for an accounting firm or in accounts receivable. However, as they climb the corporate ladder, most finance students will likely need a more advanced degree.
This is due to the fierce competition in the finance industry. A CTE student will require extra diplomas and certificates if they hope to work on Wall Street or in another setting with intense competition. However, not all financial students will require this. In reality, CTE finance graduates can support themselves well with little more than their diploma and professional qualifications.
The biggest problem with finance is how frequently it changes. The market is unpredictable (no pun intended), and the laws that apply to it shift with the seasons. A CTE background, however, equips students with the tools they need for success if they have the stamina and motivation to stay up with these changes.
Where Is CTE Taught?
Most post-secondary institutions that emphasize practical experience and career skills teach CTE. CTE, however, has also recently gained popularity in middle and high schools. As a result, some kids can select a CTE career route as early as ninth grade! The only obstacle is what their school can offer.
Finding a school that provides all job choices takes time and effort. High, middle, and post-secondary institutions frequently provide health science as the first pathway. This results from the current industry’s extremely high demand for healthcare.
More healthcare professionals will need to provide for their requirements as the American population ages and enters retirement. As a result, schools that offer health science are preparing students for a period when they will be most in demand—roughly ten years from now.
Due to the track’s versatility, several schools also offer business courses. Business students can use those talents in any sector, consumer base, or region. The other CTE paths might also exist in various schools, although their availability will be more location-specific.
How Should CTE Courses Be Taught?
Teachers can teach CTE in various methods, but throughout the years, we’ve discovered that blended learning is the most effective. Multiple teaching strategies are used in blended learning to assist students in learning more efficiently than with only one.
Most of the time, blended learning combines seven strategies:
Utilize a variety of teaching resources
Utilize technology to provide reinforcement
Attempt novel teaching strategies
Maintain your customary procedures
Change up your evaluations
Mix up the types of group work.
Consider using an online course.
Blended learning can be hard to start, especially if you have a lot on your plate.
Career Information Technology FAQs
How do you choose a career after high school?
Take a career assessment test. You’ll answer a series of questions that are meant to help you figure out what your weaknesses and strengths are. Talk to a trusted adult about your ideas and be open to feedback. Narrow down your choices and look for a job where you can grow.
How do I switch my career from Non-IT to IT?
Most workers in fields of non-IT are switching to IT these days. Important reasons for this are that there are more job opportunities in IT, salaries are better than in other fields, and you can have a better career in IT. To switch your career from non-IT to It you must first give at least one year to learning some IT skills such as basics of computer programming etc. For Learning, you can also take help from some online career and technology centers.
