This week I was drawn to an article that discussed technical education at the University of Wyoming. The program for technical education is being pulled because of the low enrollment for students within the interest area. This is a program that trains future teachers of technical education for classes such as carpentry, welding, wood shop, etc. Several people are for this elimination, and there are a large group against the elimination of this department at the University of Wyoming.
My personal stance would be to not eliminate the program at the university. I have several reasons for feeling this way. 1. Financially the program is not an issue for the university and technically there are still funds available for this specific major. 2. The uniqueness of this program to the community surrounding the school is important. 3. If teachers are no longer getting certified with this, schools will then cut those programs, and we'll see a domino effect for this interest area.
My first reason was the biggest shock to me while reading the article. The situation is not that the program is underfunded or lacking the necessary equipment, materials, etc. There is no financial issue whatsoever. I'm shocked at this because even if the enrollment is low, the program is still producing unique workforce individuals to be productive teachers in programs that could be thriving at the high school or middle school level.
Within the article, the sole teacher named how specific this certification was to education as a whole. If you look at the percentage that is certified with this technical education degree it creates a unique & prestigious program to complete. This can set the university apart from competition, future employers looking for desirable employees, and appropriate programs in schools getting qualified educators.
Finally, the point of the article that stuck with me and made me realize the impact of just cutting this one program would be the elimination of other programs similar. If there are no more teachers coming out of these program to educate the youth in these interest areas. This program in high schools or middle schools will be eliminated due to lack of educators. The impact of this can be severe because of students loosing that meaningful exposure to all types of job fields and opportunities.
In conclusion, I have stated the article summary above. This gives you the insight of what the link provided below really goes into details about. I stated my stance and three reasons why I feel as though the program should remain an option for the University of Wyoming. These reasons stated can give you an insight into the future without this specific program being available for future students at the university.
http://trib.com/news/local/education/technical-education-program-doomed-by-enrollment-funds-and-alternatives/article_c9215cd7-5452-53e0-8462-3ba7d8460e58.html
Angela,
ReplyDeleteYour blog post took on an interesting outlook by seeing how education is affected from the college level to the high school level. If schools are eliminating educational majors because of low enrollment, then eventually the teachers available for those positions at the high school level will diminish and possible disappear, which will cause a ripple effect to secondary schools not being able to offer the courses. This can also lead to students not even being aware of the potential job field thus causing the entire field to diminish or disappear.
I understand the low enrollment is the reason why the major is being cut, however money is always a priority. Colleges and universities are businesses and therefore they could utilize that money that is allocated for technical education and use it somewhere else that is booming with enrollment. While I would not want to see that program disappear, maybe they could compromise and allocate less money to that program to keep it alive.
Sorry! Forgot my name since it comes up as my blog name. Jenn
DeleteTechnical education is always in a situation where it is hard to attract qualified individuals to get into education due to the inequities in pay. Typically, industry pays more that what the teachers in trades are able to do as well as the transition from employment where men and women use their skill and have to translate that skill into modeling and teaching which requires higher education training and schooling which many avoided when getting into the trades and are not well equipped for the rigor of college. Additionally, new Career & Tech Ed teachers coming into teaching have to be trained at the same time as they are teaching (in Pennsylvania) which compounds the lack of time in the day to get everything done needed in the classroom. There is a high attrition rate amongst new career & tech ed teachers in my experience.
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