work education curriculum

America Needs a New Workforce Education System

Developing large-scale workforce education programs that enable workers to advance or change industries will not only reduce income inequality, but also support domestic innovation..

The American dream promised that if you worked hard, you could move up, with well-paying, working-class jobs providing a gateway to an ever-growing middle class. Today, however, the nation is seeing increasing inequality rather than economic convergence. Technological advances, combined with profound labor market shifts during the pandemic, are putting quality jobs out of reach for workers who lack the proper skills and training. One of the best ways to address this challenge is to improve workforce education.

Learning on the job has, of course, long been a feature of most occupations. But developing formal programs that allow most workers to advance from their current position or to even change industries has not been a priority for decades. Yet both research and practical experience have shown that such programs, designed to improve skills and education over the course of an employee’s work life, are precisely what is needed. Not just any jobs program will do. They must be carefully focused, flexible enough to meet emerging needs, and tailored to lifelong learning. Failure to meet these requirements could consign millions of workers to dead-end jobs during their most productive years.

The benefits of developing large-scale programs for workforce education will extend beyond the already considerable ones of addressing inequality. A more skilled workforce also contributes to innovation. Industrial policy in the United States has largely focused on two preproduction tasks aimed at earlier-stage innovation: support for agencies funding academic and lab research and development, and support for industry R&D through the federal R&D tax credit. But there hasn’t been a complementary workforce education thrust. Indeed, many economists view science and engineering at the college and graduate school levels as the principal educational key to future growth. Yet as innovation diffuses into production—be it robotic welding or new coating technologies—R&D has proven to be not the only educational need. A skilled technical workforce has an innovation role as well—in programming the robotic welders, for example, and in improving the coating technologies.

THE SOCIAL DISRUPTION IS REAL

Overall, job opportunities for high school graduates have shrunk significantly in recent years. For example, the share of men of prime working age with no college experience who are not working at all reached 18% in 2013. At the same time, median income for men who had not completed high school fell by 20% between 1990 and 2013 and by 13% for those with a high school diploma or some college. In a country that prides itself on its social mobility, this was a clear signal of a loss to middle-income ranks and of growing social inequality, as well as a harbinger of a postindustrial backlash.

A closer look at two sectors—manufacturing and retail—reveals the turmoil. Historically, manufacturing has been an important middle-class pathway for high school educated males—including African Americans and Hispanic Americans. From 2000 to 2010, however, manufacturing employment fell by 5.8 million jobs (or almost a third), from 17.3 million to 11.5 million. And by 2015, it had recovered to only about 12 million jobs, where it remains.

Retail, which often offers a first job or a job of refuge, is in trouble as well, as stores, malls, and entire chains have closed over the past decade. First, the extraordinary expansion in the second half of the 20th century crashed against the 2008 financial crunch. Then the disruptive growth of online ordering accelerated a decline in in-person retail even further. Warehousing positions offset some of this job loss, but they went to different people—female store clerks weren’t hired to do heavy lifting in warehouses. Fifteen million people were employed in retail trades at the beginning of 2020. Then the coronavirus hit.

The pandemic has been a shock not just to retail but to much of the system. The volume of jobs lost has been dramatic. Restaurants lost 5.5 million jobs in April 2020, then reopenings during the summer let the industry regain some jobs, only to lose them again with the spike in infections during the fall. Similarly, retail lost 2.3 million store jobs in April, rebounded by a million jobs by June, but by fall the job numbers were falling again. In travel and tourism, 35% of the jobs have been lost since February 2020. These aren’t the only hard-hit sectors, but they are big ones. Many jobs in retail, the restaurant industry, tourism, and travel won’t be coming back: bankruptcies are already climbing. Millions of workers in these sectors will be stranded.

This latest disruption will make American economic inequality even worse than it was before the pandemic. Workers from hard-hit sectors will need to shift to new sectors where there will be jobs. And to thrive, they must get not just any job but quality jobs. While lower-end services jobs had been growing as the middle class thinned out, new Labor Department data show the coronavirus has now hit that sector, so job openings will tend to require higher skills.

Opportunities exist. Health care, for example, is embracing suites of new technologies that will require skilled technologists at good pay. Manufacturing and utilities have aging workforces that will require millions of new workers in coming years, albeit for increasingly skilled jobs. The trick to minimizing further disruption will be to provide the skills and training needed to educate and shape the current worker pool.

WANTED: WORKER SKILLS AND HUMAN SKILLS

The United States was the first nation to develop mass higher education programs, and we used them as an engine for innovation as well as economic and social mobility. The high school degree was once the acceptable basic credential, but has since been displaced. A college degree is now the key differentiator for economic well-being.

Higher education is also a complex, established “legacy” sector, reluctant to change and adapt its operating modes to fit new needs. Although many of the necessary prerequisites are disconnected from actual job and life skills, college degrees have become a default credential for employers because there are no others that are as widely accepted and used.

Business requires new skills, particularly in information technology, so the workforce as a whole requires upskilling—current workers as well as incoming college graduates and those without college degrees. And yet universities have not embraced or contributed to these workforce developments.

Herein lies an opportunity for institutions of higher learning, particularly at a time when they themselves face increasing financial pressure: they can offer more career-related skills in addition to what they teach now. This approach may enable them to reach beyond their current declining demographic of 18- to 26-year-olds. Some critics have worried that this shift might erode liberal art traditions. We argue the opposite: in fact “human skills” such as critical thinking, creativity, writing, and communicating are in high demand, and can flourish in this new configuration.

Unlike many European nations, the United States never built a comprehensive workforce education system. So perhaps it comes as no surprise that current programs lack the proper focus, are small in scale, and siloed from each other. The Department of Labor’s training programs don’t reach the oncoming higher technical skills or help incumbent workers acquire them. In turn, the Department of Education’s programs tend to target college, not workforce education, and don’t mesh with the Labor programs. With the exception of a few states, such as Massachusetts, the vocational education system in high schools has largely been dismantled. And community colleges, which could provide advanced training in emerging fields, are largely underfunded—not to mention that their completion rates hover around a third.

Most colleges and universities don’t see workforce education as their bailiwick and so aren’t linked to the other participants in the system. Overall, the education system is disconnected from the workplace, and a system for lifelong learning is missing. In addition, the existing workforce education system operates at too small a scale to meet the growing demand. The system needs not only reforms but also the ability to reach many more people, more effectively. Online education is one tool that can help with the scale-up—if applied correctly.   Addressing these problems should help to reduce economic inequality and deepen our capacity for innovation.

THE NEW COMMUNITY COLLEGE TRY

Community colleges could become the cornerstone of a robust, much-needed workplace education system. A number of these institutions, some highlighted below, have already begun to show the way. They will all need additional building blocks, however, to achieve the necessary scale and flexibility of offerings.

Asnuntuck Community College is in the middle of an aerospace industry corridor along the Connecticut River Valley. It has developed advanced manufacturing certificate programs, using a new state-supported, state-of-the-manufacturing-art equipment center. Enrollees include not only its own students, but also high school students as well as workers at area companies, small and large.

Valencia College in Florida set out to reach a large economic underclass stuck in low-end, low-paid, part-time service jobs. It tailored various short programs to help students quickly get on a career ladder leading to secure jobs with benefits that can support families. Each program lasted 10 to 22 weeks, five days per week for eight hours a day. Valencia offered industry-standard certificates in advanced manufacturing, construction, heavy equipment, logistics, and health care fields. Importantly, these certificates could be stacked for multiple, certified complementary skills and credits toward a Valencia associate degree.

Trident Technical College in Charleston, South Carolina, worked with area firms and the state’s Chamber of Commerce to develop a new youth apprenticeship program beginning in the junior year of high school. Students employed by participating companies go to high school classes in the morning, where they must take math and science, to the college at midday for technical courses, and to their sponsoring company for well-paying jobs in afternoons. This takes them out of a sometimes-disruptive high school culture into higher-expectation environments. By tearing down the wall between learning and work, the program places entry-level workers on a path to quality jobs and education.

Elsewhere, the US military has pioneered efforts to teach hands-on skills through virtual and augmented reality. The Navy’s Training Systems Division in Florida, for example, has developed programs that use online simulations run on touch screens and high-end gaming computers. The Navy is now shifting a substantial amount of its training for advanced equipment on ships, submarines, and at air bases into these online systems.

KEY FOUNDATIONS

Several elements are common to the most successful programs for workplace education. They include:

• Forming short programs . Programs focused on technical skills should typically run for 10 to 20 weeks. People who have been in the workforce won’t be able to take off time for two- or four-year degrees; they have families to support and obligations to meet.
• Embracing credentialing.  Programs should provide certificates for specific groups of related skills, based on demonstrated competencies. These should be stacked toward college degrees and credits, which remain the most broadly recognized credentials.
• Supporting competency-based education . Programs should be organized around demonstrated skills broken down into particular competencies, unlike today’s education that is based on an agricultural calendar and standard completion times. If students show the skill competency, they get the certificate, regardless of how long they have spent in the program. This can cut time in school and student costs, and reward practical experience.
• Developing appropriate online education.  Online modules will be critical if workforce education is going to scale up to meet postpandemic needs. And yet online education can’t replace effective instructors or hands-on work with actual equipment. Online education is best suited to conveying and assessing the foundational information behind the skills.
• Breaking down the work/learn barrier . Programs should be linked to industry, as today’s schools have become too disconnected from the workplace. Linkage programs in the form of apprenticeships, internships, and cooperative programs are needed to get students into the workplace, earning money while they build skills. At the same time, they can make a direct connection between the competencies they must learn for greater job opportunities.
• Improving completion rates . Completion rates at community colleges should be at least 70%, up from the 30% rate at many of them today. Frustration with required remedial prep courses leads many students to drop out. Successful programs have found one solution in integrating the supportive course work into students’ study program for career skills so they can clearly see how the remedial work is relevant to their career opportunities.
• Embedding industry-recognized credentials into educational programs . Many employers want the assurance of skill knowledge that a credential approved and accepted by industry provides. It creates an additional and parallel pathway to help students toward employment. It also ensures that academic programs are relevant to actual industry needs.

The latest research on workforce education is quite clear. Federal resources need to scale up. States, with backing from federal education funds, must implement the new strategies outlined above. Some states and employers, and the community colleges they work with, are starting to embrace these steps. The workforce disruption from the pandemic could be a driver that forces further action. A more equitable and innovative future is possible, provided we leave our previously scattershot approaches behind.

This story was originally published in Issues in Science and Technology on March 9, 2021.

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Work Education: Meaning, Importance, Skills, Objectives

Pallavi Pradeep Purbey ,

Mar 4, 2024

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Work education provides students with exposure to social and economic activities inside and outside the classroom. It helps them understand and build skills related to work education which will help them uplift themselves and be independent.

Work Education comprises activities consisting of services, foods, and community development in various areas of human needs such as health and hygiene, food, clothing, recreation, and social service in accordance with the mental abilities and manual skills of children at various stages of education.

Work education results in services valuable to the community, besides the gratification of self-fulfillment. It focuses on building manual characters. The main objective of work education is to ensure a greater sense of worldly knowledge and develop respect for workers among the students.

Table of Contents

What is Work Education?

Why work education, objectives of work education, importance of work education, advantages of work education, list of activities in work education.

Work education is the nature of knowledge that provides an identical significance to the community and social services by creating consciousness for the wellbeing of the people and society. An essential concept of work education is that it has a manual spirit. Therefore, work education plays an emphasis on learning while working in any field.

Below are some features of Work Education.

• Work education provides both knowledge and skills through understandable and graded programs and helps people enter into a world of work.
• It acts as a different curricular area for offering children opportunities for participating in social and economic activities inside and outside the classroom.
• The prolific manual work situations are drawn from health and hygiene, food, shelter, clothing, recreation, and community service.
• The skills to be developed in this field should comprise knowledge, understanding, practical skills, and values throughout need-based life activities.
• Pre-vocational education should get a prominent place at work education to let students choose various activities according to their interests.

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Work Experience has been named as Work Education and thus makes it a fundamental part of education. It develops;

• Personality.
• Positive work values.
• Constructive habits.

Moreover, work education conveys crucial knowledge related to career and develops proper work skills which can help the children to become productive in meeting their day to day activities.

Work Education helps students develop skills like work values, productivity, and self-reliance. In addition, work education allows students to identify their natural interests and aptitudes in selecting suitable courses of study.

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Work education has specific objectives, which are very important to give the right direction to people and the community. It acts as a vital part of the learning process resulting in goods or services considered valuable to the community. Work education focuses on teaching various socially desirable values such as;

Below is the list of objectives of work education.

• Identify the needs of every individual and their family and community concerning food, health, and hygiene to understand the working environment.
• Familiarize oneself with productive activities in the community in various sectors. It helps in gathering information about various activities in society.
• Know the sources of raw materials and understand the use of tools and equipment to produce goods and services by workers. It helps in gathering essential information.
• Develop skills for the assortment, procurement, arrangement, and utilization of tools and materials for different forms of productive work. It also helps in incorporating new skills.
• Develop self-esteem and confidence through accomplishment in productive work and services.
• Develop a deeper opinion for the environment and wisdom of belonging, responsibility, and commitment to society. It helps in developing a sense of belongingness within people.
• Develop reverence for manual work and regard for manual workers in the community to give them the utmost respect.
• Develop work habits such as punctuality, honesty, discipline, efficiency, and dedication to duty.
• Develop self-esteem and self-assurance through achievements in productive works and services in various fields.
• Develop a deeper apprehension for the environment and a sense of belongingness, responsibility, and commitment to society to ensure the community's welfare.
• Develop alertness of socio-economic problems of the society to ensure people about the changes if made.

Also Read: Buddhist Education System in India: Meaning, Objectives, Subjects

Work education is regarded as very important, meaningful, and the ongoing manual work is organized as a vital part of teaching-learning procedures that are functional to society and the satisfaction of doing work. It is essential for all education segments, i.e., primary, secondary, higher secondary, and higher education. Work education can be granted through a well-developed, channeled, and structured program.

Work education is an integral part of education as,

• It helps to bridge the gap between manual workers and white-collar workers in society.
• Work education gives respect to all types of workers in all sectors, and also creates social awareness for the welfare of society.
• It builds coordination in hand actions and brain activities.
• Work education promotes socially useful physical labor by inheriting educational activities in various fields.
• It acts as a necessary and significant factor in learning different activities and the processes to pursue a particular objective.
• Work education is discernible in the form of valuable services and productive work for the community.
• It is associated as a necessary factor with all the aspects of knowledge in a multi-level education system.
• Work education is based on the principle of learning by doing and practicing.

Also Read:  Importance of Adult Education

Work education aids in various factors to the students and the people who are looking to work in varied areas. Students gain a plethora of knowledge about almost every field, and strategies are built on understanding and practicing such education. In addition, students are involved in activities that help them understand the concept of work education.

Below is the list of advantages of work education.

• Work education links classroom learning to the real world and makes students practice various activities.
• Work education gives opportunities to perform skills in real-world scenarios beyond theoretical learning.
• Work education helps students develop soft skills for the better manifestation of gifts.
• Work education gives students a chance to watch professionals in action entitled to work in various activities.
• It helps students associate with potential employers to broaden their network. And it leads to increased student enrollment with varied skills.
• Motivates students to understand and comprehend working areas.
• Work education provides opportunities for individualized instruction to perform skill-based activities. And it gets the community involved by providing an array of exciting work.
• Work education builds a pool of skilled workers to make the empire rise.
• Teaches soft skills that help in maintaining patience while working.
• Work education lowers recruitment costs for employers as there are people who would be highly skilled in a limited number of activities.

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Work education includes activities of services, foods, and community development. It focused on health and hygiene sectors, food, clothing, recreation, and social service in harmony with children's mental abilities and manual skills related to work education. Below is the list of activities any person can enroll themselves in.

• Computer Education
• Drawing and Painting
• Work Experience
• Western Music
• Vocal Music
• Knitting and Stitching
• Gadgets learning
• Western Dance
• Creative Thinking
• General Assembly
• Sports and Games
• English Lab
• Smart Class
• Classical Dance
• Instrumental Music

Work education encourages children to know the needs of themselves, their families, and society. The aim is to build students' personalities to have a successful life by having moral values in their pocket of energy.

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Who gave the concept of work education?

What is called work education?

What is the history of work education?

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Work Ready Now (WRN)

Around the world, many young people are unable to find jobs or start their own businesses due to a mismatch between the skills they learned in school and the skills demanded in the workplace. Employers have jobs to fill and are looking for young people who have experience and can adapt to the jobs of tomorrow. How can we prepare youth for these opportunities?

WRN is a customizable, standards-based work readiness curriculum that emphasizes the skills needed in today’s workplace. Specifically, WRN:

EDC’s Work Ready Now (WRN) delivers effective work readiness preparation to youth, giving them access to a second chance at economic success. WRN is implemented with youth with varying levels of education, ranging from out-of-school youth to school-based programs at technical schools to all levels of general education, from middle school to university.

Key Activities

Wrn-logo.png.

• Provides flexibility and localization: The modular format gives projects flexibility, and WRN is customized for local environments with local businesses and youth-serving partners.
• Includes eight foundational modules (e.g., personal development, communication, job seeking, and workplace behaviors) as well as complementary modules (e.g., civic engagement, digital literacy, health, and resilience).
• Integrates work-based learning to make learning come alive outside the classroom and to expose youth to real workplaces and employers.
• Is a scalable solution that can reach hundreds of thousands of youth when incorporated into national workforce development systems.
• Is sustainable: EDC builds the capacity of local organizations and government agencies so they can continue to connect with local industries and deliver WRN after a project ends.
• Includes soft skills assessment tools that allow projects to choose the best fit to assess the youth skills’ gains.
• WRN has been implemented in 26 countries and in 19 languages, reaching 500,000 youth.
• 5 countries have scaled WRN nationally in their education systems.
• 97% of Rwandan graduates met or exceeded employer expectations.
• 65% of youth in Thailand, the Philippines, and Indonesia continued onto employment, self-employment, or further education. Of those that found employment, 66% were hired full time.

PROJECT DIRECTOR

Related Resources

EDC’s Work Ready Now (WRN) delivers effective work readiness preparation to youth around the world. Based on international standards, WRN helps young people in emerging economies develop the soft skills and work readiness skills needed to succeed in earning a living. EDC integrates WRN into education systems as well as work with local partners to meet the needs of out-of-school youth.

As part of EDC’s Work Ready Now (WRN) program, WRN Biz builds youths’ core skills in business planning, business start-up, and ongoing business management. WRN Biz also helps young people develop the skills and mindset needed to be successful entrepreneurs, including creativity, critical thinking, perseverance, vision, and confidence.

The Next Level of Work and Learning

• Posted January 13, 2022
• By Andrew Bauld
• Career and Lifelong Learning
• Cognitive Development
• Learning Design and Instruction
• Technology and Media

The workplace of the not-so-distant future will be one filled with volatility, complexity, and ambiguity. To navigate this changing and uncertain terrain over the course of their careers, students and adults will need to become lifelong learners, armed with the knowledge of how to transfer their skills to new workplace opportunities. 

Project Zero’s Next Level Lab will look to unlock the wealth of recent research from the fields of cognitive science, neuroscience, and the learning sciences to better understand what it means to be an expert learner and to reimagine how learning happens — in both K–12 and workforce development. Born of an idea first pitched in 2019 to Professor Chris Dede and Principal Research Scientist Tina Grotzer by Ph.D. student Tessa Forshaw, the Next Level Lab will focus on giving a more expansive view of how these sciences can be applied in understanding learning and the important role technology can play in the process.

“A lot of people are interested in notions of the future of work, but there’s a complete absence of research from the lens of neuroscience and cognition about what it means to learn workforce skills and to then transfer to a workforce,” says Forshaw.   

Intrigued, the faculty members signed on with Grotzer becoming Next Level Lab faculty director. With funding from Accenture Corporate Citizenship, the lab will bring together practitioners from across a variety of fields to create new visions for the possibilities of human performance. 

The Next Level Lab launched its website this past October and includes updates on research projects along with helpful resources for educators and workforce development practitioners. 

We spoke with Forshaw and Grotzer to learn more about Next Level Lab, it’s research, and the future of learning.  

T-b: Tessa Forshaw, Tina Grotzer

One of the main focus areas for the Next Level Lab is exploring workforce development programs. Can you explain a bit about how these programs work?

Tessa Forshaw: The sector typically considers workforce development programs to be programs that are for 16-year-olds to older adults and that focus on preparing learners with workforce skills. They can be found at community colleges, vocationally focused high schools, at non-degree granting intuitions, coding boot camps, workforce development boards, industry groups, companies or employer organizations, or nonprofits like Jobs for the Future, Goodwill, the Institute for Veterans and Military Families, and NPower.  

That said, there isn’t a widely agreed upon exhaustive definition of what a workforce development program is, and that’s part of why it is important we start studying the sector more closely. In 2015, McKinsey estimated spending on the sector to be $300 billion per year, and Georgetown University estimated it closer to $1.1 trillion. 

Despite the size of the sector, something that the Next Level Lab is particularly interested in is that unlike in K–12 education, there’s no professional development or minimal certification requirements for workforce practitioners. Their backgrounds span from some of the most incredible and skilled educators to individuals who graduated from the program the year prior and are teaching while they find a job placement. We want to support workforce development educators to engage in a community of practice that centers around pedagogy and research-based instructional moves developed through the lab’s own research and from working directly with practitioners.  

The lab will be doing research that will also help students. What will that work look like?

Tina Grotzer: All students can benefit from strategies about how to use their minds well through intentional processes. Our particular focus is on vulnerable youth who are underserved and/or who have struggled in traditional schools. My own work has considered how findings from cognitive science can help students to do their best learning. Research has demonstrated persuasively that effective thinking can be taught. Despite this, I don’t believe that field has delivered on the promise for how these findings could broadly benefit society, in particular around issues of transfer and accessibility. Too often, programs on thinking are focused on privileged populations. The skills may be unaligned with the cognitive neuroscience findings and may be too generic or taught in decontextualized ways, limiting their applicability. Informative and helpful findings exist, and we could do a better job translating it and getting it in the hands of the people who can use it. Further, this research offers new visions for what learners are capable of with the right kinds of support. That’s why we’re calling it Next Level Lab, to update our conceptions of what learners are capable of and to provide tools and resources to educators and learners to help actualize those conceptions. 

Can you share some examples of the projects the lab is currently working on?  

Forshaw: We’re interested in looking at this idea in response to job disruption of saying workers need to be reskilled. That’s very much a deficit mindset. You are probably familiar with headlines in the news saying things along the lines of “all truck drivers should learn to code.” From our perspective this is reminiscent of deficit theory in K–12. Telling people they had a job that’s now redundant and that they don’t know anything is such a bad message. Thus, one question we’re asking is if reskilling is always the right course of action, and one hypothesis is presenting a learner with multiple ways to sort their skills and helping them realize new contexts for how their skills might present them with a greater ability to transfer their skills from their past performance environment to a future one. 

Another piece that researcher and HGSE doctoral student Eileen McGivney and I are looking at is the role of virtual reality experiences in supporting situational learning and interview preparation for formerly incarcerated individuals returning to the workforce and the mechanisms that make those tools helpful. 

Grotzer: Chris Dede and research assistant Ashley Etemadi are pursuing two projects. The first, Project UPWARD (Upskilling Professionals in the Workforce to Augment Reckoning with Decision-making) is a collaboration with Upwardly Global. It aims to help immigrant and refugee professionals rebuild their careers in the U.S. and to understand the interaction of culture and decision-making, with a focus on reckoning and judgment. Immigrant workers are predicted to drive U.S. labor force growth over the next 15 years. Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming increasingly proficient at calculation, computation, and prediction, or “reckoning,” skills. As machines take over the reckoning part of many jobs, workers will increasingly be valued for their human judgment skills such as decision-making under conditions of uncertainty, deliberation, ethics, and negotiation. The second, Project LIFTUP (Leveraging IA for a Future of Turbulence, Uncertainty, and Possibility) is a partnership with Goodwill of North Carolina that aims to enhance the existing job training curriculum for jobseekers and to develop materials and training that will help employers keep judgment in mind when interviewing, hiring, and supporting workers. 

I am leading a project with Megan Cuzzolino, Lydia Cao, and Mingyue Sun to help learners, as embodied in social and emotional beings, understand the cognitive architecture of their minds to bring their learning and work to the next level and to function effectively in a dynamic and complex workforce landscape. In the NLL Moves: Acting like Fast Fish project, we are developing a set of moves to help learners use their minds more effectively and to modify the contexts around them to support learning and performance — just as fish create vortices in water to push off from to swim their fastest. We will test these in the classroom and workplace using a mixed methods approach and studying changes in how students frame and process tasks involved in thinking, learning, and workforce performance over time.    

How do you see Next Level Lab fitting within the scope of the work being done at Project Zero and the larger HGSE community? 

Grotzer: One of the strengths of Project Zero is that researchers are willing to study problems deeply and flexibly. They grapple in the problem space and that helps them to reposition problems and put them in a broader context, and that’s what Next Level Lab does. We can turn problems around as we consider them from a cognitive neuroscience perspective to introduce new possibilities for schools and workplace development. 

Forshaw: One of the great benefits of sitting within the Project Zero community is our ability to leverage all the fantastic prior research and thinking on research based instructional moves and how to support educators to improve their teaching practice. While there are many fantastic workforce development programs out there, there also many that have great opportunity for improvement in terms of instructional design. And that’s also why this work is so critical to be done at HGSE. Often folks think workforce development should be left up to organizational behavior or similar academic disciplines, but we’re talking about education problems and learning problems — like what does good or bad pedagogy look like, how does the mind work — and HGSE’s existing research is a great place to start.

The lab is only in its first year, but what do you see as some of the lab’s potential contributions to the field? 

Forshaw: I think one of the outcomes is that Next Level Lab will be a place for the learning sciences at HGSE to incubate design-based research. It’s an iterative method that’s about real-world findings and testing theories to see if they stand up in the real world. The second is to be a community of academics and practitioners, where the researcher and the practitioner can learn together and collaborate to move the workforce development sector forward. That’s nontraditional but there’s a real importance in having humility in how we approach a sector that provides economic dignity for a lot of people in this country. 

Grotzer: This is research that needs to take place in the contexts where people are working to address the real challenges there. We have the opportunity to work collaboratively with practitioners on the ground and to put the cognitive neurosciences and learning sciences to work for them in ways that actualize the promise of what these fields of knowledge offer.

The latest research, perspectives, and highlights from the Harvard Graduate School of Education

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Detailed Curricula Based on Work-Processes: The Need for Updating the Conventional Approach for Developing Curricula in TVET

• First Online: 02 September 2021

Cite this chapter

• Georg Spöttl 3 ,
• Gert Loose 4 &
• Matthias Becker 5  

492 Accesses

This article focuses on the development of curricula that are oriented towards work-processes. This approach is based on insights which were generated from empirical work in Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET). From a conceptional point of view, sufficient progress has been made to enable the authors to develop curricular structures based on work-processes with due regard for a variety of contexts and with reference to different levels of workmanship. In this context it is important that with regard to work-processes, the social implications of work need to be given an important role in relation to each specific cultural context.

The article is based on the publication of Spöttl, Loose & Becker in 2020.

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Spöttl, G., Loose, G., Becker, M. (2021). Detailed Curricula Based on Work-Processes: The Need for Updating the Conventional Approach for Developing Curricula in TVET. In: Darmann-Finck, I., Reiber, K. (eds) Development, Implementation and Evaluation of Curricula in Nursing and Midwifery Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-78181-1_2

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EDC Work Ready Now! Framework

The Work Ready Now! (WRN) Framework outlines learning standards for the WRN work readiness curriculum developed by Education Development Center (EDC), an international nonprofit that designs, implements, and evaluates interventions to improve education and health and expand economic opportunity. Based on international standards, the framework consists of eight core content modules and three optional modules that serve as a guiding framework for the curriculum. It focuses on the cross-cutting and transferable knowledge, skills, and behaviors/attitudes young people in emerging economies require to succeed in the workplace and earn a living. It is designed to align with three internationally recognized work readiness frameworks (SCANS, P21, and ATC21S) and includes content and performance standards for the WRN curriculum.

View All Term Definitions

Breakdown by Domain

Key features, context & culture.

• Curriculum modules are designed to be easily adapted to the local context
• Offers curriculum adaptations for youth with low literacy levels

Developmental Perspective

• Notes that the knowledge, skills, and attitudes/behaviors outlined in the framework are interrelated both in terms of how they are learned and developed and how they are applied in work settings, and modules are thus intended to be taught in sequence as the skills within them build on each other
• Has developed performance standards to describe various levels of youth performance across most skill areas to inform assessment
• No learning progression provided

Associated Outcomes

• Describes positive program impacts related to employment status, job performance and retention, and employer satisfaction, but does not link outcomes related to specific workforce readiness skills

Available Resources

Support materials.

• Offers implementation toolkit designed to support program staff in the creation, adaptation, and assessment of work readiness programs

Programs & Strategies

• The framework is designed to provide learning standards for each area of skills taught by the WRN work readiness curriculum
• WRN facilitator trainings teach facilitators to use participatory, learner-centered approaches for skill development and are typically offered through local institutions like vocational schools and youth-serving organizations

Measurement Tools

• The WRN work readiness credential test is aligned to the WRN framework and curriculum, and uses situational judgement and knowledge-based test items to measure non-cognitive work readiness skills such as teamwork, problem solving, and customer service in order to assess whether job seekers have the requisite skills and attitudes to succeed in the workplace
• Offers module quizzes and a curriculum-based test to assess the acquisition and application of content knowledge learned in WRN work readiness training

Key Publications

• Work Ready Now! website: https://www.edc.org/work-ready-now-wrn
• Education Development Center. (2019). EDC's Work Readiness Program. Retrieved from: https://www.edc.org/sites/default/files/Work-Ready-Now.pdf
• Education Development Center. (2015). A study of the WRN! credential test's relationship to youth jobs and employer satisfaction. Retrieved from: https://www.edc.org/sites/default/files/uploads/WRN%20Credential%20Study%20Akazi%20Kanoze%20Fall%202015.pdf

Education Development Center (EDC)

Developer Type

NGO/Non-profit

To serve as a guiding framework for the WRN curriculum for in- and out-of-school youth

Common Uses

Since 2009, WRN has been delivered to more than 500,000 youth across 25 countries, and it has been adopted by the governments of Rwanda, Macedonia, the Philippines, Senegal, and Djibouti as the national workforce readiness curriculum within national secondary school systems, alternative education systems, and/or technical and vocational training (TVET) systems

Key Parameters

Level of detail, compare domains, compare frameworks, compare terms, explore other frameworks.

• Visual Tools
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youngworkers.org

Materials For Teachers, Youth Employment Programs, and Community Volunteers

As an educator, you have the opportunity to raise awareness about young worker health and safety.

This page contains teaching and educational resources available for you to use to teach about young worker issues as well as rights and responsibilities of young workers on the job.

Your CTE Safety Program: Safe Students, Safe Workers  (2019)

New tools for Career Technical Education (CTE) administrators and instructors on key program elements for safe CTE programs. Includes action-oriented guide for administrators and instructors in general industry and construction CTE Programs, links to resources, and assessments to identify where your program is stronger and where it needs more attention and lesson plans and materials to teach health and safety problem-solving and communication skills.

All Industry CTE

• Teaching Activities Guide [ ENGLISH ] [ SPANISH ]
• Problem Solving for Safety PowerPoint (PPT) [ ENGLISH ] [ SPANISH ]
• More Scenarios for Safety Bull’s Eye Activity (excerpts from the NIOSH Youth@Work— Talking Safety curriculum and PowerPoint )
• All Industry Guide. Your CTE Safety Program: Safe Students, Safe Workers
• “20 Questions” Handouts for Administrators and Instructors in CTE programs

Construction CTE

• Construction CTE Guide. Your Construction Safety Program: Safe Students, Safe Workers
• “20 Questions” Handouts for Administrators and Instructors in construction CTE programs
• 10-minute CTE Program Assessments for Administrators and Instructors in construction CTE programs

Youth @ Work: Talking Safety Curriculum (2017)

Includes instructor’s notes and training materials for teaching youth, including those with developmental and learning disabilities, basic job health and safety knowledge and skills. The 3 to 5- hour curriculum covers how to recognize and reduce hazards in the workplace, employees’ rights and responsibilities, emergency preparedness, and how to speak up about workplace concerns in an effective manner.

• California Curriculum
• PowerPoint (PPT)
• Other States Curriculum

A Safety and Health Curriculum for Workers with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (2016)

The curriculum is intended for supported employment agencies, community vocational rehabilitation programs, high-school transition programs, and other organizations and companies that place in jobs or hire workers with disabilities. The curriculum can help teach students or consumers/employees the foundational job safety and health skills that all workers need. The curriculum uses highly interactive and fun learning activities to teach workplace safety and health skills, which are general, transferable, and can apply across all jobs and industries.

• PowerPoint  (PPT)

Safe Jobs—Work Safe! A Curriculum for Continuation School Students and Teachers (2015)

The curriculum is designed to support the student in an independent setting. It can be implemented within the requirements of English Language Arts, Health, Career/Technical, or Life Skills to ensure that information about teen worker health and safety is delivered to our students, many of whom work, or are actively seeking employment. We have included alignment with two sets of standards (pp. 2 and 3 below) – the Common Core English Language Arts Standards, and the Core Competencies established by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) for a Safe, Skilled, Ready Workforce.

Orienting Worksite Supervisors About Teen Health and Safety Tool (2014)

Designed for job placement professionals to work with worksite supervisors to ensure that all young workers are working in a safe and healthful environment.

• Orienting Worksite Supervisors  (Steps, Training Agreement, Orientation Checklist) (PDF)
• Orienting Worksite Supervisors (DOC)
• The Facts for Employers: Safer Jobs for Teens Factsheet  (2019)(PDF)

Teens Working in Agriculture Curriculum (2010)

An ESL curriculum for high school students Developed by UC Berkeley’s Labor Occupational Health Program.

This curriculum covers basic agricultural health and safety concepts designed to be incorporated into high school intermediate level ESL classes in rural communities. Includes a video, “Teens Working in Agriculture.”

• Download from the LOHP website

OSHA’s 11 Curriculum (2009)

An OSHA 10-hour curriculum for Young Workers

This curriculum, developed by the University of Washington’s Pacific Northwest OSHA Education Center, LOHP, and the Education Development Center, contains lesson plans for teaching a version of the OSHA 10-hour General Industry training course (2009 OSHA requirements) appropriate for young workers, especially high school-aged students enrolled in career & technical education, skills centers, academies, or other school-based programs. In order to be eligible for an OSHA-10 card, students would still need to receive the training from an OSHA-approved instructor; content and time spent on specific topics would need to meet current OSHA requirements. Activities have been drawn from a variety of other curricula, acknowledged in the OSHA’s 11 curriculum.

• Curriculum & Powerpoint Files
• Teen Workers: Real Jobs, Real Risks
• Don’t Fall For It
• Dr. Ergo: Ergonomics Awareness
• Is it Worth Your Life

Teens Speak Out for Safety on the Job Curriculum (2008)

Lessons from the Young Worker Leadership Academy

Since 2005, over 150 enthusiastic young people from throughout California have attended one of our Young Worker Leadership Academies (YWLAs) on workplace health and safety. The YWLA is a fun, activity-packed, all-expense-paid leadership training for teens. It prepares teams of teens to go back to their communities and create an education, policy, or media project that promotes workplace safety for young people. Because the YWLA can serve as a model for similar efforts, we have prepared this booklet, in partnership with UCLA’s Labor Occupational Safety and Health Program (LOSH), to explain how the YWLA works. It describes, step by step, how we plan and carry out the YWLA and what lessons we have learned.

• Complete Booklet
• Supplemental materials

For more information on the Young Worker Leadership Academies, click here .

Teens, Work, and Safety Curriculum (1998)

A Curriculum for High School Students

Designed by and for teachers, this interactive curriculum can be used in academic high school classes as well as in vocational and work experience programs. Each 3 to 5-hour teaching unit contains learning objectives, lesson plans, detailed teacher’s instructions, masters for overheads, and student handouts. Units cover both specific job hazards and labor laws.

• Introduction
• General Unit
• English Unit
• Science Unit
• U.S. Government Unit
• Resources Section

Additional Teaching Activities

• 2019 Safe Jobs 4 Youth Kahoot! Quiz  ( Factsheet ) ( ANSWER KEY )
• 2018  Sexual Harassment at Work ( Kahoot! Quiz )  ( Answer Key )  ( Factsheet )
• 2017  Safe Jobs 4 Youth Activities Guide  (PDF)   (PPT)  ( Webinar Recording )
• 2016  “Are You a Working Teen Game Show Activity”( PDF ) ( PPT )
• 2015  “Lost Youth” ( PDF )
• 2014  “Workplace Violence Prevention” Curriculum ( PDF )
• 2013  “Safe Work/Work Safe” ( PPT )
• 2012  “Teens Take on Sexual Harassment” ( PDF )
• 2011  “Triangle Tragedy” ( PDF ) ( PPT ) ** Labor History Activity!
• 2010  “Heat Safety: It’s Part of the Job ( PDF )
• 2009  “Emergencies at Work” ( PDF )
• 2008  “Why Does Workplace Health and Safety Matter?” ( PDF )
• 2007  “Making the Job Safer” ( PDF )
• 2006  “Identifying Hazards and Solutions” ( PDF )
• 2005  “There Ought to Be a Law!” ( PDF )  **Labor History Activity!
• 2004  “Know Your Rights” – Bingo ( PDF )
• 2003  “Identifying & Controlling Workplace Hazards” ( PDF )
• 2002  “Problem Solving for Health and Safety” ( PDF )
• 2001  “Taking Action for Health and Safety” ( PDF )
• 2001 “Legal Rights” ( PDF )
• “Are You A Working Teen?”  English  / Spanish
• Facts for Employers  English  /  Spanish
• Tips for Parents with Working Teens  English  /  Spanish
• Tips for Adolescent Health Care Providers  English

For additional materials

For additional materials, visit External Links and Resources .

All full-time students must participate in the Work Education Program-there are no exceptions. The Work Education Program permeates the daily life of the campus and is an integral part of the total educational experience of each student.

The primary objective of the Work Education Program is to provide meaningful, worthwhile work experiences in a pervasively Christian setting through which each participating student may contribute toward his or her tuition. The development of Christ-like character is central to the program. Students can grow in desirable virtues such as independence, self-accomplishment and achievement, and cultivate important skills and attitudes such as reliability, teamwork and collaboration, initiative and motivation, responsibility, quality work practices, and communication skills. The Work Education Program intentionally serves as a vital part of the College’s Academic Program and also gives students the opportunity to contribute to the campus community in a meaningful way.

Program Management

The overall management of the Work Education Program is the responsibility of the Dean of Work Education, who assigns all students to their workstations and determines necessary changes in work assignments. The Dean of Work Education strives to match students to their jobs on the basis of expressed interest, experience, and ability, with consideration given to available openings and the needs of the College. Work assignments are made on a priority basis, with presently enrolled students having the first opportunity for available openings. Incoming students are initially assigned to jobs that are important but generally considered more basic labor. Students may later earn transfers to more desirable jobs, or to those more closely related to their fields of study, by strong performance and high work grades. After receiving job assignments, students report to their work area supervisors who will provide further guidance and supervision in their duties.

Requirements and Policies

The requirements and policies of the Work Education Program are carefully explained to all new C of O students. Each full-time student must work at least 280 hours per semester (approximately 15 hours per week and one 40-hour work week). Hours worked during the academic year that are above the required 280 per semester will be credited to cost of education/tuition after the last May work week. A limited number of qualified resident students (based on financial need) may participate in the 12-week Summer Work Program. Students may apply to work one or both of the 6-week summer work periods. Each 6-week period worked covers the cost of room and board for one semester. Summer work will be credited toward room and board expenses for the next academic year.

A cumulative record of student work hours is maintained in the Cash Accounts office to allow the student to determine the total of his or her credit at any time. Work hours cannot be sold, given away, or transferred; nor is cash given in exchange for work. However, extra work hours earned by the student may be used throughout the year to offset charges for laundry service, medical expenses that may be incurred at the campus health clinic, and milk from the dairy. All remaining excess hours worked above the annual requirement will be used to offset the cost of tuition at the end of the last May work week each academic year.

Work Education Program Attendance and Disciplinary Policy

Failure to report to work as expected after assignment to a specific department or work area or to otherwise make arrangements with the work supervisor and/or Work Education office will result in appropriate disciplinary action, which can include dismissal from the Work Education Program.

Work Performance Records

Work performance reports showing the effectiveness of the student at work are maintained by the Work Education office. A work grade is reported to the student at the end of each semester; the grade then becomes a part of the student’s permanent record and is included on the academic transcript maintained by the Registrar’s Office. Student work grades are based on the supervisor’s evaluation of the student in the following areas:

College of the Ozarks expects solid academic performance and also places a high value on consistent performance in the Work Education Program. Students are placed on work probation if their work grade falls below a C-. If that happens, they are then typically given one semester to improve or face dismissal from the Work Education Program. A grade of F in work performance usually results in immediate dismissal without a probationary period. Again, all full-time students must successfully participate in the Work Education Program.

All work education records are maintained pursuant to the provisions of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (PL 93-380). A student who believes an error has been made in the recording of his or her work grade, or feels a grade is unjust, must first contact their work supervisor. If the situation is not resolved, the student may appeal to the Dean of Work Education.

Work Education Program Probation

Conditions Warranting Work Probation: Students may be placed on work probation for unsatisfactory performance in their assigned campus job. Unsatisfactory performance typically means receiving a work grade of less than a C-, but may also be the result of an excessive number of tardies or unexcused absences. Examples of performance issues that warrant probation include, but are not limited to, the following: repeated or habitual unexcused absences or tardies, unsatisfactory performance in any of the graded evaluation criteria, or generally unacceptable behavior at work that appears in conflict with the goals and mission of College of the Ozarks. Placement on work probation should be considered a serious matter to students, which requires diligence and deliberate effort to regain satisfactory status. Failure to do so will likely mean dismissal from the Work Education Program and ineligibility to re-enroll for the following semester.

Student Work Opportunities

The student work opportunities at College of the Ozarks are numerous and diverse. Over 75 students are assigned to the various offices on campus with responsibilities involving computer skills, typing, filing and a broad range of other important office skills and functions. In addition, students at College of the Ozarks work in many other areas, including but not limited to the areas listed below:

Academic Departments: Students earn their required work hours as departmental assistants in the various academic departments, serving as laboratory assistants, helping to prepare study materials, grading tests, or otherwise assisting in the work of their respective areas.

Agriculture: Students are provided an opportunity to get practical experience in the care, management, showmanship and performance testing of registered livestock. They also gain experience in the processing of milk and meat products, operating and maintaining a feed mill and various types of field machinery and participating in the increasingly complex record-keeping associated with agricultural operations. The divisions are:

Agronomy: Pasture renovation, hay production and the production and storage of fodder for silage

Beef Cattle: The College Polled Hereford and Angus herds

Dairy: The W. Alton Jones Holstein herd and College milk processing plant

Feed Mill: Feed production, delivery and general farm projects

Horticulture: Maintaining a teaching orchard, garden, and assisting in plant propagation and tissue culture laboratory

Processing Plant: Harvest, processing, and smoke curing of USDA inspected and approved beef and pork products

Swine: The Mary Straughn Hampshire and PIC/Cargill hybrid herds

Armstrong McDonald Nursing Simulation Learning Center: Students work with leading-edge patient simulation technology in a health-care simulation environment, assisting nursing students in learning technologies.

Bookstore: Textbooks, apparel, and other bookstore services are provided in this area staffed by students.

Child Development Center: Students serve as the day care and development attendants to the children of both school-affiliated and non-affiliated personnel.

College Press: Student workers receive experience in various aspects of the printing industry by producing virtually all business and academic forms used by the College. The Press also does custom printing on a commercial basis and produces and distributes the Ozark Visitor , a quarterly periodical with a circulation of over 155,000.

Computer Center: Students work with the most up-to-date equipment in computer programming and operations, processing essential data for the College.

Construction: Students assist in the various aspects of building construction and maintenance, painting, plumbing and heavy equipment operation.

Custodial: Students have the janitorial responsibility of the Howell W. Keeter Athletic Complex, Plaster Business building and 14 buildings on the south side of the campus.

Edwards Mill/Weaving: Students and their supervisors operate this working mill, constructed authentically in the tradition of the early Ozarks. Corn and wheat are ground to form meal, flour and other grain products. Students make handcrafted items such as baskets and learn techniques of dyeing, hand spinning, and traditional loom weaving to produce various woven articles. All student-made products are for sale in the Mill and in the Beulah Winfrey Gift Shop in The Keeter Center.

Electrical Shop: Along with their supervisors, students are responsible for the installation, maintenance and repair of all electrical equipment on campus.

Electronics: The students in the Electronics Department assist the electronics staff in the installation, repair, and maintenance of all electronic equipment on campus. This includes the campus analog telephones, all fire alarm systems, security systems, TV cabling, campus public address systems and sound systems for special events.

Fire Department:  Students are given the responsibility of maintaining the campus fire-fighting and rescue vehicles and equipment, regularly checking and servicing the approximately 1,000 fire extinguishers in the various campus buildings, and organizing and supervising the selection, training and on-the-scene performance of the College’s volunteer fire department.

Fitness Center/Intramurals: Students assigned to these areas plan, maintain and manage all fitness programs. Students are also responsible for planning, administrating and officiating all intramural sports.

Fruitcake and Jelly Kitchen: A staff of students and their supervisors are involved in the production of jellies and the famous C of O fruitcakes, some 30,000 of which are produced annually. They likewise handle the receiving and filling of mail orders for these and other College products.

Health Clinic: A professional staff of nurses and a Physician’s Assistant are assisted by a staff of students in providing medical services.

Heating and Air: Students are responsible for the installation, repair and servicing of heating and air conditioning systems, ice makers, refrigerators, freezers and related equipment.

Keeter Center: Located at the main entrance of the College, The Keeter Center is the largest work area on campus. It utilizes student workers in its operation as a restaurant, gift shop, bakery and 15-room lodge. These student workers serve as front desk reservationists, bell staff, housekeeping staff, wait staff, and cashiers; work in food preparation; and are responsible for the maintenance and care of the Keeter Center facility.

The Keeter Center intentionally integrates with and supports academic programs, including Business, Culinary Arts, Dietetics, Hotel and Restaurant Management, Music, Public Relations, and Theatre. Whether interacting directly with guests or serving behind the scenes, students who work at the Keeter Center are trained toward excellence in their professional skills. They are also encouraged toward a deeper Christian commitment, evidenced in the consistent demonstration of Christ-like character in a fast-paced professional setting. 

Landscaping: Students work in landscape planning, soil preparation, and the planting and maintenance of the campus grounds, shrubs and flowers. They also gain experience in pest control, plant propagation and greenhouse operations, as they grow most of the plants used for outdoor planting and maintain an outstanding orchid collection. Students also maintain a garden which supplies the Keeter Center with fresh vegetables.

Laundry: Students provide professional laundry services to students, faculty, staff, and various campus industries.

Leadership Development Track: Two student directors oversee the planning and development of leadership training on campus. These programs include the College of the Ozarks Academy for Lifestyle Leadership (the CALL), many leadership forums, and individual opportunities that help students actively engage in their own development.

Library: This work area provides experience in supporting the daily operations of an academic library. Opportunities include working at public service desks, processing and shelving library materials, building maintenance, and various clerical and computer-related jobs. 

Machine Shop: Students work as assistant machinists and welders in performing general mechanical work and maintenance of equipment.

Mail Operations: Students process the campus mail and prepare outgoing mail. The students also utilize modern computer technology.

Outlook and Phoenix Publications: Students assigned to these two publications, the student newspaper and yearbook, have the responsibility of organizing, publishing, and distributing the publications on campus.

Pearl Rogers Dining Hall: Located in the College Center, the dining hall involves student workers in all phases of food preparation and serving of daily meals, as well as providing food services for various catered functions throughout the school year.

Pool: Students that work at the pool are certified lifeguards who are responsible for the daily operations of the College swimming pool. These programs provide lap swims and recreational swimming and wellness opportunities for campus students, faculty, and staff. They assist students in the College level swimming courses and assist in the Community Learn to Swim program offered by the College each semester.

Power Plant: The Griffin Energy Center produces steam for the campus heating and hot water systems and generates electrical power on a standby basis.

Radio Station: The students assigned to the campus FM radio station work as announcers, writers, operators, engineer’s assistants, and secretarial or office workers.

Ralph Foster Museum: Students at the Ralph Foster Museum perform the day-to-day operations of running a museum in the capacity of cashiers, security guards, and custodial. They assist full-time staff in artifact research, creating labels, and the construction of new displays. They also assist permanent staff in the area of documentation, inventory, and other necessary clerical duties.

Resident Assistants: Seventy-five students assist in the operation of the nine residence halls, working in maintenance or custodial areas, as desk clerks and as resident assistants to the housing director.

Security: This area provides experience for Criminal Justice majors as they work directly with (and function as a real part of) the Campus Security staff and system.

Stained Glass and Candles: Students and their supervisor design and create decorative stained glass items of various kinds, as well as specialty candles and stepping stones, for sale in The Keeter Center gift shop.

Switchboard: Students share the responsibility of handling incoming phone calls and maintaining radio contact with the campus security officer on duty and various other College officials.

The Student Union (The “U”): Four student directors act as an outlet for voiced student concerns, keep the campus community informed via the use of relevant media, encourage student-fan participation at C of O varsity athletic events, and plan activities outside of the classroom to inspire campus-wide community while upholding the College’s mission, vision, and goals. In addition to the staff-appointed student directors, sixteen student-body elected team members assist in fulfilling the charge of this organization.

The Writing Center: The Writing Center is an academic support service. Student writing assistants work with writers of all levels and disciplines. To be considered for an assistant position in The Writing Center, applicants must have an “A” or “B” in College Composition, ENG 103   .

Transportation: Students who work in this area are involved in the operation, repair and maintenance of the College’s cars, trucks and vans. The department provides transportation for off-campus trips and transports goods to the point of use.

Warehouse: Student workers at the Warehouse fill requests for supplies for various items needed by offices and departments on campus and will learn how to properly receive, price, stock, sell and deliver items, complete appropriate paperwork and computer entries, as well as other warehouse operations. The warehouse is the central receiving and shipping point for the College campus which receives packages from commercial carriers.

Water Treatment Plant: The McDonald/Southard Water Treatment Plant enables students and their supervisor to process water from Lake Taneycomo for domestic use on campus.

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Weimar’s Work Education program provides practical work experience and vocational mentorship to balance students’ academics with work.

Work Education also helps to prepare students seeking future employment by providing opportunities in practicums and internships. On-the-job experience gives students a significant competitive edge when they begin their careers after college. All students take a zero-credit course and receive a letter grade at the end of each semester. They must achieve a grade of C or higher to pass the competency. HEALTH, MAP, and Nursing students involved in clinical are exempt from Work Education. All other full-time students are enrolled in Work Education each semester (Fall and Spring) whether that be Campus Work, Practicums, or Internships.

STUDENT SERVICES

Admissions Office +1 (530) 422-7923 [email protected]

Mon – Fri 9:00A.M. – 5:00P.M.

Campus life at Weimar University offers a unique blend of spiritual fellowship, academic camaraderie, and opportunities for personal growth. You’ll be blessed by classes anchored in God’s Word and teachers who care about your spiritual growth. You’ll enjoy outings with godly friends to the nearby rivers or ski resorts.

You’ll form life-long friendships while you relish delicious, healthy food in the cafeteria. You’ll work alongside teachers and work supervisors dedicated to helping you develop practical skills you can use throughout life. We invite you to come and experience what campus life can be when Christ is the center and everything revolves around Him.

We offer BA degrees in Religion, Natural Science (i.e., pre-med, pre-physical therapy, pre-physician’s assistant, pre-dental), Pre-Nursing/Nursing, Christian Education, General Studies, Christian Interdisciplinary studies, and Business. In addition, we now offer MA degrees in Counseling Psychology & Wellness, and in Biblical Mission & Wellness. We believe education must be relevant and practical. Our students graduate not just with the required knowledge, but with the ability to use that knowledge meaningfully in their life work. It is our prayer that, through each class, our students will deepen their relationship with God and be prepared to serve Him.

Weimar University offers students the opportunity to gain the advantages of a distinctively Seventh-day Adventist higher education experience without breaking the bank. Nearly 57% of our students incur zero debt and over 71% graduate with under $2000 of debt!

Intentional spirituality, stellar academics, and a strong emphasis on health and practical training are each a characteristic part of us. Our low debt rates make it possible for you to become a part of us too.

The nonprofit health and education ministry of Weimar University, Weimar Academy, and the renowned NEWSTART® Lifestyle Program, blesses thousands every year both physically and spiritually. By giving a tax-deductible gift today, you will help provide Weimar University with new opportunities to heal and coach those in physical and spiritual need. Your gift will help others accept the gift of Christ’s healing and salvation. Thank you for your gift and for your continued partnership.

Here is a list of Frequently Asked Questions and answers that may help you find what you are looking for.

Why Study Here?

Weimar University was founded to impart a knowledge of God to its students. In order to do this, we embrace the principle that God offers the best, most effective methods of education, and that only by following these methods can we be sure of imparting true education to our students.

Are you ready to apply? Then click at the button below. Do you need more information about our Programs? Then find below a PDF with some information for you.

Student Grievance Form

All students will be notified and a follow-up will be scheduled within ten business days of the date of the written complaint.

Have you attempted to resolve your complaint?

Doug Batchelor has experienced great extremes in his life. His long and winding journey from anti-social drug user to president of a worldwide ministry has helped shape him into an engaging speaker with whom audiences the world over can identify.

Today he is the senior pastor of Granite Bay Church in California and the president of Amazing Facts. He hosts the weekly television program Amazing Facts with Doug Batchelor and the Bible Answers Live radio broadcast.

As the teenage son of an aviation tycoon, young Doug could have had anything money could buy, yet he couldn’t find true peace and happiness. A troubled youth, he fought at school, entertained suicidal fantasies, and eventually ran away from home when he was just 15 years old.

Disgusted with life and convinced it had no meaning, Doug was determined to experience life with reckless abandon. He turned to drugs, committed crimes, and spent time in jail, while also living on high adventure from stormy seas to blistering deserts. But years later, a remote cave high in the mountains above Palm Springs became his home. And even though his father owned a yacht, a jet, and a Rolls-Royce, Doug ended up scavenging for food in garbage bins.

The happiness Doug searched for continued to elude him for years—until the day he found a dust-covered Bible someone left in his cave. As he read, he believed in and accepted Christ as his Savior.

Today, Pastor Doug Batchelor is an energetic speaker with an unusual ability to communicate not only to church-oriented people but also to those who aren’t religious. His spontaneous, lively humor and down-to-earth approach to living the Christian life engages and brings hope and meaning to hearts from every kind of background.

Doug and his wife Karen have five children. Currently living in Sacramento, his hobbies include guitar, scuba diving, and racquetball. Like his father, he is also an aviation enthusiast and pilot. His other books include Caveman Theology, Broken Chains, At Jesus’ Feet: The Gospel According to Mary Magdalene, and Who Do You Think You Are?

Mark Finley is a former speaker/director for It Is Written and a retired General Conference vice president. He is still active as an evangelist, and has presented more than 150 evangelistic series in more than 80 countries, as well 17 NET series broadcast throughout the world. He presents regularly at conventions, field schools, and evangelism institutes, and appears on the Hope Channel’s series Experience Hope. He has written more than 70 books, writes Bible studies for Adventist World magazine, and is the author of Revival and Reformation, the lesson quarterly for the third quarter of 2013. He and his wife, Ernestine “Teenie,” have three grown children: Deborah, Rebecca, and Mark Jr. Today, Pastor Finley and Teenie continue their ministry at the Living Hope School of Evangelism Training Center in Haymarket, Virginia.

Pastor Jim Howard is the Personal Ministries Director & Evangelism Coordinator for the Michigan Conference of Seventh-day Adventists and author of The Discipleship Handbook.

Jerry Page is the secretary of the General Conference Ministerial Association and is responsible for coordinating all of its ministries, publications, and World Church initiatives. Jerry was the president of the Central California Conference and previously the Pennsylvania Conference. He is married to Janet Page and they have two grown sons and grandchildren.

Pastor Torres is an internationally acclaimed speaker, author, trainer, and musician. Before giving his life to the Lord, Pastor Torres was the lead bass player for the rock band, “Bill Haley and the Comets.” Since devoting His life to the Lord’s work Louis has worked as a Pastor, Evangelist, Church Administrator, and Trainer.

Option for Online Application

Option for on campus application, lifespan development (3 credits).

From conception to old age, this course explores focuses on the biological, psychological, and social developmental issues and milestones for each stage of the lifespan, paying particular attention to the aspects of context, culture, and environmental issues. Topics include, but are not limited to: parenting style (child guidance), social contexts, social stress, poverty, low educational attainment, abuse and neglect, gender and family issues salient to relationships, separation, nontraditional and blended families and inadequate housing and how these affect development. Issues of aging and long-term care are included.

Moral Identity and Faith as a Counselor (3 Credits)

This course explores the formation of the student therapist’s identity as a counselor within the framework of Christianity and how this plays out in a secular world of counseling. This course presents philosophical and ethical perspectives integral to the understanding of the contemporary psychologies. Students learn how to analyze the ethical bias of psychotherapeutic psychologies, identify their underlying philosophical assumptions, and develop an appreciation for the moral components in individual, marital, and family identity formation. Also included will be a workshop to enhance spiritual development.

Christian Counseling and Psychotherapy: Basic Theories and Skills (3 Credits)

This course develops an understanding of the major theoretical orientations used by current practitioners, focusing on systemic approaches. Theories provide a coherent framework for understanding how people change. This course will highlight the Biblical understanding of how change takes place. This course covers the concepts and techniques associated with the primary theories of counseling psychology: psychodynamic, existential-humanistic, cognitive-behavioral, and post-modern; in contrast with wholistic counseling techniques. Also included are the evidence-based treatments, limitations, and outcome research associated with each concept. The course also highlights cultural and spiritual diversity as it applies to the therapeutic process and awareness of the self, interpersonal issues, and spiritual values as they impact the use of theoretical frameworks. This course also introduces the student to basic skill in attending behavior, clinical interviewing and clinical intervention. Finally, this foundational course clarifies key issues in human nature and prepares the student for developing a worldview that is consistent with their theological and spiritual orientation.

Advanced Counseling Theory (3 Credits)

This course will examine several individuals, and family approaches for counseling. The development of specific behavioral, cognitive, humanistic/experiential, psychodynamic and systemic frameworks will be deconstructed. Student will distinguish Christian approach of addressing individual and family concerns. Students will be involved in experiential activities designed to relate the observation, demonstration and practice to research-based explanations. In this course, we will consider how each approach is used in clinical, school, and marriage and family counseling applications. Training in the use of the therapeutic relationship will be a focus for understanding and intervening with clients.

Group Processes in Counseling (3 Credits)

This course introduces students to the theory and practice of group counseling with children, adults, families, and couples. The course focuses on basic group counseling theory including therapeutic group factors, stages of group development, and principles of commonly accepted and research-based group interventions. The course will cover different types of groups, such as support, psycho-educational, and process groups; the tasks, skills, and qualities of effective group leaders; roles of group members; and legal and ethical issues pertaining to groups, group leaders; roles of group members; and legal and ethical issues pertaining to groups. Importance is placed on responsibilities and skills and cultural considerations. Emphasis on small and large group processes and involvement in experiential activities is designed to relate the clinical process to theoretical explanations. Throughout, there is an emphasis on group work within community mental health settings.

Child and Adolescent Counseling (3 Credits)

This course provides an understanding of the broad range of childhood and adolescent problems and maladjustment behaviors. A variety of psychotherapeutic modalities are presented, providing the student with an opportunity to develop knowledge of basic child and adolescent therapy skills, assessments, and treatment strategies. The impact of the development aspects, family dynamics, social environments, and multicultural issues are addressed. In addition, legal and ethical issues and the role of hospitalization are considered.

Addictions Counseling and Treatment (3 Credits)

This course covers the prevention, assessment, and treatment of substance abuse/dependence, behavioral addictions, and co-occurring conditions. Theories of etiology, populations at risk, and the role of persons and systems in supporting or compounding abuse/addiction are discussed. The course reviews the cognitive, affective, behavioral, and neurological effects of psychoactive drug use and the impact of addiction on the family system. Best practices for the screening, assessment, and treatment of addictions and co-occurring behaviors are covered as well as community resources for individuals and family members. Additional focus will be placed on developing understanding of Recovery Oriented Care, social and psychological implications of socioeconomic position, and cultural awareness and competencies.

Counseling Diverse Populations (3 Credits)

This course focuses on the intersection and convergence of culture, race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, disability, socioeconomic status, religion, acculturation, and chronological age and how these inform effective mental health care. The goal is to increase awareness of multiple dimensions of diversity in order to prepare students to work sensitively and effectively with California’s multi-cultural population. Attention also is given to issues of privilege, marginality, and oppression, including sexism, racism, classism, ableism, ageism, and heterosexism. Theoretical perspectives on multicultural counseling will be examined as well as strategies for intervention and advocacy. This course will focus on eliminating biases, prejudices, and processes of intentional and unintentional oppression and discrimination. Throughout, effective strategies for communicating about emotionally charged material is emphasized.

Couples and Family Counseling: Post-Modern (3 Credits)

This course continues the study of the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of individuals, couples, and families using interactional and brief models. This course provides advanced training in the theories and techniques of modern and post-modern schools of family therapy including Cognitive Behavioral, Behavioral, Solution-Focused, and Narrative Therapy. Also included are the evidence-based treatments, outcome research, and limitations associated with each theory. Specific family issues addressed include: transition to parenthood, parenting young and school-age children, household division of labor, and blended families. Throughout, careful attention is paid to the historical and cultural context in which the theories were developed and the implications for working with diverse populations in recovery-oriented community mental health settings.

Christian Counseling and Psychotherapy: Advanced Techniques (3 Credits)

This course is designed to further develop the psychotherapeutic skills of students prior to their entry into a clinical placement. Students focus on developing proficiency in the core interviewing qualities, deriving goals for a clinical session, and in making contracts with clients for change. Additionally, students are encouraged to begin developing a theoretical and conceptual understanding of cases and trained to work with diverse populations. Students are also encouraged to address issues regarding the integration of their faith with the practice of psychotherapy.

Assessment of Individuals, Couples, and Families (3 Credits)

This course examines the application of psychological instruments to the assessment of individuals, couples, and families. Fundamentals of psychological assessment are reviewed including standardized and non-standardized testing approaches, basic statistical concepts, and moral, ethical and cultural considerations in assessment. The course will also provide an overview of issues related to cognitive assessment, achievement, aptitude, and neuropsychological assessment. Emphasis will also be on clinical, behavioral, and personality assessment.

Knowing God Better Through Career Development: Theories and Techniques (3 Credits)

This course prepares students to address the intersections of career, values, and life roles in the context of career counseling and responding to career and work-related issues

for majority and marginalized groups. Students will gain core knowledge of major career development theories; examine the implications of sociocultural factors on career development, work transitions, and the career counseling process; gain experience with career counseling assessments and resources; and become familiar with current career development literature.

Crisis and Trauma Counseling (3 Credits)

Students will develop a foundation for assessing and treating post-trauma reactions in adults along with an overview of trauma responses in children. We will begin by reviewing the variety of trauma populations followed by in-depth instruction on the mechanism of development major trauma concerns. The assessment and intervention of post-trauma conditions will be identified. Next, we will address clinical interventions including disaster mental health and exposure-based treatment. Finally, we will review issues affecting therapists working with trauma populations and self-care strategies to prevent compassion fatigue.

Research and Evaluation in Counseling (3 Credits)

The goal of this course is to enable students to become informed consumers of psychological research and to use current research knowledge and tools to improve treatment outcomes. Students will explore methods and issues associated with the conduct and use of research concerning phenomena relevant to counseling psychology. The course provides an overview of hypothesis generation, research design, data collection and interpretation, and utilization of research findings in clinical practice, while considering systemic and sociocultural influences. Students will review seminal research findings including research on specific treatments and common factors across treatments that improve therapy outcome. The course also provides students with assessment tools for evaluating mental health programs and the effectiveness of one’s own clinical practice. Emphasis is given to helping students become knowledgeable consumers of research, including the use of research to inform evidence-based practice.

Clinical Neuroscience and Psychopharmacology (3 Credits)

Fulfills the California Board of Behavioral Sciences requirement for surveying the use of pharmacological agents in patient care. This course provides a basic overview of neurobiology in order to understand the biological bases of behavior and the psychopharmacological treatment of mental disorders. The course includes information about commonly prescribed psychiatric medications for children and adults – indications, contraindications, mechanisms of action, side effects, drug-drug interactions, iatrogenics, and variability related to age, gender, ethnicity, and medical condition. Students will learn how to work cooperatively and effectively with clients, family members, and prescribing clinicians. Additionally, controversies related to the medical model and to specific prescribing practices will be explored.

Psychopathology & Diagnostic Processes (3 Credits)

This course examines the major types of psychopathology. It explores techniques of intake interviewing and determining mental status to formulate a differential diagnosis based upon the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Students will also recognize and understand the controversial history of the development of the DSM. The

course also includes a critical examination of the clinical and experimental literature in psychopathy. Etiologies of cognitive/affective functions and dysfunctions and implications for therapeutic intervention are also addressed.

Human Sexuality and Sex Therapy (3 Credits)

This course will provide students with an understanding of human sexual development with a particular focus upon sexuality counseling from a systems perspective. The goal of this course is to learn about the many facets of human sexuality and the treatment of sexual dysfunctions in a safe and respectful environment. Topics include the physiology, psychology, and sociology of sexuality, including the effects of sexual attitudes and functioning on individuals and families. Gender Identity and LGBTQ and sexual perspectives will be reviewed. Clinical applications, including the treatment of sexual difficulty and dysfunction will also be explored. Students will develop familiarity with the language and terms of sexology and demonstrate an ability to apply this knowledge to clinical situations. Finally, students will explore the above with a framework of Christian compassion and love, exploring how God created sex to be beneficial. A review of AIDS, HIV, and STDs will be given.

Legal, Ethical, and Professional Issues in Counseling (3 Credits)

This course introduces students to the legal, ethical, and moral issues related to the practice of LPCC and MFT in the state of California. This course focuses on contemporary professional law and ethics and moral dilemmas related to counseling practice. Students review statutory, regulatory, and decisional laws related to the scope of therapy practice, including confidentiality, privilege, reporting requirements, family law, and the treatment of minors. Professional codes of ethics (ACA, AAMFT/ CAMFT, and APA) will be reviewed. California law that is relevant to the practice of counseling will be examined including goals and objectives of professional organizations, standards of training, licensure, and the rights and responsibilities of professional counselors. Case examples will be discussed. Consideration is also given to the student practitioner’s values and behaviors, especially in relation to becoming a Christian therapist.

Practicum in Counseling (6, 3 per term)

The purpose of this course is to develop counseling competencies when working with a variety of clients with unique presenting concerns. Specifically, the focus will be on your ability to engage your clients in treatment, establish a working alliance, identify dysfunctional patterns, and use either general strategies or ECBIS strategies to facilitate change. You will work toward the development of a personally acceptable and professionally effective style of establishing and working in helping relationships. We will work toward helping you to examine your behaviors and rationales and to modify for greater effectiveness.

Course Prerequisites: This is the terminal course for the program and will run concurrently with a weekly seminar that will address issues in counseling practice.

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Development of "non-cognitive" skills (soft skills) play an important part in college and career success. Non-cognitive factors featured in WEE include motivation, time management, perseverance, and self-regulation.

Students will develop ready-to-work attitudes/interview skills; financial literacy; knowledge of workplace safety and rights as workers; business operations; how to read an earnings statement and know what payroll deductions to expect; career decision making; making a career goal plan and much more.

The WEE is a course of study which may be established by the governing board of any school district or charter school, or other specified local educational agency (LEA) in accordance with the provisions of the California Education Code Section 51760 and the California Code of Regulations (CCR) , Title 5, Section 10070-75. Each LEA that elects to conduct a WEE program must submit a Secondary District plan for WEE to the California Department of Education for approval.

The operational plan of the WEE program combines an on-the-job component with related classroom instruction designed to maximize the value of on-the-job experiences. Students' success in WEE programs depends on the quality of classroom instruction, effective collaboration between employers and the WEE coordinators, and the degree of involvement by the students and their parents or legal guardians.

The WEE program is an integrated educational process that: (1) helps students to choose a career path based on their interests and aptitudes; (2) prepares them for college and career success; and (3) affords students the opportunity to learn to work with others in ways that are successful and rewarding. The WEE program connects inputs from teachers, counselors, students, parents, and employers to achieve the following purposes:

• Link the academic core curriculum with the world of work and promote students' school-to-career transitions.
• Help students develop skills, habits, and attitudes conducive to job success and personal growth.
• Assist students in career exploration and forging rewarding relationships with employers.
• Develop a positive work ethic and acquire or refine work related skills and job performance in actual work settings.

Program Types

The WEE includes both paid and non-paid experiences. The LEA may offer one or more of the following types of WEE programs authorized by the CCR, Title 5, Section 10071:

Exploratory Work Experience Education (EWEE)

The objective of EWEE is to provide career guidance to students and ascertain their interests and aptitudes for specific careers through opportunities to observe and sample a variety of conditions of work. The EWEE includes a combination of job observations and related classroom instruction in WEE. The student may be required to perform non-paid work activities while exploring the occupation on a limited, periodic, and sampling basis. The length of exploratory assignment may vary, depending on the aptitude of the student, the occupation being explored, the facilities of the work station, and the job classification. Students may not participate in EWEE programs if pay is received for similar work at the same work station or a similar job during hours when not assigned to the EWEE program. (The student cannot replace a paid employee.) The LEA must provide Workers' Compensation Insurance for the student. Students enrolled in EWEE may be as young as 12 years of age. Students participating in EWEE do not need a work permit.

General Work Experience Education (GWEE)

The purpose of GWEE is to provide students with opportunities for applying the basic skills of reading, writing, and computation through a combination of supervised employment in any occupational field and related classroom instruction. Students participating in GWEE typically require a work permit. (Visit Work Permits for Students to learn more about work permits.)

Career Technical Work Experience Education (CTWEE)

The intent of CTWEE is to reinforce and extend vocational learning opportunities for students through a combination of related classroom instruction and supervised paid employment. The CTWEE is to develop and refine occupational competencies necessary to acquire paid employment to adapt to the employment environment, and to advance in an occupation. Students enrolled in CTWEE must have a worksite placement or employment that is related to a previous or concurrently enrolled Career Technical Education course of study.

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Why We Must Connect Education and the Future of Work

A lack of alignment among K–12, higher education, and the world of work threatens to compromise our resilience and success as a country. Education leaders at the Corporation argue that we must redesign our educational systems to reach a broader set of students

Fundamental goals for American public education are to ensure that each student is prepared to be an active participant in a robust democracy and to be successful in the global economy. This requires coordinated efforts among government, philanthropy, the business community, and the education sector. However, as our nation’s economic and labor market opportunities evolve, the lack of alignment among K–12, higher education, and the world of work is further exposed and compromises our resilience and success. Our institutions are working to meet the opportunities and demands of the future of work in relative isolation. We must encourage systematic connections that reach across the educational, political, and economic domains to holistically prepare students for life, work, and citizenship. This demands a redesign of educational and employment options for all students. We must ask tough questions about what contributions are needed from each sphere today to prepare the workforce of tomorrow. 

Today’s high school students are arriving at college underprepared: 40 percent fail to graduate from four-year institutions, and 68 percent fail to graduate from two-year institutions. [1] Yet the future of work will require higher — not lower — college graduation rates. Already, our economy has 16 million recession-and automation-resistant middle-income jobs that require some postsecondary credential, as well as 35 million jobs that require a bachelor’s degree or higher. [2] Nearly half of American employers say they are struggling to fill positions — the highest number in more than a decade — citing dearths of applicants, experience, and both technical and soft skills as their biggest challenges. [3]

As our nation’s economic and labor market opportunities evolve, this lack of alignment among K–12, higher education, and the world of work will become further exposed and will compromise our resilience and success as a country. At present, students without access to higher education already experience less mobility and lower lifetime salaries. [4] Looking forward, if K–12 and higher education do not redesign their approaches to reach a broader set of students, we might experience even greater labor shortages and income disparities. If we want to alleviate these issues and prepare students for the careers of the future, it is imperative that we close the chasm between K–12 and higher education. 

Those attempting to reform the education system are familiar with the ways in which it is fragmented. Many have experienced the unintended consequences that come from working in isolation and proceeding with untested assumptions, especially during efforts to scale innovations or foster long-term sustainability. We believe the solution is to work more integratively: to resist the temptation to tackle siloed, singular components and instead collaborate on large-scale transformations designed around a unified vision. 

Looking for­ward, if K–12 and higher education do not redesign their approaches to reach a broader set of students, we might experience even greater labor shortages and income disparities.

That vision, when considering American public education, is to prepare each student for active participation in a robust democracy and success in an advanced global economy. Accomplishing this demands an approach that reaches across educational, political, and economic domains to seamlessly prepare students for life, work, and citizenship. It demands the redesign of educational and career pathways to allow for cross-pollination among all sectors, from business to government to philanthropy — and it demands asking tough questions about what each sphere must contribute today to prepare the workforce of tomorrow. 

Higher education can play a unique role because it has the ability to reach in several directions: toward both K–12 schools and educators, and businesses and future employers. Since it is often under the control of the state, higher education can also reach across to the governor, mayor, and other decision- and policymakers. As such, higher education can do more than effect change within a single institution; instead, it can help to enact networks and policies across an entire city or state. In short, to prepare students to become citizens of the world — who also have economic opportunities in the future workplace — stakeholders must abandon their traditional silos and work together to achieve coherence. 

The Case for Coherence 

Linear, laser-focused strategies are appropriate when consequences are predictable, contexts are similar, and results are easily measured and few in number. But in the world of education, where contexts are diverse, the level of transformation needed is enormous, and the number of stakeholders is high, linear approaches to change do not work. They accomplish superficial, rather than meaningful, improvements and can lead to missteps and frustration. 

To create longer-term solutions at scale, we must accept that education is a complex social system, and design strategies for change around that fundamental fact. If our goal is to move toward 21st-century teaching and learning that better prepares young people for the dynamic world of work, traditional top-down, isolated, programmatic approaches will not succeed. Rather, to effect broad change, we must be thoughtful, flexible, and inclusive, and we must consider myriad factors, including the vantage points and resources of all stakeholders. 

Three Design Principles for Coherence 

In one attempt to catalyze this shift, Carnegie Corporation of New York launched the Integration Design Consortium in 2017. The corporation extended grants to five organizations to design and implement two-year projects aimed at reducing fragmentation in education and advancing equity. During our collaboration with these initiatives — each focused on different disciplines, such as human-centered design, systems thinking, and change management — we saw several themes emerge again and again. Irrespective of the project or context, these principles seemed to be influential in making progress toward coherence. For those striving for educational change, we believe these three principles can serve as a foundation upon which to design innovative solutions, and a lens through which to envision ways of thinking and working differently.

Cultivating a Shared Purpose  Rather than assuming that everyone engaged in educational improvement has similar priorities, deliberate attempts must be made to develop a shared understanding of what students need most during their journeys through the system. The work of defining this purpose cannot be done in an isolated manner; instead, a collective vision should be cocreated by various stakeholders, then anchored by thoughtful implementation planning. Developing a cohesive vision has multiple benefits, including increasing broad buy-in and helping individuals understand how their actions can lead to change at scale. 

One promising initiative that exemplifies this approach is the Cowen Institute at Tulane University, which shares its purpose of advancing youth success with a multitude of stakeholders in its home city of New Orleans. In addition to disseminating salient research and implementing several direct service programs, the Cowen Institute develops and leads citywide collaboratives focused on promoting access to and persistence in college and careers. These include the New Orleans College Persistence Collaborative and the College and Career Counseling Collaborative, bringing together counselors and practitioners from high schools and community-based organizations across New Orleans under the common goal of increasing students’ access to and persistence in college and careers. 

Rather than assuming that everyone engaged in educational improvement has similar priorities, deliberate attempts must be made to develop a shared understanding of what students need most during their journeys through the system.

By engaging in a shared review and understanding of data centered on the needs of all students, these communities of learning play an important role in cultivating a shared sense of purpose across a diversity of organizations and institutions. At the same time, they provide members with professional development, the opportunity to share best practices, and a means of engaging in collective problem-solving centered on improving college and career success for New Orleans youth. 

Cocreating Inclusive Environments  This principle, which has its roots in user-centered design, encourages the consideration of various points of view when developing policies, prioritizing input from those who will be directly affected by the outcome. It also urges individuals to assess their own beliefs before creating policies that reverberate through the entire system, and advocates the shifting of power structures so that those most affected have the opportunity to share their perspectives and play a role in the decision-making process. It is only by identifying the actors in the system, understanding their perspectives, and using their input that we can create inclusive and effective programs. 

Transforming Postsecondary Education in Mathematics (TPSE Math) is one example of a movement to create an inclusive postsecondary environment. It focuses on a discipline that has traditionally been a barrier to student success: math. 

In one study of 57 community colleges across several states, 59 percent of students were assigned to remedial math courses upon enrollment, and, of those, only 20 percent completed a college-level math course within three years. [5] Through TPSE Math, leading mathematicians have convened stakeholders across the country to change mathematics education at community colleges, four-year colleges, and research universities so that it better meets the needs of a diverse student body and their diverse future careers. 

For example, TPSE has provided significant support in the national movement to develop multiple mathematics pathways for students. The goal is for every student to have the opportunity to take a rigorous entry-level mathematics course relevant to his or her field of study and future career and to significantly reduce the time for underprepared students to complete their first college-level math course. This results in more inclusive math departments and courses that focus on success for all students, not only those who will go on to be math majors or to remain in academia. 

TPSE has also promoted cross-sector engagement by facilitating conversations about effective and innovative practices — including the connections between college mathematics and the world of work — and then sharing those learnings across institutions. These math departments are supporting a rich set of interdisciplinary academic experiences and pathways designed to prepare students with the mathematical knowledge and skills needed for engagement in society and the workforce. 

Building Capacity That Is Responsive to Change  To create infrastructure and processes that will be effective over the long term, it is crucial to acknowledge and accept the dynamic nature of the education system. This means prioritizing relationships and trust, and viewing a project’s initial implementation as the first of multiple iterations and trials, each of which considers the potential impact on different stakeholders. This is crucial because achieving broader coherence across the education system can seem daunting, so it is more manageable to identify a specific gap or disconnect to address, such as the transition from college to career.

Focusing on particular barriers and trying out solutions before prescribing them at scale acknowledges the dynamism of the sector and the complexities of coherence, while making meaningful progress on issues that matter. 

The University Innovation Alliance (UIA), for instance, takes an agile, human-centered approach to increasing the number and diversity of college graduates in the United States. Since its founding in 2014, this national coalition of 11 public research universities has produced 29.6 percent more low-income bachelor’s degree graduates per year, amounting to nearly 13,000 graduates annually. The UIA estimates that the total will reach 100,000 by the 2022–2023 academic year. [6] *

True to the nature of the research institutions leading the work, the UIA accomplishes this through experimentation and iteration. One area of focus for the network has been ensuring student success beyond graduation through redesigning college-to-career supports to better ensure students find gainful employment upon graduation. The project uses design thinking, with its rapid prototyping of ideas and short feedback cycles, in service of reimagining career services to better support low-income students, first-generation students, and students of color. 

The process of innovation starts with understanding the perspective of students and the current practices on campuses; providing career services professionals with the capacity, time, and connections they need to generate new campus solutions; and engaging employers and other stakeholders in the redesign. This approach is consistent with the vision of the UIA, that “by piloting new interventions, sharing insights about their relative cost and effectiveness, and scaling those interventions that are successful [,] . . . [its] collaborative work will catalyze systemic changes in the entire higher education sector. [7]

An Integrative Pathway to the Future 

Strides in educational coherence are being made on a regional level, too. Tennessee and Colorado, for example, have adopted holistic cradle-to-career solutions that intentionally plan for the duration of their residents’ lifetimes, and the Central Ohio Compact has mobilized K–12, higher education, community-based organizations, and local industry with the goal of helping 65 percent of local adults earn a postsecondary credential by 2025. [8] Each of these initiatives exemplifies the design principles described earlier, by considering the experiences of key actors and employing a multistakeholder approach that includes policymakers — factors crucial to enacting change on a systemic level.

In most of the country, education, employment, and economic reform remain isolated in both policy and practice. If we continue down this path, limiting ourselves to what is possible within each of our silos, our mutual interests will soon be consumed by our differences.

Though these projects are promising, they are not enough. In most of the country, education, employment, and economic reform remain isolated in both policy and practice. If we continue down this path, limiting ourselves to what is possible within each of our silos, our mutual interests will soon be consumed by our differences. For the revolutionary changes that the future demands, we must move beyond this fragmented way of thinking and working, and accept that history’s boundaries no longer apply. We must take a coherent approach to connecting education and the future of work, harnessing integrative design principles to foster progress, flexibility, and inclusivity. To improve today and prepare for the future, we must build on these ideas together. We must embrace a user-centered approach that is designed around our ultimate goal: empowering and preparing our nation’s youth for fulfilling, engaged lives and productive careers, now and for decades to come.

[1] National Center for Education Statistics, “Undergraduate Retention and Graduation Rates,” May 2019, https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_ctr.asp .

[2] Anthony P. Carnevale, Jeff Strohl, Neil Ridley, and Artem Gulish, “Three Educational Pathways to Good Jobs,” Georgetown University, 2018, https://cew.georgetown.edu/cew-reports/3pathways/ , 10.

[3] Manpower Group, “Solving the Talent Shortage: Build, Buy, Borrow and Bridge,” 2018, https://go.manpowergroup.com/talent-shortage-2018#thereport , 5–7.

[4] Jennifer Ma, Matea Penda, and Meredith Welch, “Education Pays 2016: The Benefits of Higher Education for Individuals and Society,” College Board, 2016, https://trends.collegeboard.org/sites/default/files/education-pays-2016-full-report.pdf , 3–4.

[5] T. Bailey, D. W. Jeong, and S. W. Cho, “Referral, Enrollment, and Completion in Developmental Education Sequences in Community Colleges, Economics of Education Review 29, no. 2 (2010): 255–70.

[6] The University Innovation Alliance, “Our Results,” http://www.theuia.org/#about .

[7] The University Innovation Alliance, “Vision and Prospectus,” http://www.theuia.org/sites/default/files/UIA-Vision-Prospectus.pdf .

[8] Central Ohio Compact, “Central Ohio’s Most Critical Challenge,” http://centralohiocompact.org/what-is-the-compact/our-challenge/ .

Excerpted from The Great Skills Gap: Optimizing Talent for the Future of Work (Stanford Business Books, 2021), edited by Jason Wingard, Dean Emeritus and Professor of Human Capital Management at Columbia University School of Professional Studies. Reprinted with permission.

*Note: Since the publication of the book, UIA reports an increase of annual degrees to low-income students by 46 percent since launch. Overall annual bachelor's degrees have increased 30 percent, and annual bachelor's degrees to students of color have increased 85 percent. They have exceeded 100,000 degrees.

LaVerne Srinivasan is vice president of Carnegie Corporation of New York’s National Program and program director of Education, Farhad Asghar is the Education program officer of the Pathways to Postsecondary Success portfolio, and Elise Henson is a former program analyst at the Corporation.

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5 Curriculum Design, Development and Models: Planning for Student Learning

“. . . there is always a need for newly formulated curriculum models that address contemporary circumstance and valued educational aspirations.” –Edmond Short

Introduction

Curriculum design refers to the structure or organization of the curriculum, and curriculum development includes the planning, implementation, and evaluation processes of the curriculum. Curriculum models guide these processes.

Essential Questions

• What is curriculum design?
• What questions did Tyler pose for guiding the curriculum design process?
• What are the major curriculum design models?
• What unique element did Goodlad add to his model?
• In addition to the needs of the learner, what did Hilda Taba add to her model?

Meaning of Curriculum Design

From Curriculum Studies, pp. 65-68

Curriculum design is largely concerned with issues such as what to include in the curriculum and how to present it in such a way that the curriculum can be implemented with understanding and success (Barlow et al., 1984). Therefore, curriculum design refers to how the components of the curriculum have been arranged in order to facilitate learning (Shiundu & Omulando, 1992).

Curriculum design is concerned with issues of choosing what the organizational basis or structural framework of the curriculum is. The choice of a design often implies a value position.

As with other curriculum-related concepts, curriculum design has a variety of definitions, depending on the scholars involved. For example, Doll (1992) says that curriculum design is a way of organizing that permits curriculum ideas to function. She also adds that curriculum design refers to the structure or pattern of the organization of the curriculum.

The curriculum design process results in a curriculum document that contains the following:

• a statement of purpose(s),
• an instructional guide that displays behavioral objectives and content organization in harmony with school organization,
• a set of guidelines (or rules) governing the use of the curriculum, and
• an evaluation plan.

Thus, curriculum is designed to fit the organizational pattern of the school/institution for which it is intended.

How a curriculum is conceptualized, organized, developed, and implemented depends on a particular state’s or district’s educational objectives. Whatever design is adopted depends also on the philosophy of education.

There are several ways of designing school curriculum. These include subject-centered, learner-centered, integrated, or broad fields (which combines two or more related subjects into one field of study; e.g., language arts combine the separate but related subjects of reading, writing, speaking, listening, comprehension, and spelling into a core curriculum).

Subject-Centered Curriculum Design

This curriculum design refers to the organization of curriculum in terms of separate subjects, e.g., geography, math, and history, etc. This has been the oldest school curriculum design and the most common in the world. It was even practiced by the ancient Greek educators. The subject-centered design was adapted by many European and African countries as well as states and districts in the United States. An examination of the subject-centered curriculum design shows that it is used mainly in the upper elementary and secondary schools and colleges. Frequently, laypeople, educators, and other professionals who support this design received their schooling or professional training in this type of system. Teachers, for instance, are trained and specialized to teach one or two subjects at the secondary and sometimes the elementary school levels.

There are advantages and disadvantages of this approach to curriculum organization. There are reasons why some educators advocate for it while others criticize this approach.

Advantages of Subject-Centered Curriculum Design

It is possible and desirable to determine in advance what all children will learn in various subjects and grade levels. For instance, curricula for schools in centralized systems of education are generally developed and approved centrally by a governing body in the education body for a given district or state. In the U.S., the state government often oversees this process which is guided by standards.

• It is usually required to set minimum standards of performance and achievement for the knowledge specified in the subject area.
• Almost all textbooks and support materials on the educational market are organized by subject, although the alignment of the text contents and the standards are often open for debate.
• Tradition seems to give this design greater support. People have become familiar and more comfortable with the subject-centered curriculum and view it as part of the system of the school and education as a whole.
• The subject-centered curriculum is better understood by teachers because their training was based on this method, i.e., specialization.
• Advocates of the subject-centered design have argued that the intellectual powers of individual learners can develop through this approach.
• Curriculum planning is easier and simpler in the subject-centered curriculum design.

Disadvantages of Subject-Centered Curriculum Design

Critics of subject-centered curriculum design have strongly advocated a shift from it. These criticisms are based on the following arguments:

• Subject-centered curriculum tends to bring about a high degree of fragmentation of knowledge.
• Subject-centered curriculum lacks integration of content. Learning in most cases tends to be compartmentalized. Subjects or knowledge are broken down into smaller seemingly unrelated bits of information to be learned.
• This design stresses content and tends to neglect the needs, interests, and experiences of the students.
• There has always been an assumption that information learned through the subject-matter curriculum will be transferred for use in everyday life situations. This claim has been questioned by many scholars who argue that the automatic transfer of the information already learned does not always occur.

Given the arguments for and against subject-centered curriculum design, let us consider the learner-centered or personalized curriculum design.

Learner-Centered/Personalized Curriculum Design

Learner-centered curriculum design may take various forms such as individualized or personalized learning. In this design, the curriculum is organized around the needs, interests, abilities, and aspirations of students.

Advocates of the design emphasize that attention is paid to what is known about human growth, development, and learning. Planning this type of curriculum is done along with the students after identifying their varied concerns, interests, and priorities and then developing appropriate topics as per the issues raised.

This type of design requires a lot of resources and manpower to meet a variety of needs. Hence, the design is more commonly used in the U.S. and other western countries, while in the developing world the use is more limited.

To support this approach, Hilda Taba (1962) stated, “Children like best those things that are attached to solving actual problems that help them in meeting real needs or that connect with some active interest. Learning in its true sense is an active transaction.”

Advantages of the Learner-Centered Curriculum Design

• The needs and interests of students are considered in the selection and organization of content.
• Because the needs and interests of students are considered in the planning of students’ work, the resulting curriculum is relevant to the student’s world.
• The design allows students to be active and acquire skills and procedures that apply to the outside world.

Disadvantages of the Learner-Centered Curriculum Design

• The needs and interests of students may not be valid or long lasting. They are often short-lived.
• The interests and needs of students may not reflect specific areas of knowledge that could be essential for successful functioning in society. Quite often, the needs and interests of students have been emphasized and not those that are important for society in general.
• The nature of the education systems and society in many countries may not permit learner-centered curriculum design to be implemented effectively.
• As pointed out earlier, the design is expensive in regard to resources, both human and fiscal, that are needed to satisfy the needs and interests of individual students.
• This design is sometimes accused of shallowness. It is argued that critical analysis and in-depth coverage of subject content is inhibited by the fact that students’ needs and interests guide the planning process.

Broad Fields/Integrated Curriculum

From Curriculum Studies , pp. 69-80

In the broad fields/integrated curriculum design, two, three, or more subjects are unified into one broad course of study. This organization is a system of combining and regrouping subjects that are related to the curriculum.

This approach attempts to develop some kind of synthesis or unity for the entire branch or more branches of knowledge into new fields.

Examples of Broad Fields

• Language Arts : Incorporates reading, writing, grammar, literature, speech, drama, and international languages.
• General Science : Includes natural and physical sciences, physics, chemistry, geology, astronomy, physical geography, zoology, botany, biology, and physiology
• Other : Include environmental education and family-life education

Advocates of the broad fields/integrated designs believe that the approach brings about unification and integration of knowledge. However, looking at the trend of events in curriculum practice in many states and countries, this may not have materialized effectively. The main reason is that teachers are usually trained in two subjects at the university level, thus making it difficult for them to integrate more areas than that. For instance, general science might require physics, chemistry, biology, and geology, but science teachers may have only studied two of these areas in depth.

Advantages of Broad Field/Integrated Curriculum Design

• It is based on separate subjects, so it provides for an orderly and systematic exposure to the cultural heritage.
• It integrates separate subjects into a single course; this enables learners to see the relationships among various elements in the curriculum.
• It saves time in the school schedule.

Disadvantages of Broad Field/Integrated Curriculum Design

• It lacks depth and cultivates shallowness.
• It provides only bits and pieces of information from a variety of subjects.
• It does not account for the psychological organization by which learning takes place.

Core Curriculum Design

Meaning of core curriculum.

The concept core curriculum is used to refer to areas of study in the school curriculum or any educational program that is required by all students. The core curriculum provides students with “common learning” or general education that is considered necessary for all. Thus, the core curriculum constitutes the segment of the curriculum that teaches concepts, skills, and attitudes needed by all individuals to function effectively within the society.

Characteristics of Core Curriculum Design

The basic features of the core curriculum designs include the following:

• They constitute a section of the curriculum that all students are required to take.
• They unify or fuse subject matter, especially in subjects such as English, social studies, etc.
• Their content is planned around problems that cut across the disciplines. In this approach, the basic method of learning is problem-solving using all applicable subject matter.
• They are organized into blocks of time, e.g. two or three periods under a core teacher. Other teachers may be utilized where it is possible.

Types of Core Curriculum Designs

The following types of core curriculum are commonly found in secondary schools and college curriculums.

Separate subjects taught separately with little or no effort to relate them to each other (e.g., mathematics, science, languages, and humanities may be taught as unrelated core subjects in high schools).

The integrated or “fused” core design is based on the overall integration of two or more subjects, for example:

• Physics, chemistry, biology, and zoology may be taught as general science.
• Environmental education is an area with an interdisciplinary approach in curriculum planning.
• History, economics, civics, and geography may be combined and taught as social studies.

Curriculum Design Models

There are a variety of curriculum design models to guide the process. Most of the designs are based on Ralph Tyler’s work which emphasizes the role and place of objectives in curriculum design.

Ralph Tyler’s Model

Tyler’s Model (1949) is based on the following four (4) fundamental questions he posed for guiding the curriculum design process. They are as follows:

• What educational purposes is the school seeking to attain?
• What educational experiences are potentially provided that are likely to attain these purposes?
• How can these educational experiences be effectively organized?
• How can we determine whether these purposes are being attained?

Schematically, Tyler’s model is presented as follows.

Application of Ralph Tyler’s Model in Curriculum Design

In applying Tyler’s model to curriculum design, the process begins with framing objectives for the curriculum. Because of its emphasis on the importance of objectives, it is considered an objective-based model. This process starts with analyzing information from various data sources. Data sources for curriculum according to Tyler include:

• For this source, the designer analyzes the issues affecting society that could be solved through education.
• Examples are cultural issues, socio-economic issues, and health issues such as HIV/AIDS among.
• Learner’s needs and interests
• Subject specialists/subject matter

From these sources, the designer develops general objectives. These are subjected to a screening process, using the philosophy of education and psychology of learning as the major screens. Social values are also used as a screen, but sometimes these are subsumed in the philosophy of education. This yields a feasible number of objectives that are focused on in education.

Specific objectives are then derived from the general objectives. For each of the specific objectives, learning experiences are identified. In this context, the learning experiences include the subject matter/content and learning activities.

The next step is the organization of learning experiences. This is done to ensure effective learning takes place. The various principles of the organization include scope, sequence, integration, and continuity, among others. The final step involves evaluation, to determine the extent to which the objectives have been met.

Feedback from the evaluation is then used to modify the learning experiences and the entire curriculum as found necessary.

Learning Experiences

Learning experiences refer to the interaction between the learner and the external conditions in the environment which they encounter. Learning takes place through the active participation of the students; it is what the students are involved in that they learn, not what the teacher does.

The problem of selecting learning experiences is the problem of determining the kind of experiences likely to produce given educational objectives and also the problem of how to set up opportunity situations that evoke or provide within the student the kinds of learning experiences desired.

General Principles in Selecting Learning Experiences

• Provide experiences that give students opportunities to practice the behavior and deal with the content implied.
• Provide experiences that give satisfaction from carrying on the kind of behavior implied in the objectives.
• Provide experiences that are appropriate to the student’s present attainments, his/her predispositions.
• Keep in mind that many experiences can be used to attain the same educational objectives.
• Remember that the same learning experience will usually bring about several outcomes.

Selection of Subject Matter/Content

The term subject matter/content refers to the data, concepts, generalizations, and principles of school subjects such as mathematics, biology, or chemistry that are organized into bodies of knowledge sometimes called disciplines. For instance, Ryman (1973) specifically defines content as:

Knowledge such as facts, explanations, principles, definitions, skills, and processes such as reading, writing, calculating, dancing, and values such as the beliefs about matters concerned with good and bad, right and wrong, beautiful and ugly.

The selection of content and learning experiences is one crucial part of curriculum making. This is mainly because of the explosion of knowledge that made the simplicity of school subjects impossible. As specialized knowledge increases, it is necessary either to add more subjects or to assign new priorities in the current offerings to make room for new knowledge and new concepts.

New requirements for what constitute literacy have also emerged. In secondary schools, the usual method of accommodating new demands is to introduce new subjects or to put new units into existing subjects.

Improved educational technology such as the use of television, radio, computers, and multi-media resources support an expansion of what can be learned in a given period. New technological aids for self- teaching, for communicating information, and for learning a variety of skills are shifting the balance of time and effort needed for acquiring a substantial portion of the curriculum. What then are the criteria for the selection of content?

Criteria for the Selection of Content

Several criteria need to be considered in selecting content. These include the validity, significance, needs, and interests of learners.

The term validity implies a close connection between content and the goals which it is intended to serve. In this sense, content is valid if it promotes the outcomes that it is intended to promote. In other words, does the curriculum include concepts and learnings that it states it does?

Significance

The significance of curriculum content refers to the sustainability of the material chosen to meet certain needs and ability levels of the learners.

Needs and Interests of the Learner

The needs and interests of the learners are considered in the selection of content to ensure a relevant curriculum to the student’s world. This also ensures that the students will be more motivated to engage with the curriculum.

In this context, the subject matter of a curriculum is selected in the light of its usefulness to the learner in solving his/her problems now and in the future.

Learnability

Curriculum content is learnable and adaptable to the students’ experiences. One factor in learnability is the adjustment of the curriculum content and the focus of learning experiences on the abilities of the learners. For effective learning, the abilities of students must be taken into account at every point of the selection and organization.

Consistency with Social Realities

If the curriculum is to be a useful prescription for learning, its content, and the outcomes it pursues need to be in tune with the social and cultural realities of the culture and the times.

John Goodlad’s Model

The Goodlad model deviates a bit from the Ralph Tyler’s model. It is particularly unique in its use of social values. Whereas Tyler considers them as a screen, Goodlad proposes they are used as data sources. Hence, Goodlad proposes four data sources:

• funded knowledge,
• conventional wisdom, and
• student needs and interests.

John Goodlad was a Canadian-born educator and author who believed that the most important focus of education should not be based on standardized testing, but rather to prepare young people to be well-informed citizens in democracy. His inclusion of values in the curriculum-development chart reflects his belief that educational systems must be driven by goals or values.  He believed that education has a moral dimension, and those who teach are “moral agents.” To be a professional teacher means that one is a moral agent with a moral obligation, including initiating the young into a culture. In the United States, this means “critical enculturation into a political democracy”  because a democratic society depends on the renewal and blending of self-interests and the public welfare (Goodlad, 1988).  For that reason, Goodlad places “values” at the very top of his model.

Funded Knowledge

Funded knowledge is knowledge which is gained from research. Generally, research is heavily funded by various organizations. Information from research is used to inform educational practice in all aspects, particularly in curriculum design.

Conventional Wisdom

Conventional wisdom includes specialized knowledge within the society, for example from experts in various walks of life and ‘older’ people with life experiences. Students’ needs and interests are also considered in the design process.

Data from the various sources are then used to develop general aims of education from which general educational objectives are derived. These objectives are stated in behavioral terms. A behavioral objective has two components: a behavioral element and a substantive element. The behavioral element refers to the ‘action’ that a learner is able to perform, while the substantive element represents the ‘content’ or “substance” of the behavior.

From the general objectives, the curriculum designer identifies learning opportunities that facilitate the achievement of the general objectives. This could, for example, be specific courses of study.

The next step involves deriving specific educational objectives stated behaviorally. These are akin to instructional objectives. They are used to identify “organizing centers” which are specific learning opportunities, for example, a specific topic, a field trip, an experiment, etc.

Regarding evaluation, Goodlad proposed continuous evaluation at all stages of the design process. In the model, evaluation is represented by the double-edged arrows that appear throughout the model.

How then does Tyler’s model differ with that of John Goodlad’s?

Goodlad’s model departs from the traditional model based on Tyler’s work in several ways:

• recognition of references to scientific knowledge from research,
• use of explicit value statements as primary data sources,
• introduction of organizing centers i.e., the specific learning opportunities,
• continuous evaluation is used as a constant data source, not only as a final monitor of students’ progress (formative evaluation) but also for checking each step in the curriculum planning process. Hence, the model insists upon both formative and process evaluation.

Curriculum literature still has many more models for design. We shall highlight a few of them.

Other Curriculum Designs

There are many other curriculum design models developed by different scholars. Most of these models are objectives-based, i.e. they focus on objectives as the basis upon which the entire design process is based, and draw a lot from the work of Ralph Tyler. Those include the Wheeler, Kerr, and Taba models.

The Wheeler Model

D.K. Wheeler developed a cyclic model in reaction to criticism leveled at Ralph Tyler’s model. The latter was seen as being too simplistic and vertical. By being vertical, it did not recognize the relationship between various curriculum elements. His cyclic proposal was therefore aimed at highlighting the interrelatedness of the various curriculum elements. It also emphasizes the need to use feedback from evaluation in redefining the goals and objectives of the curriculum.

The Models of John Kerr and Hilda Taba

Other scholars who were also convinced of the ‘objectives’ approach to curriculum design were John Kerr and Hilda Taba. Their work is summarized in the simplified models presented in the graphic presentations that follow. Both of them emphasize the interrelatedness of the various curriculum elements.

John Kerr’s Model

John Kerr, a British Curriculum specialist in the 1960s, was particularly concerned with the following issues: objectives, knowledge, school learning experiences, and evaluation. This is reflected in the sketch below.

Kerr’s model is in many ways similar to that of Ralph Tyler and Wheeler. The difference is the emphasis on the interrelatedness of the various components in terms of the flow of the data between each component.

Hilda Taba’s Model

Hilda Taba was born in Europe and emigrated to the United States during a tumultuous time in history that had a great effect on her view of education. She was initially influenced by progressivists: John Dewey and Ralph Tyler, and one of her goals was to nurture the development of students and encourage them to actively participate in a democratic society. Taba’s model was inductive rather than deductive in nature, and it is characterized by being a continuous process.

Taba’s model emphasized concept development in elementary social studies curriculum and was used by teachers in her workshops. She was able to make connections between culture, politics, and social change as well as  cognition, experience, and evaluation in curriculum development, particularly in the areas of  teacher preparation and civic education. Taba’s work with teachers in communities around the United States  and in Europe has provided a blueprint for curriculum development that continues to be used by curriculum developers today. To explore more information about Taba and her work, you may access Taba’s Bio .

Hilda Taba, on her part, was also influenced by Ralph Tyler. Her conceptual model follows. The interrelatedness of the curriculum elements from both models suggests the process is continuous.

Factors that Influence Curriculum Design

Several factors need to be taken into account when designing a curriculum. These include:

• teacher’s individual characteristics,
• application of technology,
• student’s cultural background and socio-economic status,
• interactions between teachers and students, and
• classroom management; among many other factors.

Insight 5.0

There is no “silver bullet” in designing curriculum. What is best for one classroom or one district may not work somewhere else. When setting up the process, using a combination of designs might work best.

If you were leading a curriculum committee, which model would you use for the curriculum development process?

Respond using the Hypothesis ILA Responses Group annotation tool. Choose the content area(s) and grade level(s), a specific model or a combination of models, and include rationale for your choices.

Curriculum design is central to the development of curriculum, and it can be done in several ways. Each design has advantages and disadvantages for both learners and teachers. Ralph Tyler included four questions that guided his curriculum design model. Tyler’s model influenced later curriculum designs by John Goodlad, D.K. Wheeler, John Kerr, Hilda Taba, and others. In the next chapter, we look at how curriculum is developed and its scope.

Curriculum Essentials: A Journey Copyright © 2021 by Linda J. Button, Ed.D. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Created by the Great Schools Partnership , the GLOSSARY OF EDUCATION REFORM is a comprehensive online resource that describes widely used school-improvement terms, concepts, and strategies for journalists, parents, and community members. | Learn more »

The term curriculum refers to the lessons and academic content taught in a school or in a specific course or program. In dictionaries, curriculum is often defined as the courses offered by a school, but it is rarely used in such a general sense in schools. Depending on how broadly educators define or employ the term, curriculum typically refers to the knowledge and skills students are expected to learn, which includes the  learning standards or  learning objectives  they are expected to meet; the units and lessons that teachers teach; the assignments and projects given to students; the books, materials, videos, presentations, and readings used in a course; and the tests,  assessments , and other methods used to evaluate student learning. An individual teacher’s curriculum, for example, would be the specific learning standards, lessons, assignments, and materials used to organize and teach a particular course.

When the terms curriculum or curricula are used in educational contexts without qualification, specific examples, or additional explanation, it may be difficult to determine precisely what the terms are referring to—mainly because they could be applied to either all or only some of the component parts of a school’s academic program or courses.

In many cases, teachers develop their own curricula, often refining and improving them over years, although it is also common for teachers to adapt lessons and syllabi created by other teachers, use curriculum templates and guides to structure their lessons and courses, or purchase prepackaged curricula from individuals and companies. In some cases, schools purchase comprehensive, multigrade curriculum packages—often in a particular subject area, such as mathematics—that teachers are required to use or follow. Curriculum may also encompass a school’s academic requirements for graduation, such as the courses students have to take and pass, the number of credits students must complete, and other requirements, such as completing a capstone project or a certain number of community-service hours. Generally speaking, curriculum takes many different forms in schools—too many to comprehensively catalog here.

It is important to note that while curriculum encompasses a wide variety of potential educational and instructional practices, educators often have a very precise, technical meaning in mind when they use the term. Most teachers spend a lot of time thinking about, studying, discussing, and analyzing curriculum, and many educators have acquired a specialist’s expertise in curriculum development—i.e., they know how to structure, organize, and deliver lessons  in ways that facilitate or accelerate student learning. To noneducators, some curriculum materials may seem simple or straightforward (such as a list of required reading, for example), but they may reflect a deep and sophisticated understanding of an academic discipline and of the most effective strategies for learning acquisition and classroom management .

For a related discussion, see hidden curriculum .

Since curriculum is one of the foundational elements of effective schooling and teaching, it is often the object of reforms, most of which are broadly intended to either mandate or encourage greater curricular standardization and consistency across states, schools, grade levels, subject areas, and courses. The following are a few representative examples of the ways in which curriculum is targeted for improvement or used to leverage school improvement and increase teacher effectiveness:

• Standards requirements: When new learning standards are adopted at the state, district, or school levels, teachers typically modify what they teach and bring their curriculum into “ alignment ” with the learning expectations outlined in the new standards. While the technical alignment of curriculum with standards does not necessarily mean that teachers are teaching in accordance with the standards—or, more to the point, that students are actually achieving those learning expectations—learning standards remain a mechanism by which policy makers and school leaders attempt to improve curriculum and teaching quality. The Common Core State Standards Initiative , for example, is a national effort to influence curriculum design and teaching quality in schools through the adoption of new learning standards by states.
• Assessment requirements: Another reform strategy that indirectly influences curriculum is assessment, since the methods used to measure student learning compel teachers to teach the content and skills that will eventually be evaluated. The most commonly discussed examples are standardized testing and high-stakes testing , which can give rise to a phenomenon informally called “teaching to the test.” Because federal and state policies require students to take standardized tests at certain grade levels, and because regulatory penalties or negative publicity may result from poor student performance (in the case of high-stakes tests), teachers are consequently under pressure to teach in ways that are likely to improve student performance on standardized tests—e.g., by teaching the content likely to be tested or by coaching students on specific test-taking techniques. While standardized tests are one way in which assessment is used to leverage curriculum reform, schools may also use rubrics and many other strategies to improve teaching quality through the modification of assessment strategies, requirements, and expectations.
• Curriculum alignment: Schools may try to improve curriculum quality by bringing teaching activities and course expectations into “ alignment ” with learning standards and other school courses—a practice sometimes called “curriculum mapping.” The basic idea is to create a more consistent and coherent academic program by making sure that teachers teach the most important content and eliminate learning gaps that may exist between sequential courses and grade levels. For example, teachers may review their mathematics program to ensure that what students are actually being taught in every Algebra I course offered in the school not only reflects expected learning standards for that subject area and grade level, but that it also prepares students for Algebra II and geometry. When the curriculum is not aligned, students might be taught significantly different content in each Algebra I course, for example, and students taking different Algebra I courses may complete the courses unevenly prepared for Algebra II. For a more detailed discussion, see coherent curriculum .
• Curriculum philosophy: The design and goals of any curriculum reflect the educational philosophy—whether intentionally or unintentionally—of the educators who developed it. Consequently, curriculum reform may occur through the adoption of a different philosophy or model of teaching by a school or educator. Schools that follow the Expeditionary Learning model, for example, embrace a variety of approaches to teaching generally known as project-based learning , which encompasses related strategies such as  community-based learning  and authentic learning . In Expeditionary Learning schools, students complete multifaceted projects called “expeditions” that require teachers to develop and structure curriculum in ways that are quite different from the more traditional approaches commonly used in schools.
• Curriculum packages: In some cases, schools decide to purchase or adopt a curriculum package that has been developed by an outside organization. One well-known and commonly used option for American public schools is International Baccalaureate , which offers curriculum programs for elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools. Districts may purchase all three programs or an individual school may purchase only one, and the programs may be offered to all or only some of the students in a school. When schools adopt a curriculum package, teachers often receive specialized training to ensure that the curriculum is effectively implemented and taught. In many cases, curriculum packages are purchased or adopted because they are perceived to be of a higher quality or more prestigious than the existing curriculum options offered by a school or independently developed by teachers.
• Curriculum resources: The resources that schools provide to teachers can also have a significant affect on curriculum. For example, if a district or school purchases a certain set of textbooks and requires teachers to use them, those textbooks will inevitably influence what gets taught and how teachers teach. Technology purchases are another example of resources that have the potential to influence curriculum. If all students are given laptops and all classrooms are outfitted with interactive whiteboards, for example, teachers can make significant changes in what they teach and how they teach to take advantage of these new technologies (for a more detailed discussion of this example, see one-to-one ). In most cases, however, new curriculum resources require schools to invest in professional development that helps teachers use the new resources effectively, given that simply providing new resources without investing in teacher education and training may fail to bring about desired improvements. In addition, the type of professional development provided to teachers can also have a major influence on curriculum development and design.
• Curriculum standardization: States, districts, and schools may also try to improve teaching quality and effectiveness by requiring, or simply encouraging, teachers to use either a standardized curriculum or common processes for developing curriculum. While the strategies used to promote more standardized curricula can vary widely from state to state or school to school, the general goal is to increase teaching quality through greater curricular consistency. School performance will likely improve, the reasoning goes, if teaching methods and learning expectations are based on sound principles and consistently applied throughout a state, district, or school. Curriculum standards may also be created or proposed by influential educational organizations—such as the National Science Teachers Association or the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics , for example—with the purpose of guiding learning expectations and teaching within particular academic disciplines.
• Curriculum scripting: Often called “scripted curriculum,” the scripting of curriculum is the most prescriptive form of standardized, prepackaged curriculum, since it typically requires teachers to not only follow a particular sequence of preprepared lessons, but to actually read aloud from a teaching script in class. While the professional autonomy and creativity of individual teachers may be significantly limited when such a curriculum system is used, the general rationale is that teaching quality can be assured or improved, or at least maintained, across a school or educational system if teachers follow a precise instructional script. While not every teacher will be a naturally excellent teacher, the reasoning goes, all teachers can at least be given a high-quality curriculum script to follow. Scripted curricula tend to be most common in districts and schools that face significant challenges attracting and retaining experienced or qualified teachers, such as larger urban schools in high-poverty communities.

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International Federation of Social Workers

Global Online conference

Global Standards for Social Work Education and Training

August 1, 2020

Latvian Translation Spanish Translation

PREAMBLE RATIONALE THE SCHOOL     1. Core Mission, Aims and Objectives     2. Resources and Facilities     3. Curriculum     4. Core Curricula             Social Work in Context             Social Work in Practice             Practice Education (Placement)     5. Research and Scholarly activity THE PEOPLE     1. Educators     2. Students     3. Service Users THE PROFESSION     1. A shared understanding of the Profession     2. Ethics and Values     3. Equity and Diversity     4. Human rights and Social, Economic and Environmental Justice MEMBERS OF THE JOINT TASKFORCE

back to top The International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) and the International Association of  Schools of Social Work (IASSW) have jointly updated the Global Standards for Social Work Education and Training. The previous version of the Global Standards for Social Work Education and Training document was adopted by the two organisations in Adelaide, Australia in 2004. Between 2004 and 2019, that document served as an aspirational guide setting out the standards for excellence in social work education.

With the adoption of a new Global Definition of Social Work in July 2014, and the publication of the updated Global Social Work Statement of Ethical Principles in 2019, the Global Standards for Social Work Education and Training document should be updated to integrate the changes in these two documents and to reflect recent developments in global social work.

To this effect, the two organisations created a joint task group comprising the IFSW Interim Global Education Commission and IASSW’s Global Standards Taskforce. This task group engaged with the global social work community through a rigorous consultation that lasted for over 18 months and included feedback from 125 countries represented by 5 Regional Associations and approximately 400 Universities and Further Education Organisations. In addition, members of the joint task force facilitated two international seminars involving service user representatives.

Therefore, we are confident that the present document has been the product of a dynamic and collective process. It has also been the culmination of a rigorous exploration of epistemological, political, ethical and cultural dilemmas.

The main objectives of the Global Standards are to:

• Ensure consistency in the provision of social work education while appreciating and valuing diversity, equity and inclusion.
• Ensure that Social Work education adheres to the values and policies of the profession as articulated by the IFSW and IASSW.
• Support and safeguard staff, students and service users involved in the education process.
• Ensure that the next generation of social workers have access to excellent quality learning, opportunities that also incorporate social work knowledge deriving from research, experience, policy and practice.
• Nurture a spirit of collaboration and knowledge transfer between different social work schools and between social work education, practice and research.
• Support social work schools to become thriving, well-resourced, inclusive and participatory teaching and learning environments.

While appreciating the overarching objectives, we are also mindful of the fact that the educational experience and policy framework in different countries varies significantly. The Global Standards aim at capturing both the universality of social work values and the diversity that characterises the profession through the articulation of a set of standards that are divided between compulsory (those that all programmes must adhere to) and aspirational (those standards that Schools should aspire to include when and where possible). The former represents foundational elements, which are intended in part to promote consistency in social work education across the globe.

Professor Vasilios Ioakimidis Professor Dixon Sookraj

back to top We took the following realities of social work across the globe into account in developing the standards:

• Diversity of historic, socio-cultural, economic and political contexts in which social work is practiced, both within countries and across the globe.
• Diversity of practices according to: 1) practice setting (e.g. government, NGO, health, education, child and family services agencies, correctional institutions, other community-based organizations and private practice settings); 2) field or area of practice (e.g. population served, type of personal and social, economic, political and environmental issues addressed); and 3) practice theories, methods, techniques and skills representing practice at different levels – individual, couple/family, group, organization, community, broader societal and international (i.e., micro, mezzo and macro levels).
• Diversity of structures and delivery methods of social work education. Social work education varies in terms of its position within the structures of education institutions (e.g., units, departments, schools, and faculties). Some social work education programs are aligned with other disciplines, such as economics and sociology, and some are part of broader professional groupings such as health or development. In addition, the level, attitudes toward, and integration of distance education and online learning vary a great deal among programs.
• Diversity of resources available to support social work education, including social work educators and directors across the globe.
• Diversity in levels of development of the social work profession across the globe. In many countries, it is a well-established profession backed by legislation and accompanying regulatory bodies and codes of ethics. A recognized baccalaureate social work degree is often the minimum educational requirement for professional practice. These mechanisms serve in part to protect the use of the title of ‘social worker’, define the scope of practice (what social workers can or cannot do in practice), ensure that practitioners maintain competence and protect the public from harm by social workers. In other countries social work takes different forms. Social work educational programs may be added to existing curriculum offerings rather than standing as separate academic units. They may range from individual course offerings, to one-year certificate programs, to two-year diploma programs. The curriculum standards presented in this document apply primarily to social work degree programs. Shorter certificate and degree programs may use the standards, but they may not be able to incorporate all the standards.
• The adverse effects of colonization and educational imperialism on the development of social work in the Global South. We believe and stand firm that the theoretical perspectives and practice methods, techniques and skills developed in the Global North should not be transported to the Global South without critical examinations of their suitability and potential effectiveness for the local contexts.
• The growing number of common issues and challenges affecting social work education and practice across the globe. These include growing inequalities produced by neoliberal globalization, climate change, human and natural disasters, economic and political corruption and conflicts.
• Many new developments and innovations, especially those relating to sustainable development, climate change and UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, are occurring in the Global South. Thus, connecting the global and the local within the curriculum would strengthen the academic preparation of social workers everywhere; it will facilitate assessments for transferability of social work education across jurisdictions, including international borders;  it will also help strengthen students’ professional identities as members of a global profession.
• Finally, curriculum specializations’ contribution to fragmentation in education and practice. Regardless of the area of specialization delivered in the curriculum, the program should prepare students to understand the interconnectedness of practice at all levels – individual, family, group, organization, community, etc. (i.e., micro, mezzo, macro). This broader understanding will help students to become critical, ethical and competent practitioners.

This version of the Global Standards is organised around three overarching domains that capture the distinct, yet intertwined, elements of Social Work education: The School, The People and The Profession 

back to top Social Work education has historically been delivered by a wide and  diverse range of organisations, including Universities, Colleges, Tertiary, Further and Higher Education bodies- public, private and non-profit.  Notwithstanding the diversity of education delivery modalities, organisational and financial structures, there is an expectation that social work schools and programmes are formally recognised by the appropriate education authorities and/or regulators in each country. Social Work education is a complex and demanding activity that requires  access to adequate resources, educators, transparent strategies and up- to-date curricula.

1. Core Mission, Aims and Objectives

back to top All Social Work Programmes must develop and share a core purpose statement or a mission statement that:

• Is clearly articulated, accessible and reflects the values and the ethical principles of social work.
• Is consistent with the global definition and purpose of social work
• Respects the rights and interests of the people involved in all aspects of delivery of programmes and services (including the students, educators and service users).

Where possible, schools should aspire to:

• Articulate the broad strategies for contribution to the advancement of the Social Work profession and the empowerment of communities within which a school strives to operate (locally, nationally and internationally).

In respect of programme objectives and expected outcomes, schools must be able to demonstrate how it has met the following requirements:

• Specification of its programme objectives and expected higher education outcomes.
• Identification of its programme’s instructional methods that support the achievement of the cognitive and affective development of social work students.
• A curriculum that reflects the core knowledge, processes, values and skills of the social work profession, as applied in context-specific realities.
• Social Work students who attain an initial level of proficiency with regard to self-reflective use of social work values, knowledge and skills.
• Curriculum design that takes into account of the impact of interacting cultural, political, economic, communication, health, psychosocial and environmental global factors.
• The programme meets the requirements of nationally and/or regionally/internationally defined professional goals
• The programme addresses local, national and/or regional/international developmental needs and priorities.
• The provision of an education preparation that is relevant to beginning social work practice interventions with individuals, families, groups and/or communities (functional and geographic) adaptable to a wide range of contexts.
• The use of social work methods that are based on sound evidence regarding the effectiveness of interventions whenever possible, and always promote dignity and respect.
• Governance, administrative supports, physical structure and related resources that are adequate to deliver the program.
• The conferring of a distinctive social work qualification at the certificate, diploma, first degree or post-graduate level, as approved by national and/or regional qualification authorities, where such authorities exist.

In order to further enrich their mission and objectives, schools should aspire to:

• External peer evaluation of the programme as far as is reasonable and financially viable. This may include external peer moderation of assignments and/or written examinations and dissertations, and external peer review and assessment of curricula.
• Self-evaluation by the education programme constituents to assess the extent to which its programme objectives and expected outcomes are being achieved.

2. Resources and Facilities

back to top With regard to structure, administration, governance and resources, the school and/or body  designated as the education provider must ensure the following:

• Social work programmes are independent of other disciplines and should therefore be implemented through a distinct unit known as a Faculty, School, Department, Centre or Division, which has a clear identity within education institutions.
• The school has a designated Head or Director 1 who has demonstrated administrative, scholarly and professional competence, preferably in the profession of social work.
• The Head or Director has primary responsibility for the co-ordination and professional leadership of the school, with sufficient time and resources to fulfil these responsibilities.
• The social work programme’s budgetary allocation is sufficient to achieve its core purpose or mission and the programme objectives.
• The budgetary allocation is stable enough to ensure programme planning and delivery in a sustainable way.
• The necessary clerical and administrative staff, as well as educators, is made available for the achievement of the programme objectives. These staff members are provided with reasonable amounts of autonomy and opportunity to contribute programme development, implementation, and evaluation.
• Irrespective of the mode of teaching (in the classroom, distance, mixed-mode, decentralised and/or internet-based education) there is the provision of adequate infrastructure, including classroom space, computers, texts, audio-visual equipment, community resources for practice education, and on-site instruction and supervision to facilitate the achievement of its core purpose or mission, programme objectives and expected outcomes.
• Internet-based education should not fully substitute spaces for face-to-face instruction, practice learning and dialogue. Face-to-face spaces are critical for a well rounded social work education and therefore irreplaceable.

Social Work courses tend to be administratively complex and resource-demanding due to the synthesis of the theoretical, research and practice-based elements, including relational training and service user interaction. Therefore, Schools could aspire to achieve the following:

• Sufficient physical facilities, including classroom space, offices for the educators and the administrative staff and space for student, faculty and field- liaison meetings.
• Adequate equipment necessary for the achievement of the school’s core purpose or mission and the programme objectives.
• High quality of the education programme whatever the mode of delivery. In the case of distance, mixed-mode, decentralised and/or internet-based teaching, mechanisms for locally based instruction and supervision should be put in place, especially with regard to the practice component of the programme.
• Well-resourced on-site and online libraries, knowledge and research environment, and, where possible, internet resources, all necessary to achieve the programme objectives.
• Access to international libraries, international roaming services (e.g., EduRoam), e-journals and databases.

3. Curriculum

back to top With regard to standards regarding programme curricula, schools must consistently ensure the following:

• The curricula and methods of instruction are consistent with the school’s programme objectives, its expected outcomes and its mission statement.
• Clear mechanisms for the organisation’s implementation and evaluation of the theory and field education components of the programme exist.
• Specific attention to undertaking constant review and development of the curricula.
• Clear guidelines for ethical use of technology in practice, curriculum delivery, distance/blended learning, big data analysis and engagement with social media

Schools should always aspire to develop curricula that:

• Help social work students to develop skills of critical thinking and scholarly attitudes of reasoning, openness to new experiences and paradigms and commitment to lifelong learning.
• Are sufficient in duration 2 and learning opportunities to ensure that students are prepared for professional practice. Students and educators are given sufficient space and time to adhere to the minimum standards described herein.
• Reflect the needs, values and cultures of the relevant populations.
• Are based on human rights principles and the pursuit of justice.

4. Core Curricula

back to top Social work education programs vary by economic and political contexts, practice settings, population served, type of personal and social, economic, political, or environmental issues addressed, and practice theories and approaches used. Nevertheless, there are certain core curricula that are universally applicable. Thus, the school must ensure that social work students, by the end of their first Social Work professional qualification 3 , have had sufficient/required and relevant exposure to the following core curricula which are organised into the following broad conceptual components:

a) Social Work in Context: refers to the broader knowledge that is required in order to critically  understand the political, socio-legal, cultural and historical forces that have shaped social work.

b) Social Work in Practice: refers to a broader set of skills and knowledge required to design and  deliver e ff ective, ethical and competent interventions.

The above two conceptual components are interdependent, dynamic and should be considered simultaneously.

Social Work In Context

back to top In relation to Social Work in Context, education programmes must include the following:

• Critical understanding of how socio-structural inadequacies, discrimination, oppression, and social, political, environmental and economic injustices impact human development at all levels, including the global must be considered.
• Knowledge of how traditions, culture, beliefs, religions and customs influence human development across the lifespan, including how these might constitute resources and/or obstacles to growth.
• Knowledge of theories of social work, social sciences, humanities and indigenous knowledges
• Critical understanding of social work’s origins and purposes.
• Critical understanding of historical injustices affecting service user communities and the role of social workers in addressing those.
• Sufficient knowledge of related occupations and professions to facilitate interprofessional collaboration and teamwork.
• Knowledge of social welfare policies (or lack thereof), services and laws at local, national  and/or regional/international levels
• Understanding of the roles of social work in policy planning, implementation, evaluation and in social change processes.
• Knowledge of – human rights, social movements and their interconnectedness with class, gender and ethnic/race-related issues.
• Knowledge of relevant international treaties, laws and regulations, and global standards  such as the Social Development Goals.
• Critical understanding of the impact of environmental degradation on the well-being of our communities and the promotion of Environmental Justice.
• A focus on gender equity
• An understanding of structural causes and impact of gender-based violence
• An emphasis on structural issues affecting marginalised, vulnerable and minority populations.
• The assumption, identification and recognition of strengths and potential of all human beings.
• Social Work contribution to promoting sustainable peace and justice in communities affected by political/ethnic conflict and violence.

Social Work in Practice

back to top In relation to Social Work In Practice, education programmes must prepare students to:

• Apply knowledge of human behaviour and development across the lifespan.
• Understand how social determinants impact on people’s health and wellbeing (mental, physical, emotional and spiritual).
• Promote healthy, cohesive, non-oppressive relationships among people and between people and organisations at all levels –individuals, families, groups, programs,  organizations, communities.
• Facilitate and advocate for the inclusion of different voices, especially those of groups that have experienced marginalisation and exclusion.
• Understand the relationship between personal life experiences and personal value  systems and social work practice.
• Integrate theory, ethics, research/knowledge in practice.
• Have sufficient practice skills in assessment, relationship building, empowerment and  helping processes to achieve the identified goals of the programme and fulfil professional obligations to service users. The programme may prepare practitioners to serve purposes, including providing social support, and engaging in developmental, protective, preventive and/or therapeutic intervention – depending on the particular focus of the programme or professional practice orientation.
• Apply social work intervention that is informed by principles, knowledge and skills aimed at promoting human development and the potentialities of all people
• Engage in critical analysis of how social policies and programmes promote or violate human rights and justice
• Use peace building, non-violent activism and human rights-based advocacy as intervention methods.
• Use problem-solving and strengths-based approaches.
• Develop as critically self-reflective practitioners.
• Apply national, regional and/or international social work codes of ethics and their applicability to context-specific realities
• Ability to address and collaborate with others regarding the complexities, subtleties, multi-dimensional, ethical, legal and dialogical aspects of power.

Practice Education (Placement) 4

back to top Practice education is a critical component of professional social work education. Thus practice education should be well integrated into the curriculum in preparing students with knowledge, values and skills for ethical, competent and effective practice. Practice education must be sufficient in duration and complexity of tasks and learning opportunities to ensure that students are prepared for professional practice. Therefore, schools should also ensure:

• A well-developed and comprehensive practice education manual that details its practice placement standards, procedures, assessment standards/criteria and expectations should be made available to students, field placement supervisors and field placement instructors.
• selection of practice placement sites;
• matching students with placement sites;
• placement of students;
• supervision of students;
• coordination of with the program;
• supporting students and the field instructors;
• monitoring student progress and evaluating student performance in the field; and
• evaluating the performance of the practice education setting.
• Appointment of practice supervisors or instructors who are qualified and experienced, as determined by the development status of the social work profession in any given country, and provision of orientation for practice supervisors or instructors.
• Provision of orientation and ongoing supports, including training and education to practice supervisors.
• Ensuring that adequate and appropriate resources, to meet the needs of the practice  component of the programme, are made available.
• Policies for the inclusion of marginalized populations, and reasonable accommodation and  adjustment for people with disabilities and special needs.
• The practice education component provides ongoing, timely and developmental feedback to students.

Schools also should aspire to:

• Create practice placement opportunities that correspond to at least 25% of the overall education activity within the courses (counted in either credits, days, or hours).
• Nurture valuable partnerships between the education institution and the agency (where applicable) and service users in decision-making regarding practice education and the evaluation of student’s performance.
• If the programme engages in international placements, additional standards, guidelines and support should be provided to both students placed abroad and agencies in the receiving end. In addition the programme should have mechanisms to facilitate reciprocity, co-learning genuine knowledge exchange.

5. Research and Scholarly activity

back to top As an academic discipline, social work is underpinned by theories of social work, social sciences,  humanities and indigenous knowledges. Social work knowledge and scholarship are generated  through a diverse range of sources, including education providers, research organisations,  independent researchers, local communities, social work organisations, practitioners and service users.  All education providers should aspire to make a contribution to the development, critical  understanding and generation of social work scholarship. This can be achieved, when and where  possible, through the incorporation of research and scholarship strategies, including:

• An emphasis on the process of knowledge production in social work, by explaining  different methodological approaches within the discipline and how these have evolved.
• An appreciation of the rigorous and diverse methods used by social workers in order to  appraise the credibility, transferability, confirmability reliability and validity of information.
• Teaching that is informed by current, valid and reliable evidence.
• Provision of opportunities for students to critically appraise research findings and acquire  research skills.
• Involvement of students in research activities.
• Support students to acquire and develop programme/practice evaluation skills, including  partnering with them in such work.

1 Depending on the setting, other titles may be used to signify administrative leadership. 2 In many contexts, a first professional qualification (or baccalaureate degree in social work) is completed in within three  or four years of full-time  studies, although the amount of non-social work course contents included may  vary. 3 See description above. 4 The terms “field education” and “field instruction” are also commonly used.

back to top Social Work programmes comprise a dynamic intellectual, social and material community. This community brings together students, educators, administrators and service users united in their effort to  enhance opportunities for learning, professional and personal development.

1. Educators

back to top With regard to social work educators 5 , schools and programmes must ensure:

• The provision of educators, adequate in number and range of expertise, who have  appropriate qualifications, including practice and research experience within the field of  Social Work; all determined by the development status of the social work profession in any given country.
• Educator representation and inclusion in decision-making processes of the school or programme related to the development of the programme’s core purpose or mission, in the formulation of the objectives, curriculum design and expected outcomes of the programme.
• A clear statement of its equity-based policies or preferences, with regard to considerations of gender, ethnicity, ‘race’ or any other form of diversity in its recruitment and appointment of members of staff.
• Policies regarding the recruitment, appointment and promotion of staff are clearly articulated and transparent and are in keeping with other schools or programs within the education institution.
• Policies that are in-line with national labour legislation and also take into consideration International Labour Organisation guidelines. f. Educators benefit from a cooperative, supportive and productive working environment to facilitate the achievement of programme objectives.
• Institutional policies regarding promotion, tenure, discipline and termination are transparent and clear. Mechanisms for appeal and decision review should be in place.
• Teaching and other relevant workload are distributed equitably and transparently.
• Variations in workload distribution in terms of teaching, scholarship (including research) and service are inevitable. However, workload allocation should be based on principles such as equity and respect for educators’ diverse skills, expertise and talents.
• When there are differences and conflicts, transparent and fair mechanisms are in place to address them.

All Schools should also aspire to:

• Provide a balanced allocation of teaching, practice placement instruction, supervision and administrative workloads, ensuring that there is space for engagement with all forms of scholarship including creative work and research.
• With regards to educators involvement, a minimum of a Master’s level qualification in social work is preferred.
• Staff reflect the ethics, values and principles of the social work profession in their work on behalf and with students and communities.
• The school, when possible, nurtures interdisciplinary approaches. To this effect, the School, strives to engage educators from relevant disciplines such as sociology, history, economics, statistics etc.
• At least 50% of educators should have a social work qualification, and social work modules or courses should be taught by educators with a Master of Social work qualification, in line with the status of the profession in each country.
• The School has provisions for the continuing professional development of its educators.

2. Students

back to top In respect of social work students, Schools must ensure:

• Clear articulation of its admission criteria and procedures. When possible, practitioners and service users should be involved in the relevant processes.
• Non-discrimination against any student on the basis of race, colour, culture, ethnicity, linguistic origin, religion, political orientation, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, functional status, and socio-economic status.
• Explicit criteria for the evaluation of practice education
• Grievance and appeals procedures which are accessible, clearly explained to all students and operated without prejudice to the assessment of students.
• All information regarding, assessment, course aims and structure, learning outcomes, class attendance, examination rules, appeals procedures and student support services should be clearly articulated and provided to the students in the form of a handbook (printed or electronic) at the beginning of each academic year.
• Ensure that social work students are provided with opportunities to develop self-awareness regarding their personal and cultural values, beliefs, traditions and biases and how these might influence the ability to develop relationships with people and to work with diverse population groups.
• Provide information about the kinds of support available to students, including academic, financial, employment and personal assistance
• Students should be clear about what constitutes misconduct, including academic, harassment and discrimination, policies and procedures in place to address these.
• Comprehensive retention policies that prioritise student well-being.
• Positive action should be taken to ensure the inclusion of minority groups that are underrepresented and/or under-served.
• Democratic and sustained representation of students in decision-making committees and fora.

3. Service Users 6

back to top With regards to service user involvement Schools must :

• Incorporate the rights, views and interests of Service Users and broader communities served in its operations, including curriculum development, implementation and delivery.
• Develop a proactive strategy towards facilitating Service User involvement in all aspects of design, planning and delivery of study programmes.
• Ensure reasonable adjustments are made in order to support the involvement of Service Users.

Also aspire to:

• Create opportunities for the personal and professional development of Service Users involved in the study programme.

5 Different terminologies are used to represent and or describe the people providing the education (ie academics, faculty, instructors, pedagogues, teachers, tutors, lecturers etc.). For the purposes of this document we have adopted the term “Social Work Educators” to represent these diverse terminologies. 6  Depending on the context, other terms, including clients and community constituents are used instead of service users.

The Profession

back to top Social Work Schools are members of a global professional and  academic community. As such, they must be able to contribute to  and benefit from the growth of scholarly, practice and policy  development at a national and global level. Nurturing, expanding  and formalising links with the national and international  representative bodies of the social work profession is of paramount  importance.

1. A shared understanding of the Profession

back to top Schools must ensure the following:

• Definitions of social work used in the context of the education process should be congruent with the Global Definition of Social Work as approved by IASSW and IFSW including any regional applications that may exist.
• Schools retain close and formal relationships with representatives and key stakeholders of the social work profession, including regulators and national and regional associations of social work practice and education.
• Registration of professional staff and social work students (insofar as social work students develop working relationships with people via practice placements) with national and/or regional regulatory (whether statutory or non-statutory) bodies.
• All stakeholders involved in social work education should actively seek to contribute to and benefit from the global social work community in a spirit of partnership and international solidarity.

Schools should also aspire to:

• monitor students’ employability rates and encourage them to actively participate in the national and global social work community.

2. Ethics and Values

back to top In view of the recognition that social work values, ethics and principles are the core components of the profession, Schools must consistently ensure:

• Adhered to the Global Ethics Statement approved bythe IFSWW and IASSW.
• Adherence to the National and Regional Codes of Ethics.
• Adherence to the Global Definition of Social Work as approved by the IFSW and IASSW.
• Clear articulation of objectives with regard to social work values, principles and ethical conduct. Ensuring that every social work student involved in practice education, and every academic staff member, is aware of the boundaries of professional practice and what  might constitute unprofessional conduct in terms of the code of ethics.
• Taking appropriate, reasonable and proportionate action in relation to those social work students and academic staff who fail to comply with the code of ethics, either through an established regulatory social work body, established procedures of the educational institution, and/or through legal mechanisms.

Schools should also aspire towards:

• Upholding, as far as is reasonable and possible, the principles of restorative rather than retributive justice in disciplining either social work students or academic staff who violate the code of ethics.

3. Equity and Diversity

back to top With regard to equity and diversity Schools must :

• Make concerted and continuous efforts to ensure the enrichment of the educational experience by reflecting cultural, ethnic and other forms of diversity in its programme and relevant populations.
• Ensure that educators, students and service users are provided with equal opportunities to learn and develop regardless of gender,socioeconomicc background, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation and other forms of diversity.
• Ensure that the programme has clearly articulated learning objectives in upholding the principles of respect for cultural and ethnic diversity, gender equity, human rights.
• Address and challenge racist, homophobic, sexist and other discriminatory behaviours, policies and structures.
• Recognition and development of indigenous or locally specific social work education and practice from the traditions and cultures of different ethnic groups and societies, insofar that such traditions and cultures are congruent with our ethical codes and human rights commitments.

4. Human rights and Social, Economic and Environmental Justice

back to top Social, Economic and Environmental Justice are fundamental pillars underpinning social work theory, policy and practice. All Schools must :

• Prepare students to be able to apply human rights principles (as articulated in the International Bill of Rights and core international human rights treaties) to frame their understanding of how current social issues affect social, economic and environmental justice.
• Ensure that their students understand the importance of social, economic, political and environmental justice and develop relevant intervention knowledge and skills.
• Contribute to collective efforts within and beyond school structures in order to achieve social, economic and environmental justice.

They should also aspire to:

• Identifying opportunities for supporting development at grass roots level and community participatory action to meet the aspirations of the Social Development Goals.
• Making use of opportunities to exchange knowledge, expertise and ideas with global peers to support the advancement of social work education free from colonial influences.
• Creating platforms for Indigenous social workers to shape curricula and relevant courses.

Members of the Joint Taskforce 

back to top

IFSW Interim Education Commission

Chair : Vasilios Ioakimidis

Members: African Regional Commissioners: Lawrence Mukuka and Zena Mnasi Asia and Pacific Regional Commissioner: Mariko Kimura European Regional Commissioner: Nicolai Paulsen Latin American and Caribbean Regional Commissioner: Marinilda Rivera Díaz North American Regional Commissioners: Dr.  Joan Davis-Whelan and Dr. Gary Bailey

IASSW Global Standards Taskforce

Chair: Dixon Sookraj

Members: Carmen Castillo (COSTA RICA): Member, Latin American Rep. Karene Nathaniel-DeCaires (TRINIDAD & TOBAGO): Member, North American/Caribbean Rep. Liu  Meng (CHINA): Member, China National Rep. Teresa Francesca Bertotti (ITALY): Member, European Association Rep. Alexandre Hakizamunga (RWANDA): Member, African Association Rep. Vimla Nadkarni (INDIA): Member, Past IASSW President Emily Taylor (CANADA): Student Rep. Ute Straub (GERMANY): IASSW Co-Chair & Board Representative

Consultants: Carol S. Cohen (USA): Commission on Group Work in Social Work Education of the International Association for Social Work with Groups, Co-Chair. Shirley Gatenio Gabel (USA). Journal of Human Rights and Social Work, Co-Editor Varoshini Nadesan (SOUTH AFRICA). Association of South African Social Work Education Institutions, President.

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Regions & Countries

About half of americans say public k-12 education is going in the wrong direction.

About half of U.S. adults (51%) say the country’s public K-12 education system is generally going in the wrong direction. A far smaller share (16%) say it’s going in the right direction, and about a third (32%) are not sure, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in November 2023.

Pew Research Center conducted this analysis to understand how Americans view the K-12 public education system. We surveyed 5,029 U.S. adults from Nov. 9 to Nov. 16, 2023.

The survey was conducted by Ipsos for Pew Research Center on the Ipsos KnowledgePanel Omnibus. The KnowledgePanel is a probability-based web panel recruited primarily through national, random sampling of residential addresses. The survey is weighted by gender, age, race, ethnicity, education, income and other categories.

Here are the questions used for this analysis , along with responses, and the survey methodology .

A majority of those who say it’s headed in the wrong direction say a major reason is that schools are not spending enough time on core academic subjects.

These findings come amid debates about what is taught in schools , as well as concerns about school budget cuts and students falling behind academically.

Related: Race and LGBTQ Issues in K-12 Schools

Republicans are more likely than Democrats to say the public K-12 education system is going in the wrong direction. About two-thirds of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents (65%) say this, compared with 40% of Democrats and Democratic leaners. In turn, 23% of Democrats and 10% of Republicans say it’s headed in the right direction.

Among Republicans, conservatives are the most likely to say public education is headed in the wrong direction: 75% say this, compared with 52% of moderate or liberal Republicans. There are no significant differences among Democrats by ideology.

Similar shares of K-12 parents and adults who don’t have a child in K-12 schools say the system is going in the wrong direction.

A separate Center survey of public K-12 teachers found that 82% think the overall state of public K-12 education has gotten worse in the past five years. And many teachers are pessimistic about the future.

Related: What’s It Like To Be A Teacher in America Today?

Why do Americans think public K-12 education is going in the wrong direction?

We asked adults who say the public education system is going in the wrong direction why that might be. About half or more say the following are major reasons:

• Schools not spending enough time on core academic subjects, like reading, math, science and social studies (69%)
• Teachers bringing their personal political and social views into the classroom (54%)
• Schools not having the funding and resources they need (52%)

About a quarter (26%) say a major reason is that parents have too much influence in decisions about what schools are teaching.

How views vary by party

Americans in each party point to different reasons why public education is headed in the wrong direction.

Republicans are more likely than Democrats to say major reasons are:

• A lack of focus on core academic subjects (79% vs. 55%)
• Teachers bringing their personal views into the classroom (76% vs. 23%)

In turn, Democrats are more likely than Republicans to point to:

• Insufficient school funding and resources (78% vs. 33%)
• Parents having too much say in what schools are teaching (46% vs. 13%)

Views also vary within each party by ideology.

Among Republicans, conservatives are particularly likely to cite a lack of focus on core academic subjects and teachers bringing their personal views into the classroom.

Among Democrats, liberals are especially likely to cite schools lacking resources and parents having too much say in the curriculum.

Note: Here are the questions used for this analysis , along with responses, and the survey methodology .

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‘Back to school’ means anytime from late July to after Labor Day, depending on where in the U.S. you live

Among many u.s. children, reading for fun has become less common, federal data shows, most european students learn english in school, for u.s. teens today, summer means more schooling and less leisure time than in the past, about one-in-six u.s. teachers work second jobs – and not just in the summer, most popular.

About Pew Research Center Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts .

America has legislated itself into competing red, blue versions of education

American states passed a blizzard of education laws and policies over the past six years that aim to reshape how K-12 schools and colleges teach and present issues of race, sex and gender to the majority of the nation’s students — with instruction differing sharply by states’ political leanings, according to a Washington Post analysis .

See which states are restricting, requiring education on race and sex

Three-fourths of the nation’s school-aged students are now educated under state-level measures that either require more teaching on issues like race, racism, history, sex and gender, or which sharply limit or fully forbid such lessons, according to a sweeping Post review of thousands of state laws, gubernatorial directives and state school board policies. The restrictive laws alone affect almost half of all Americans aged 5 to 19.

How The Post is tracking education bills

Since 2017, 38 states have adopted 114 such laws, rules or orders, The Post found. The majority of policies are restrictive in nature: 66 percent circumscribe or ban lessons and discussions on some of society’s most sensitive topics, while 34 percent require or expand them. In one example, a 2023 Kentucky law forbids lessons on human sexuality before fifth grade and outlaws all instruction “exploring gender identity.” On the other hand, a 2021 Rhode Island law requires that all students learn “African Heritage and History” before high school graduation.

The Post included in its analysis only measures that could directly affect what students learn. Thus, 100 of the laws in The Post’s database apply only to K-12 campuses, where states have much greater power to shape curriculums. At public institutions of higher education — where courts have held that the First Amendment protects professors’ right to teach what they want — the laws instead target programs like student or faculty trainings or welcome sessions.

Tell The Post: How are education laws, restrictions affecting your school?

The divide is sharply partisan. The vast majority of restrictive laws and policies, close to 9o percent, were enacted in states that voted for Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election, The Post found. Meanwhile, almost 80 percent of expansive laws and policies were enacted in states that voted for Joe Biden in 2020.

The explosion of laws regulating school curriculums is unprecedented in U.S. history for its volume and scope, said Jonathan Zimmerman, a University of Pennsylvania professor who studies education history and policy. Controversy and debate over classroom lessons is nothing new, Zimmermann said, but states have never before stepped in so aggressively to set rules for local schools. School districts have traditionally had wide latitude to shape their lessons.

He said it remains an open question whether all laws will translate to curriculum changes, predicting some schools and teachers may refuse to alter their pedagogy. Still, a nationally representative study from the Rand Corp. released this year found that 65 percent of K-12 teachers report they are limiting instruction on “political and social issues.”

“What the laws show is that we have extremely significant differences over how we imagine America,” Zimmerman said. “State legislatures have now used the power of law to try to inscribe one view, and to prevent another. And so we’re deeply divided in America.”

In practice, these divisions mean that what a child learns about, say, the role slavery played in the nation’s founding — or the possibility of a person identifying as nonbinary — may come to depend on whether they live in a red or blue state.

Legislators advancing restrictive education laws argue they are offering a corrective to what they call a recent left-wing takeover of education. They contend that, in the past decade or so, teachers and professors alike began forcing students to adopt liberal viewpoints on topics ranging from police brutality to whether gender is a binary or a spectrum.

Tennessee state Rep. John Ragan (R), who sponsored or co-sponsored several laws in his state that limit or ban instruction and trainings dealing with race, bias, sexual orientation and gender identity on both K-12 and college campuses, said the legislation he helped pass does not restrict education.

“It is restricting indoctrination,” Ragan said. Under his state’s laws, he said, “the information presented is factually accurate and is in fact something worth knowing.”

Those advancing expansive legislation, by contrast, argue they are fostering conditions in which students from all backgrounds will see themselves reflected in lessons. This will make it easier for every student to learn and be successful, while teaching peers to be tolerant of one another’s differences, said Washington state Sen. Marko Liias (D).

Liias was the architect of a law his state passed last month that requires schools to adopt “inclusive curricula” featuring the histories, contributions and perspectives of the “historically marginalized,” including “people from various racial, ethnic, and religious backgrounds, people with differing learning needs, people with disabilities [and] LGBTQ people.” He was inspired to propose the bill after hearing from educators who wanted to create more welcoming classrooms and by memories of his own experiences as a queer student in the 1980s and 1990s, when, he said, there were no LGBTQ role models taught or accepted in schools.

“When schools are inclusive broadly of all the identities brought to the classroom, then everybody thrives and does better,” Liias said.

To construct its database of education laws, The Post analyzed more than 2,200 bills, policies, gubernatorial directives and state school board rules introduced since 2017. The Post identified regulations for review by examining state legislative databases, education law trackers maintained by national bipartisan nonprofits and the websites of various advocacy groups that monitor curriculum legislation.

How curriculum policies took hold

Some blue states began enacting expansive education laws in the late 2010s. From 2017 to 2020, 10 states passed legislation or rules that required schools to start teaching about the history of underrepresented groups such as Black Americans, Pacific Islanders or LGBTQ Americans, The Post found .

State and school leaders were drawing on more than a dozen studies published from the 1990s to 2017 that found student performance, attendance and graduate rates rise when children see people like them included in curriculum, said Jennifer Berkshire , a Yale lecturer on education studies.

“They were thinking, ‘You know, our curriculums aren’t representative enough,’” Berkshire said. “The argument was, if we’re going to realize the goal of full rights and civil participation for kids, we need to do things differently.”

Fourteen of these laws, or 36 percent, came in a rush in 2021, the year after the police killing of George Floyd sparked massive demonstrations and a national reckoning over racism. At the time, activists, teachers, parents and high school students across America were urging schools teach more Black history and feature more Black authors.

Of the expansive laws and policies The Post analyzed, the majority — 69 percent — require or expand education on race or racial issues, especially on Black history and ethnic studies. About a quarter add or enhance education on both LGBTQ and racial issues. Just 8 percent focus solely on LGBTQ lives and topics.

But the onslaught of restrictive legislation in red states began in 2021, too, also inspired in many cases by parent concerns over curriculums.

Anxiety first stirred due to coronavirus pandemic-era school shutdowns as some mothers and fathers — granted an unprecedented glimpse into lessons during the era of school-by-laptop — found they did not like or trust what their children were learning.

Soon, some parents were complaining that lessons were biased toward left-leaning views and too focused on what they saw as irrelevant discussions of race, gender and sexuality — laments taken up by conservative pundits and politicians. National groups like Moms for Liberty formed to call out and combat left-leaning teaching in public schools.

Their fears became legislation with speed: Mostly red states passed 26 restrictive education laws and policies in 2021; 19 such laws or policies the next year and 25 more the year after that.

“If you’ve got parents upset at what they’re seeing, they’re going to go to school board meetings and take it up with their legislators,” said Robert Pondiscio , a senior fellow studying education at the conservative American Enterprise Institute. “And legislators will do what they do: pass laws.”

How the restrictions and expansions work

The plurality of restrictive laws, 47 percent, target both education on race and sex. About a third solely affect education on gender identity and sexuality, while 21 percent solely affect education on race.

Almost 40 percent of these laws work by granting parents greater control of the curriculum — stipulating that they must be able to review, object to or remove lesson material, as well as opt out of instruction. Schools have long permitted parents to weigh in on education, often informally; but under many of the new laws, parental input has more weight and is mandatory.

Another almost 40 percent of the laws forbid schools from teaching a long list of often-vague concepts related to race, sex or gender.

These outlawed concepts usually include the notion that certain merits, values, beliefs, status or privileges are tied to race or sex; or the theory that students should feel ashamed or guilty due to their race, sex or racial past. One such law, passed in Georgia in 2022, forbids teaching that “an individual, solely by virtue of his or her race, bears individual responsibility for actions committed in the past by other individuals of the same race.”

At the college level, among the measures passed in recent years is a 2021 Oklahoma law that prohibits institutions of higher education from holding “mandatory gender or sexual diversity training or counseling,” as well as any “orientation or requirement that presents any form of race or sex stereotyping.”

By contrast, a 2023 California measure says state community college faculty must employ “teaching, learning and professional practices” that reflect “anti-racist principles.”

Some experts predicted the politically divergent instruction will lead to a more divided society.

“When children are being taught very different stories of what America is, that will lead to adults who have a harder time talking to each other,” said Rachel Rosenberg, a Hartwick College assistant professor of education.

But Pondiscio said there is always tension in American society between the public interest in education and parents’ interest in determining the values transmitted to their children. The conflict veers from acute to chronic, he said, and currently it’s in an acute phase. “But I don’t find it inappropriate. I think it is a natural part of democratic governance and oversight,” Pondiscio said.

He added, “One man’s ‘chilling effect’ is another man’s appropriate circumspections.”

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An elementary school in Kansas is combating bad behavior — by putting kids to work

Suzanne Perez

A pilot program in elementary schools gives kids meaningful work as a way to handle post-pandemic behavior problems.

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

Schoolteachers across the country say they are still struggling with post-pandemic behavior problems in classrooms. The spike in tantrums, outbursts and fidgeting coincides with a national mental health crisis. Suzanne Perez of the Kansas News Service shows us how one elementary school that state is responding to bad behavior by putting kids to work.

SUZANNE PEREZ, BYLINE: Twice a week at Woodman Elementary School in Wichita, a third-grader named Reagan reports for duty with school counselor Shauna Barnes.

SHAUNA BARNES: So you're spraying each one of the tiny plants.

PEREZ: Reagan is the school's official plant waterer. Armed with a kid-sized spray bottle, she checks each plant on the windowsill of the teacher's lounge and gives it a quick drink. Barnes offers direction.

BARNES: See how much water they need?

REAGAN: This one's kind of wet, so I'll give it a little bit.

PEREZ: It may not look like much, but experiences like this can be life-changing for some children. Woodman is experimenting with a program called Meaningful Work. Counselors take kids who regularly misbehave in class and pair them with a mentor, then offer them something constructive to do on a regular schedule - a simple task like feeding fish or making copies. School psychologist Jaime Johnston says the concept is pretty simple.

JAIME JOHNSTON: Students were acting out to get attention with people they like. We have a fun group of supporting adults, and the students enjoyed hanging out with us. But we need them to display appropriate behaviors and stay in class.

PEREZ: Assigning jobs to students is not necessarily new. Elementary school teachers often post job charts denoting things like line leaders or trash collectors, but those are in class and supervised by the regular teacher. With Meaningful Work, students are matched with adults outside the classroom, including counselors, psychologists and social workers. Jessica Sprick is an education consultant with Safe & Civil Schools, an Oregon-based company that promotes the Meaningful Work program. She says, when children get attention for negative behavior, their behavior gets worse. Giving them a job and positive feedback can turn that around.

JESSICA SPRICK: If you can start getting some of that groundwork in place to make the kid feel that you're noticed, that you're wanted - that, when you're not here, there's a piece of our school that isn't as good as when you are - then we can get the kid coming to school, and then the academics improve, and then the behavior improves, right? So it really can be the starting place for whole-scale change.

PEREZ: The program isn't just for kids who misbehave. At Woodman Elementary, some students are selected because they get fidgety and need regular movement breaks. Others have anxiety and need to practice interacting with peers and adults. Jovany, a third-grader, is nonverbal and communicates with a handheld device that can be programmed to say certain phrases. Twice a week, Jovany fills a wagon with fresh fruits or vegetables from the cafeteria and delivers them to classrooms as part of the school's healthy snack program.

JOVANY: (Through handheld device) Here's your vegetables.

UNIDENTIFIED TEACHER: Thank you.

JOVANY: (Through handheld device) You're welcome.

UNIDENTIFIED TEACHER: Can everybody say thank you?

UNIDENTIFIED CHILDREN: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED TEACHER: Thank you, Jovany. Bye-bye.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Bye.

PEREZ: Sprick recalls one teacher who assigned a student to be the school's official door unlocker. The child made rounds with the custodian every morning to check locks and welcome staff inside. He took the job so seriously he didn't want to take a sick day.

SPRICK: The mom actually called and said, you know, can you tell my son that the doors will be unlocked if he doesn't come to school? 'Cause he's got 103 fever and he's trying to tell me he needs to come.

PEREZ: School leaders say behavior problems have decreased since they launched the jobs program last fall, and attendance is up. They plan to expand the program next year.

For NPR News, I'm Suzanne Perez in Wichita.

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Engineers work to teach young men about the nuts and bolts of technology

GULFPORT, Miss. (WLOX) - Morning Star Baptist Church held a session for its M3 Boys mentoring program in Gulfport on Saturday.

Four engineers from Lockheed Martin Space assisted boys from 8 to 18 on a STEM project as they built a Bluetooth Speaker. It was part of an effort to help the young men learn more about science and engineering.

Fredrick Gray is a Lockheed Martin Space engineer who received an engineering degree from the University of Southern Mississippi in 2023.

He said these lessons will help young men achieve in any field they wish to pursue.

“Even though in the future, they might choose different paths to go in life I feel that teaching them now will broaden their area of where they want to go,” Gray said. “This information of STEM can apply to anything it doesn’t have to be engineering or mathematics.”

Clyde Conerly is a quality engineer who also assisted the young men. Conerly is expecting to get an engineering degree from North Central University.

This is why Conerly said teaching children while they’re young is essential.

“Bringing them to reality that starts at age,” Conerly said. “You can start as early as possible and decide what you want to do. Who knows the next president of the United States, the next astronaut could be sitting in our church.”

See a spelling or grammar error in this story? Report it to our team HERE .

Copyright 2024 WLOX. All rights reserved.

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