Posted by: In our recent post series we discussed the high-performance workforce. We explained the concept for creating a pipeline of skilled employees for the jobs that exist in your region and for bringing new businesses and jobs into your region. We also discussed how to connect these qualified individuals with the position that was a good fit for their skills and abilities (Empowering the High Performance Workforce, Get Informed, Get Educated and Get Employed).
To teach the needed skills and abilities to your citizens and ensure they’re equipped to perform in the hi-demand jobs of today’s hottest growth industries, we suggested using up-to-date information to assist the educational system to focus on tweaking curriculum. However, that’s not always as cut-and-dried as we made it sound.
Today’s hot, hi-tech growth industries require workforces with significant backgrounds in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Unfortunately, excellence in these areas, especially in many urban school districts in America, often carries a negative stigma.
A recent article in Wired Magazine really sums up the issues nicely. Students want nothing more than to fit in, be popular and feel accepted. The stereotype of students who excel in math, science and technology are that they’re nerdy, or not “cool.” This establishes a situation where students associate interest or a desire to excel in these areas with negative things, like being teased, harassed or excluded.
To battle this, many schools are implementing programs to help break out of a youth-owned culture and surround students with positive role models who work to make academic excellence “cool.” Also, these schools are embracing the teaching of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) subjects.
The results speak for themselves. For one group of charter schools in San Diego County called High Tech High, the college attendance figures are 45% higher than other schools teaching students with similar demographics and backgrounds.
Another way parents and teachers have been making STEM subjects more desirable to young people is to get to them early. STEM programs that teach kids to build rockets, dabble in chemistry and conduct their own science experiments have rapidly grown in popularity. These programs, like Champions Science Adventures, Camp inventionth grade and do a fabulous job of instilling a love of science, technology, engineering and math – along with exploration and creative problem-solving – at a very young age. and other similar programs, teach children from kindergarten to 6
What have you done to make STEM learning cool in your region? Have you seen benefits in the workforce and hi-tech jobs coming to your regions? Write us a comment and let us know.
Mon, Nov 2, 2009
Education