Career and Technical Education

In order to graduate prepared for success and employment in a global economy, career and technical education students must have the workforce readiness skills that will enable them to work on international teams and with people from diverse backgrounds. This workshop will help educators understand global workforce readiness skills, how they link to career pathways, and how to integrate global content into what they are already teaching in CTE classrooms. This workshop can be customized to meet the specific needs of CTE programs and educators and is available in half-day, one-day, or two-day session formats.

The competencies needed to meet the needs of the increasingly international workforce should be woven throughout the CTE curriculum. Building global competence into CTE begins with understanding your students’ diverse experiences through the lens of social justice. This interactive workshop will utilize the Global Social Justice Framework for educators and provide tools to integrate student experience and learning into classes. Featured activities include diversity discussion starters, get to know you bingo, and self-reflection. This workshop is delivered in a half-day session format and may be combined with other workshops.

International skills and expertise will be critical to assist students in not only getting jobs, but in being able to move up the career ladder to mid- and top-tier jobs – even if they do not wish to pursue an explicitly international career pathway. Engaging work-based learning (WBL) experiences that allow students to take part in the diverse workforce and to see the interdependence of the global marketplace is the best way to develop these skills. This workshop will provide an overview of how interconnected we are with the global economy, successful learning components and strategies to internationalize work-based learning, and how to align the learning goals of CTE programs and international workforce needs. Additionally, a focus on key strategies and approaches for faculty to fully engage industry partners in programmatic improvement to ensure global workplace readiness of their program completers can be added as well. It is recommended to include a panel of local employers to discuss local industry connections to the global economy. This workshop is delivered in a half-day or one-day session format (NOTE: We recommend full day if bringing in a local employer panel and including the industry partner focus and creation of an action plan).

Connecting students with international partners allows for authentic global career readiness. This workshop will provide educators with “do it yourself” strategies to make international CTE program connections. Educators will learn to utilize online resources and technology tools, how to find international partners, create lessons or projects together, and implement an international collaboration. Utilizing the Global Collaboration Map tool, participants will leave with a plan for integrating a virtual collaboration into their class. This workshop is delivered in a half-day session format.