|
|
|
|
What are the Practical and Applied Arts (PAA)?
"The practical and applied arts should include but not be restricted to the subjects within industrial arts, home economics, business education, and technical-vocational education. They are intended to acquaint students with the day to day aspects of adult life, including employment, family responsibilities, and leisure. These courses are typically delivered in regular classrooms, or shops, but are sometimes delivered best by outside agencies or through the use of community and distance education resources. " (p.ix)
The Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation Practical and Applied Arts (PAA) policy does not define what a PAA course is, but does state:
"Practical and applied arts courses are an essential element of the basic education of all students and must continue to be an integral part of the curriculum in order to ensure that all students obtain a well-rounded education. Practical and applied arts courses compliment academic courses by integrating theory with practice and giving students an opportunity to apply what they learned in a concrete fashion. "
(STF, Policy Statement on the Practical and Applied Arts, 1995)
Figure 1
Figure 2
The opportunities available to students under the Practical and Applied Arts umbrella are numerous. The courses span everything from basic cooking skills to the latest in multimedia communication. Students and teachers will find a multitude of choices. The choices range from developing personal use skills to gaining entry level employment skills or pursuing post-secondary education or training. All students have the opportunity to explore and develop career pathways.
Practical and Applied Arts curricula link many new technologies with traditional technologies. Instructional resources support both Middle Level and Secondary Level learning and accommodate a wide range of learning styles. A diversity of approaches greatly enhances the learning potential of students.
Strengthening the interface between secondary education and post-secondary education in the PAA will benefit students. Articulation is the formal process to link secondary and post-secondary programs in a manner that facilitates student progress. Effective articulation results in improved information for educational and career planning, and improved access and preparation for success in post-secondary institutions and programs. Articulation can facilitate recruitment and retention in programs. Articulation can reduce duplication of learning activities and lower costs. Formal articulation agreements may include consideration for entrance as well as transfer credit or advanced standing.
Aim
The overall aim of Practical and Applied Arts is to reinforce essential theory and practice, and to apply a variety of skills in context. The goals describe the types of skills. The foundational objectives of each set of curriculum guidelines describe the context(s). The PAA area will provide important learning opportunities for all students to apply technical knowledge and to improve technology, planning, personal, and teamwork skills.
Goals
The Practical and Applied Arts are an integral part of the K-12 program of studies and play a significant role in developing the potential of all students. They contribute to attaining the Goals of Education for Saskatchewan, specifically by:
Foundational Objectives
The aim and goals of the Practical and Applied Arts area link to a series of statements called Foundational Objectives. Foundational Objectives express the major general outcomes for students who take PAA courses. These statements are reflective of various PAA subject perspectives and include Common Essential Learnings statements. They are stated at the beginning of each of the modules within the PAA courses.
The Ministers' Response to the High School Review (1994) encourages the design of a program of Secondary Level studies that addresses effective transitions and experiences for students, to move from Middle to Secondary Levels and beyond. The document encourages the inclusion of opportunities for community and career exploration and it recommends enhancing the development of opportunities for apprenticeship.
The Practical and Applied Arts (PAA) provide effective ways of addressing these recommendations as part of a broad and balanced program of studies. The new PAA curriculum expands opportunities for apprenticeship through the revision of existing courses and the introduction of new guidelines in designated trades areas. Formal articulation between the PAA curricula and post-secondary education and training programs is in place. Articulation agreements in the designated trades are supported by the Apprenticeship and Trade Certification Commission in Saskatchewan.
The Interim K-12 Transition-to-Work Guidelines (1995) suggest that effective transition-to-work (TTW) programs incorporate three components: 1) a school-based component, 2) a workplace component, and 3) linkage components that connect school-based learning with the workplace component. Several issues are identified in these interim guidelines including teacher/instructor certification/qualification and articulation.
The Transition-to-Work Guidelines provide suggestions for consideration in the development and implementation of quality transition-to-work programs in Saskatchewan schools. The PAA provide excellent opportunities for the development of knowledge, skills, and abilities throughout the Middle and Secondary Levels. A diverse range of modules, having an inherent philosophy of practical application of the content, enhances the possibilities for incorporating transition-to-work concepts into all courses.
Optional work study components may be included at various levels to support career development concepts and TTW program development. The Work Study Guidelines included in this Handbook provide guidance to school division personnel in incorporating work study, as well as enhancing TTW concepts.
The framework for the PAA includes ten TTW dimensions for integration/incorporation in all PAA courses. These dimensions include:
Integration of these dimensions across the PAA curriculum ensures that students enrolled in the PAA will develop and enhance the skills and abilities they need to make effective transitions from school to work and/or to post-secondary education or training as they become contributing members of (adult) society. The dimensions are described below.
Apprenticeship
Apprenticeship in Saskatchewan is defined very precisely and collaboratively by the Apprenticeship and Trade Certification Commission (ATCC), the Trade Advisory Boards that approve the various Levels of the designated trade curriculum, and SIAST or Regional Colleges that deliver the training.
High School to Apprenticeship: A Link to the Future (2004) defines apprenticeship as
"a recognized system of training which combines on-the-job training and technical training . . . . The apprenticeship program has a long history of recognizing high school courses for advanced standing towards apprenticeship training. This document itemizes several programs which link high school education and apprenticeship programs." (p. iv)
The main approach to introductory apprenticeship recognition for Secondary Level students occurs through provincially-articulated technical-vocational Core Curricula, within the Practical and Applied Arts area of study. Each of these guidelines will outline the specific requirements for this route in Appendix A of those curriculum guidelines. Consult the above document and the ATCC for more details about the following: Apprenticeship Work Placement Program (work study/education), Locally Developed Course Recognition, Integrated High School Apprenticeship Program, the Youth Transition to Work: Industry Sectors Program and Saskatchewan Youth Apprenticeship.
Career Development
A variety of program models for career development have been promoted. Instructional models for career education programs are often designed to follow a career development continuum of awareness, exploration, and experience.
At the awareness level, individuals participate in learning experiences that increase their awareness of career education principles, occupational and career path alternatives, and increase their understanding of personal traits, skills, and preferences that influence career decisions. Career awareness activities include job shadows, field trips, spend-a-days, occupational inventories, etc.
During the exploration levels, individuals expand awareness to explore options that are available to them and that match life career decisions and goals. They begin to make decisions based on career information that they have gathered and knowledge they have about themselves. Exploration activities include job shadows, spend-a-days, career fairs, career monographs, accessing and analyzing labour market information, self-reflection activities, personal and career inventories, etc. Work study in the Practical and Applied Arts may begin at the exploration level. Career and Work Exploration 10, 20, A30, B30 Curriculum Guide (2002) (formerly Work Experience Education) courses provide work-based learning at the exploration level for most of the students enrolled.
At the experiential level, students have made career decisions based on choices available, self-knowledge, and information gathered during awareness and exploration levels. The experiential level is more specialized than the others and may imply occupational skilling or training that provides practice and refinement of skills related to a particular job or occupation. Developmental readiness and maturity are closely linked to the depth of experiential learning in which the individual will be involved. Work study in the PAA may provide students with learnings at the experience level of the career development continuum. Specialized placements in the Career and Work Exploration B30 courses may also provide experiential level learning.
Starting in the Middle Level (grades 6-9) students are required to take a course in Career Guidance every year. During grades 10-12, electives include Life Transitions 20, 30 and Career and Work Exploration 10, 20, A30, B30 Curriculum Guide that replaces the Work Experience Education Guidelines (1989). As well, each PAA curriculum guide will have a core module on career development. Additional career development ideas will be integrated, as appropriate.
Community Project(s)
Community projects are community-based, locally initiated projects or partnerships that involve school-based youth, as volunteers, working under the guidance of local experts (mentors) to apply their knowledge and skills in a practical setting to build community solutions to community/local needs. Usually a needs inventory is conducted and analyzed by school officials to help determine Practical and Applied Arts programming needs in relation to the community. What are the needs? What resources are available? What sound
partnerships can be established and sustained? What labour market trends are specific to the community? How can school-based youth be involved in the projects and make meaningful contributions that apply their knowledge skills and abilities.
The home, the school, and the community are responsible to ensure a quality for all students education. Creative and innovative community projects can rejuvenate a PAA program. These projects and partnerships may go beyond what has traditionally been done – what has been generally expected and accepted. Project ideas are being integrated into PAA curriculum guidelines. STF special subject councils are promoting project ideas. Community-Based Organizations, volunteer groups and service clubs are also a good source of project ideas.
Employability Skills
The Conference Board of Canada (CBoC, 1992) developed a list of goals and objectives promoting general employability, called The Employability Skills Profile. These goals are organized into three categories: academic skills, personal management skills, and, teamwork skills written in the language of business. A companion document from CBoC called Science Literacy for the World of Work was released in 1998. The new Employability Skills 2000+, published in 2000, combines the two original documents in a more comprehensive single approach.
The Goals of Education for Saskatchewan (1984) have been articulated (Figure 1). The means of integrating the goals into curriculum has been provided through the incorporation of the Common Essential Learnings (CELs), a group of six interrelated areas containing understandings, values, skills and processes that are considered important as foundations for learning in all school subjects. (Understanding the Common Essential Learnings, 1988.)
As one of the transition-to-work dimensions, employability skills will be connected and extended in the context of the subject area perspectives and through the incorporation of the CELs within the curriculum guidelines. Recommended Best practices in instruction and learning for employability need to be established and shared as the renewed PAA curricula are actualized. Helping Solve the Employment Puzzle: A Toolbox for Middle and Secondary Levels was developed in partnership with SIAST Woodland. It includes 23 activities designed to incorporate employability skills into Middle and Secondary Level curricula, especially the PAA. It was distributed to middle and secondary schools in 1998.
Entrepreneurial Skills
As a transition-to-work dimension, entrepreneurial skills represent the knowledge, skills, and abilities that will support the development of a career path of cooperative or self-employment or for the pursuit of a personal venture or project. Key features of the processes associated with being entrepreneurial include innovation, critical thinking, structured planning, and risk assessment. Other related skills and abilities for the development of entrepreneurial skills include: self-confidence and self-reliance; innovation, creativity and versatility; energy and task commitment; a strong sense of personal awareness; willingness to take initiative; and, leadership. (Saskatchewan Economic and Co-operative Development (1997), An Implementation Plan to Address Entrepreneurial Education.)
Individuals not interested in self-employment but possessing the knowledge, skills and attitudes of the entrepreneur and employed by another individual or organization are said to be intrapreneurial. Contributing positively and progressively to the organization, the group, or the team is very important to meet societal goals; for example, make use of existing resources in new and creative ways, create new projects, improve old ones, and use innovative ideas (Manfield, 1998, p.26).
Occupational Skills
Occupational training goes beyond the acquisition and refinement of general employability skills and provides for the development of skills specific to an occupational cluster, a specific career within the cluster, or a job within a career path. Occupational training provides more refined training and an enhanced opportunity for employment. It may include certification or recognition by post-secondary education or training institutions or industry.
Pursuit of the apprenticeship pathway in the PAA requires learning some very specific occupational skills either in the school setting or through work study/education. Some certification opportunities have been articulated for PAA courses; for example, Food Safe that may apply to Tourism, Hospitality and Entrepreneurship, Commercial Cooking, or Food Studies. Additional opportunities for articulation with SIAST programs continue to be explored.
Personal Accountability
This dimension is best described as personal accountability and responsibility. It involves the development and recognition of professional and personal ethics, a sense of responsibility, and a willingness to assess and evaluate situations within the framework of Core Curriculum values. It includes the application of Personal and Social Values and Skills, one of the six Common Essential Learnings.
Concrete examples of personal accountability include:
Processing Information
In order to make effective and successful transitions from the world of school to the world of work, individuals must be able to process information effectively and efficiently. Some of the information to be processed is of a personal nature; some is collaborative and is based on personal and professional relationships; and some of the information processed is gleaned from other sources and requires research in order to access and evaluate the content. It includes a recognition of the diversity of media, approaches to gathering and processing information, and the need for support for resource-based learning.
Teamwork
This dimension speaks to the need within the classroom and workplace, and often in other situations, to work together as a team to complete a task, to set a goal and achieve it, or to develop solutions to problems. It defines the need to overcome personal differences, while recognizing and maintaining individual skills and talents, in order to perform tasks as part of a team dedicated to reaching a common/shared outcome.
The employability skills documents mentioned above emphasize the importance of working with others (CBoC, 1992, 1996, 2000):
Work Study and Exploration
The Work Experience Education Guidelines (1989) defined work study as "a practicum component of a regularly-offered academic or practical and applied arts class. The time spent at the work placement(s) should be sufficient to allow the student to become familiar with the work environment and to gain a practical knowledge of the working conditions. The practicum provides part of the credit of the regular class offering." (p. 10) Procedural guidelines to support a modular component of each Practical and Applied Arts is available in this PAA Handbook. The optional module may consist of the delivery of a training plan in the workplace based on key practical learning objectives that may not be observed or demonstrated in the school setting.
The new Career and Work Exploration Curriculum Guide (2002) replaces the 1989 Guidelines. The curriculum framework and content for Career and Work Exploration includes four credits. All other PAA courses have optional work study modules.
|
|
|
|