Career and Technical Education (CTE) is changing – and it’s more important than ever. CTE, what we used to think of as “Vo-Tech,” no longer relegates students to strictly vocational tracks. Now, CTE courses are for all students, providing powerful instruction for learners on any track – academic, vocational, or both. CTE prepares them to make informed decisions about their futures, practice employability skills, and transform their interests into viable careers. It helps students understand themselves, the world around them, and their place in it.

High school is simply too late to offer students the opportunity to begin this critical exploration and skills practice. Here’s why middle school is the ideal time to offer an introduction to CTE:

Middle school is all about self-discovery.

Middle school is a time of uncovering who you are, deciding who you want to be, and finding what you’re passionate about. That’s why being a pre-teen is sometimes so confusing. (Just ask the middle school teachers in your district!) CTE meets students where they are, providing structured, safe learning time for students to ask and seek answers to questions about their futures.

Early exposure to career clusters can also help negate harmful, limiting stereotypes that students may encounter later about who can do what jobs. For example, good CTE instruction could feature case studies of women in STEM careers or BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) in leadership positions.

CTE boosts motivation and engagement.

Many teachers have voiced increased concerns about students’ motivation to learn, noting a dip in engagement.

CTE can both engage and motivate middle school students. A strong career and technical curriculum engages students with collaborative group work, project-based learning, hands-on activities in a real-world context, diverse industry case studies, and rich multimedia resources. Teen hood is notorious for its tendency toward self-absorption. Middle school CTE invites this very developmentally normal self-absorption, even embraces it, and channels it toward productive self-reflection, exploration, and learning. It motivates students by placing important skill development and knowledge acquisition in the context of what interests many teens the most: their own futures!

CTE in middle school prepares students to make informed decisions in high school.

Middle school CTE doesn’t require students to commit to a linear path. Instead, it prepares them to make informed decisions along a winding, ever-changing path to growth. It gives them the knowledge and critical thinking skills they need to decide what classes, clubs, internships, apprenticeships, summer jobs, and post-high school experiences are right for them.

We ask high school graduates to make enormous decisions that impact the course of their lives — we owe it to them to prepare them with more knowledge about the world, themselves, and their place in it. A strong middle school CTE program does just that.

Middle school students are ready to develop valuable, career-relevant skills.

CTE should start in middle school because middle school students are developmentally ready for it. They’re prepared to practice important soft skills that will set them up for success in high school, college, and careers. A strong CTE program prioritizes practice opportunities for soft skills as well as critical academic skills and places them in the context of real-world careers.

CTE boosts student agency.

All these factors — time for self-discovery, career-relevant skills practice, and motivating and engaging lessons about real-world careers — contribute to an increased sense of ownership over learning. CTE empowers middle school students to continue developing a sense of self, carve out their own direction, and find confidence in their abilities. When students can see how the work they do in school every day propels them on along a long-term path to becoming who they want to be, they’re positioned to take ownership of their grades, their growth, and their futures.

Your staff will thank you.

Teaching a career explorations course to middle school students is simply fun. Introductory CTE courses are very personal in nature – as students learn about themselves and think about their futures, teachers will find plenty of opportunities to build meaningful relationships. Middle school-level CTE also gives teachers a space to bring their own practical experiences to bear for students to relate to, and a chance to tell their own career story. Cross-collaboration between teachers can even lead to real-world examples for work in other subjects, potentially boosting motivation across the school.

For more on our middle CTE program, Career Explorations, see, here.

Pat Keeney is the lead responsible for the K-12 Career Education portfolio at McGraw Hill. As a strategic design expert, Pat has helped numerous organizations develop programs that locally, regionally, and globally serve the educational needs of schools and communities in 5 different decades. Pat’s efforts have helped organizations like NASA, Stride, and McGraw Hill connect with teachers and students to deliver outstanding highly effective educational experiences. At McGraw Hill, Pat’s team of talented professionals share in helping create best in class, print and digital products that promote strong student achievement and support teachers.