Reimagine a New Vision for Education Through Career, Community, and Life-Connected Learning
As I walk through schools today, I can't help but notice the stark contrast between what's happening in our classrooms and what's happening in the real world. After 30-plus years in education, I've watched technology reshape entire industries, witnessed our economy transform at breakneck speed, and seen the definition of career success completely rewritten. Nevertheless, many of our classrooms still operate on principles from decades ago. Yes, we've made strides – I've lived through years of education where we've seen promising initiatives and bold attempts to reform the system. But as I network with others in education, including community leaders, teachers, educational leaders, and students, I continue to ask myself, Are we shifting fast enough and effectively enough to meet the needs of our students? And if not, what's holding us back?
As the youngest of three boys, with my two high achieving brothers easily finding their way to college, I found myself sitting in school constantly staring off into space and wondering if I would ever use what my teachers were telling me. I enjoyed the social aspect of school, sports and all the extracurricular fun, but my educational journey was filled with struggle and I didn’t see a connection to the educational system or my purpose. I know I was supported by some great teachers. But truth be told, I just couldn't see the relevance of school.
Since entering education in 1992, I have not only seen a lot, but I’ve also learned a lot. Working in special education with students facing behavioral challenges taught me early on that relevance and real-world connection aren't just buzzwords – they're essential elements of meaningful education. Through my roles as a teacher, administrator, and disruptor in education, I've seen firsthand how career-connected learning can transform student engagement and generate commitment to a meaningful system.
My journey has led me to important questions: What are we doing? What have we identified as the purpose of education, and are we really achieving it? Given what we are seeing, I believe our students have told us the answer: we need to change our system to prioritize clear connections between learning and meaningful career, community, and life readiness opportunities.
Transforming the Educational System
So, how do we transform educational systems to re-engage students in their learning journey? Our system, from the classroom to schools, follows a linear, product-focused approach – what can be called an “A to Z” process. We begin by defining desired outcomes or initiatives, then present these to teachers with prescribed implementation methods, ultimately fostering a compliance-driven culture. This approach, while organized, stifles innovation and authentic engagement. We do the same in classrooms. Moving away from this structure requires not only a fundamental shift in mindset but sustained commitment and leadership.
To prepare students for career, community, and life success, we must shift away from our compliance-driven, product-first mindset toward an approach that emphasizes the learning process itself. This transformation begins by creating collaborative environments where educators can discover issues and explore, innovate, and determine solutions they will commit to. The journey starts with that crucial question about our purpose – What is our Why? – but discovering this purpose is not a single event; it’s an evolving process that requires commitment.
In his 2023 TEDx Talk, Redefining the Goal of Education, Kevin Fleming presents a fundamental truth: "How we define the goal always defines the way in which we play the game.” This statement challenges us not only to examine our educational journey and current expectations but also to question our fundamental assumptions about the primary purpose of education. As we stand at this crossroads, Fleming's insight forces us to confront an essential question: Have we been playing the right game all along, or is it time to redefine our goals to serve our students' futures?
When collaborating with other leaders around this work, I begin with a provocative question: "What game are you playing?" While this initially draws puzzled looks, it quickly leads us to ask, Well, what IS the fundamental purpose of an educational system? At first, we hear familiar responses about preparing students to be productive citizens. However, as we dig deeper and examine our communities' and students’ needs, the conversation evolves toward a comprehensive goal: Preparing students for career readiness. This shift in thinking reveals an important truth – when students are career-ready, they're equipped with skills to thrive in their communities, pursue additional education for upskilling as needed, and navigate life successfully. In essence, career readiness becomes the foundation for lifelong success and community engagement.
When decision-makers discuss current needs and address challenges, their discussions result in carefully crafted strategic plans and new initiatives. While these approaches showcase impressive detail and organization, they frequently default to traditional achievement metrics – test scores, college focus, and academic benchmarks. Even though the past decade has seen increased recognition of career readiness and real-world skill development, these crucial elements remain secondary considerations.
The dominant narrative prioritizes conventional academic achievement over authentic career preparation and practical life skills. This focus on traditional metrics creates a disconnect between our stated goals of preparing students for future success and our measurement of progress. Despite acknowledging that career readiness deserves equal standing, our planning and implementation strategies reflect an educational system more comfortable with standardized achievement than real-world preparation.
How Collective Wisdom Transforms Education
Success comes through solutions emerging from the collective wisdom and purposeful investment from everyone involved – from teachers and administrators to community partners and industry leaders. This inclusive approach ensures that educational transformation reflects diverse perspectives and creates authentic pathways for student success in careers, community engagement, and life. By embracing this collaborative journey rather than rushing to predetermined outcomes, we develop deeper understanding and “believe-in,” ultimately creating sustainable and meaningful change in our educational system.
At the core of this change process is the need to reflect on the strategic plan and approach we have designed initially. When we dare to examine whether the goals we have set are primarily leading us toward an emphasis on academic skill building, we can understand that the way we are approaching education contributes significantly to our students' disengagement. This initial reflective step in identifying purpose allows for a deeper commitment to transformational change among all educators.
When we bring together those responsible for developing impactful processes, remarkable outcomes can emerge. Educators come to realize that education extends far beyond just academic skill development, making them more open to a more meaningful approach that focuses on career and community-connected learning.
What return on investment can schools expect when they pause to reimagine their educational approach? The answer lies in the exciting results of students understanding their purpose, aligning their priorities, and engaging in their educational process – owning their journey. One school found that this process-oriented approach, rather than seeking quick fixes, creates sustainable change and meaningful engagement beyond checkbox compliance.
Drew Halbesma, Superintendent of Delavan-Darien School District in Wisconsin, exemplifies their reimagining process through a "Do Simple Better" philosophy. His district has streamlined their approach by focusing on three aligned components:
The Why: Career, Community, and Life Readiness (CCLR) as fundamental purpose
The How: Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) as implementation vehicle
The What: Portrait of a Graduate as measurable outcomes
The three elements were intentionally developed and aligned after the team collectively identified their fundamental purpose. This process was carried out over several months by a dedicated educational and community group. Through this process, they also developed their Portrait of a Graduate, the catalyst to successful educational transformation. Their investment enabled educators to gain a deeper understanding of the purpose behind their work, establish clearer pathways for implementation, and recognize the importance of transitioning to a career and community learning approach.
This straightforward yet impactful strategy illustrates how a strategic purpose can drive meaningful educational transformation, encouraging teachers to engage in career and community-connected opportunities for their students.
Specifically in the Delavan-Darien Phoenix Middle School, classrooms are undergoing a shift to foster readiness for careers, community engagement, and life skills. Those invested have recognized the need for change within classrooms. This transformation is leading to increased student engagement and a stronger understanding of the durable skills necessary for future success. The shift among teachers was sparked by district and community leadership engaging in clarifying their purpose, which has initiated a process of reimagining and revisioning their educational approach.
A common hurdle Delavan-Darien overcame was to determine their investment through understanding their fundamental purpose, rather than moving their work through traditional initiatives and educational processes. They transformed their system into an effective career readiness structure by distinguishing between priorities that teachers would focus on and supporting those teachers through resources that would increase their emotional investment.
It required hard work to understand what was being asked of their teachers on a daily basis, as well as the initial expectations set at the beginning of the year. Leaders and teachers discovered that much of their work was aligned with traditional educational needs and approaches. While these are important, they tend to emphasize compliance. By reimagining the process and approach to include their fundamental purpose – their Why – and by ensuring that all voices were heard, educators were able to shift their thinking. When leaders empowered the teachers, who were directly involved in the work, to determine their strategic goals, transformation began to take place.
The investment of time and effort has offered many benefits for students at Phoenix Middle School. The key was aligning their strategic priorities with their fundamental purpose, building upon insights gained during this discovery journey. As an example of this work, they are seeing a shift within the classroom to move towards a “Z-to-A” approach. This approach, which Hannah Grady Williams, founder of d'Skills, integrates into her Impact First Learning program, prioritizes a focus on creating a deeper learning process that has a lasting impact on our students.
Rather than following a rigid ‘A-to-Z’ playbook, Grady demonstrates how students can achieve ambitious goals through reverse engineering – starting with problems and working to find solutions and needed resources. Through these types of innovative processes, Delavan-Darien has successfully created learning experiences that combine collaborative problem-solving, durable skill development, and profession-based literacy in meaningful ways. This work would not be possible if they didn’t start at the beginning, revisioning and reimaging their Why.
The amazement of this transformation was recognized by a specific teacher, Pedro Vasquez Jimenez, a bilingual ELA teacher at Delavan-Darien Phoenix Middle School. He organized a two-week design sprint where his students were tasked with creating a prototype for a fictitious publishing company. The students worked in collaborative teams to design a graphic novel. Notably, one student, who was out sick for the day, participated virtually with their team. This student engaged actively in the process, even though it wasn't required, because they were genuinely interested and found the project exciting and very relevant.
Take the Step to Take the Risk!
When asked about the greatest challenge in developing a career readiness educational system, Cajon Valley School District Superintendent David Miyashiro in San Diego, California, offered a striking observation: "It doesn't exist." This simple yet profound statement acknowledged that true transformation would require building something entirely new, not just modifying existing structures. Through a methodical, process-driven journey, Cajon Valley has pioneered a new educational paradigm. By focusing on their fundamental Why and maintaining simplicity in their approach, they developed a powerful vision that resonates with modern educational needs: “Creating happy kids, living in healthy relationships, on a path to gainful employment.”
This example, along with Delavan-Darien School District, exemplifies the results of great schools doing great work. Taking these important and crucial steps will have deep and long-lasting impacts on our educational system, allowing our students to not only find relevance, but to find their purpose in their educational journey.
Scott Carr is the Career, Community, & Life Readiness Consultant at CESA 2, WI. He has dedicated the past decade to serving districts in career and community readiness initiatives throughout Wisconsin. His expertise includes supporting school districts with a career, community, and life readiness approach. Scott's passion centers on creating transformative educational experiences that connect students to meaningful career and community opportunities. Before his current leadership role, Scott accumulated nearly 20 years of experience in Special Education, complemented by his Master's degrees in Special Education, Educational Leadership, and Instruction & Curriculum that strengthened his ability to help districts redefine student success.