(Back to the index) (Back to the beginning of this issue) © 2009 CORD	Research has shown that many students learn best when information is presented contextually, that is, in contexts that are familiar to students and in which they can perceive the usefulness of the information being presented. For three decades CORD has been an advocate of an approach to contextual teaching that it calls the REACT methodology—for relating, experiencing, applying, cooperating, and transferring. (For more, see Michael Crawford, Contextual Teaching and Learning, CORD, 1999.) Many teachers who have used the REACT methodology tell us that it works, but in education we normally try to get hard (measurable) data to support our beliefs and theories. That is why my colleagues and I at CORD are happy to share some excellent news. In 2005 CORD was asked by the Embraer Education and Research Institute (IEEP in Portuguese) to plan and implement a career pathway project in pre-engineering. (Embraer is a large Brazilian aircraft manufacturer; see www.embraer.com.br.) The project was implemented at the Colégio Eng° Juarez Wanderley (CEJW), a high school owned by IEEP in São José dos Campos, State of São Paulo, Brazil. Students at the school must go through a tough admission process and must have attended public school for the previous four years of their education. CEJW students are very committed to their studies and love to be challenged, so we knew from the beginning that a challenging curriculum and an efficient teaching methodology would be a must. CORD proposed to put in place a comprehensive pre-engineering program consisting of three components: Curriculum enrichment. This would consist of 800 hours (four semesters) on top of the students’ regular high school timetable. (High school in Brazil spans three years.) Textbooks, references manuals, and curriculum guides were provided. The enrichment strands were integrated with regular school subjects. Students took courses such as Personal Development for Career Success, Principles of Technology, Computer and Internet Tools for Engineers, Electricity/Electronic/Digital, and Materials Nature and Technology. Students were asked to apply the scientific method via business- and industry-oriented projects. Contextual teaching. For most teachers, this type of teaching is new and unfamiliar. Thus, the teachers at the school underwent an intensive training process based on the REACT methodology. This process produced an excellent team of teachers who have been vital to the success of the project. Enabling prime movers. Even with excellent curriculum enrichment materials and well-trained contextual teachers, two more components were required to make the project a success—strong leadership at the school level and strong business and industry support from IEEP. Strong but flexible leadership at the school enabled the key players (teachers, area coordinators, and school administrators) to align their efforts. Ongoing support from IEEP provided curriculum input, laboratory supplies, and assistance in conducting the annual student-run career fair. So far we have talked about the project, but what about the results? That's the best part of this article. It is very rewarding to share with you the results of the first cohort of students. Please keep in mind that Brazil has very rigorous university admission standards. Any student who wants to continue his or her education at a university must pass a difficult college entrance exam. According to a news release from Embraer, all of the students who graduated in December 2008, including the CORD "pre-engineering students," have been accepted by at least one undergraduate institution. But we still haven't gotten to the best part of this article. During the course of the project, we collected information from the participating students and teachers. The teachers were very happy with their students' reaction to the new courses and different style of communication between teachers and students. However, the best sources of information were the students, who were the final beneficiaries of the teachers' efforts. In candid interviews (with no teacher or other school authority) we had serious but informal conversations with "pre-engineering" students. This was extremely rewarding. The students looked upon the program as a life-changing experience that would open many doors for them in the future. Even though the students had to stay in school two extra hours a day for four semesters, without getting a grade, they were very grateful to the school for giving them the opportunity to enrich their knowledge with skills and attitudes that are useful outside the classroom. Congratulations to these students! So now you see why this is the best part of the article. With this project, we have qualitative results along with hard data supporting our career pathway model. We received not only favorable reviews from students and teachers but irrefutable confirmation in the form of successful college admission tests. These kids laid a solid foundation of knowledge, skills, and attitudes that (in our view) can be acquired only through contextual teaching and teachers who understand the methodology. Contextual curricula and teachers are a perfect fit for the knowledge-based workplace that today’s students will soon enter. In summary, as one school in Brazil has demonstrated, a contextual approach to curriculum writing and teaching can enable committed teachers to reach every student, no exceptions. Agustin Navarra, CORD, and Paulo Tadeu de Mello Lourenção, Embraer, have coauthored a paper titled "Career Pathways Approach to Engineering: Articulating High School Education to the University and to the World of Work." They will present the paper at the COBEM 2009 20th International Congress of Mechanical Engineering, in November 2009 in Brazil. Back to the index     © 2009 CORD	Agustin Navarra is vice president of international projects at CORD. For more information, contact Agustin at anavarra@cord.org.