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Navigating Our Way is the national movement evolving traditional schooling in ways that give our students the opportunity, support, and resources to pursue their passions in the trades—and a shot at success in the decades to come. To that end, we must rapidly change how adults view the trades. Adults who might steers students away from the trades. Adults who make decisions about funding vocational education. Adults who vote for local, state and national programming that can better support students heading into the trades. As Ken Robinson states, “Many highly talented, brilliant, creative people think they’re not—because the thing they were good at at schools wasn’t valued, or was actually stigmatized."

That must change. 
And quickly.

 
 
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Goals

The initiative is setting out to work with diverse range of stakeholders—including policymakers, funders, researchers, educators, educational leaders, industry and the students we serve—to accelerate the change needed to address the urgent issues at hand. To that end, we will collaborate to:

  • Change the sometime negative perception of the trades - to make it a more attractive and supported choice for young people, as well as the adults that can influence and support their path forward.

  • Broaden the definition of what is smart showing that the trades is just as robust and intellectually rigorous equal to any pathway.

  • Expand successful models of education that leverage each student's interests into practical and valuable skills in order to develop their sense of identity, confidence, and purpose.

  • Invigorate work in and outside schools around the skilled trades. 

  • Build one-to-one relationships between students and mentors, so students can acquire hands-on and collaborative working skills.

  • Connect students to a larger community of practice - so they can develop critical networks for building social, professional, and economic capital.

  • Encourage young people to follow their interests - and provide practical tools to support those decisions - including new technologies to increase mentorship and delivery of customized resources. 

  • Show the civic value of young people contributing their skills to society at large - and helping move our nation to a better place.