European ideas on vocational education have become a point of discussion over the past few years here in Minnesota and the rest of the United States. Federal education officials are toning down their push for a four-year degree and instead have begun emphasizing the need for two-year degrees, certificates and other forms of postsecondary education and training.
Yesterday, a group of Minnesota education officials was scheduled to leave for a six-day trip to study Germany’s workforce development program, MinnPost reported. The Germans are known for a “dual education” system that’s heavy on hands-on education and apprenticeships.
Here’s a roster of which Minnesotans are going, according to MinnPost:
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Jan Alswager, chief lobbyist, Education Minnesota
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Ken Bartlett, associate dean, College of Education and Human Development, University of Minnesota
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Cynthia Bauerly, deputy commissioner, Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development
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Jeff Britten, principal, Nashwauk-Keewatin High School
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Dr. Rassoul Dastmozd, president, St. Paul College – A Community and Technical College
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Dr. Sabine Engel, director, DAAD Center for German & European Studies, University of Minnesota
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Twyla Flaws, vice chair, Minnesota Governor’s Workforce Development Council; and human resources manager, Clow Stamping Co.
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State Rep. Tim Mahoney
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State Rep. Kim Norton
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Diane O’Connor, deputy director, Minnesota Office of Higher Education
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Mary Rothchild, senior system director for workforce development, Minnesota State Colleges and Universities
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State Sen. David Senjem
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Julie Sweitzer, executive director, College Readiness Consortium, University of Minnesota.
I do find one minor thing interesting: The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) system — known as the state’s main supplier of vocational-technical education, and the institution making the big push to find out what Minnesota industry wants from its graduates — has only two of the 13 slots. The apparently higher-brow, research-heavy University of Minnesota, meanwhile, has three. (It’s a UMN-sponsored gig.)
Just seems like a disproportionately small percentage for MnSCU, considering the role it’s supposed to be playing in workforce development.