Building a bridge between career and technical education and academic classrooms isn’t just about compliance with Perkins funding — it’s about preparing students for a workforce that demands high-level analytical thinking and adaptive problem-solving.

In our latest episode, SREB Instructional Coach Deb Cullen joins the podcast to discuss how we can erase the line between “shop” and “theory” to create a more powerful learning experience.

The Myth of the Extra Step

A common concern for CTE teachers is the feeling that they are being asked to do one more thing by adding reading or math to their labs. Deb is quick to debunk this: the academics are already there.

• Embedded Literacy: CTE textbooks often sit at a 14th-grade reading level. Literacy in these courses isn’t about Shakespeare; it is about how students navigate complex technical manuals and informational texts to solve real-world problems.
• Math and Science in Action: From the chemistry of hair coloring in cosmetology to the physics of heat and liquids in culinary arts, high-level science is the backbone of CTE.
• The Goal of Integration: Integration isn’t about adding more math; it’s about helping students understand the math and science already present in their chosen career field to enhance their professional performance.

Teaching for Transfer: Scenarios and AI

How do we move students from simply memorizing facts to being career ready? Deb highlights the importance of teaching for transfer — the ability to take knowledge from one context and apply it to a new problem.

One of her top practical tips is the use of real-world scenarios. Before a student touches expensive equipment or a live client, they should be challenged with “what if” situations that test their understanding of the academic topic and applying the tool or process they are demonstrating.

For example, Deb talked about how it can be a difficult process to go from teaching the mechanics of dying hair in cosmetology to actually allowing a student to try it on a human head. Deb suggested a series of scenarios that the student could run through to prove their knowledge.

• What would you do if the customer already had processed hair?
• Would it matter if they had it professionally done or did it themselves?
• What if they had mature hair that may have had gray under the process?

Questions like these allow students to test their analytical and transfer skills before they use the equipment or work with real clients.

Pro Tip: Use AI tools as a thought partner to generate these scenarios. By giving an AI tool a specific role — such as a veteran cosmetologist — teachers can quickly generate high-fidelity, standard-aligned problems for students to solve.

The Power of Teacher Collaboration

The most effective way to blur the lines between CTE and academics is through intentional collaboration. Deb suggests several strategies for school leaders and teachers:

• Erase the Lines in PD: Facilitate professional development where academic and CTE teachers work together on shared goals rather than in separate silos.
• The Find a Friend Method: Teachers don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Sometimes the best integration starts with a CTE teacher and an English or math teacher simply sitting down, looking at their standards and finding the natural overlaps.
• Cross-Curricular Projects: Schools that implement school-wide themes — like flooding in Savannah—allow students to see how their history, science and technical skills all converge to solve a single community problem.

Questioning: The Ultimate Superpower

At the heart of analytical thinking is the ability to ask the right questions. Deb encourages teachers to shift their focus from giving answers to cultivating a culture of questioning. By using tools like questioning charts, educators can move students from basic knowledge retrieval to creative and predictive thinking.

As Deb reminds us, today’s students are entrepreneurial and adaptive. By integrating academics with real-world technical skills, we aren’t just teaching them a trade; we are teaching them how to navigate a rapidly changing world.

You can listen to Deb Cullen’s full podcast episode wherever you find your podcasts by searching for The Making Schools Work Podcast.

Hearing More From Deb Cullen

You can listen to the full conversation on the podcast.

And if you haven’t already, you can listen to Deb on past episodes of the podcast too:

• Teaching With Purpose: How Academics and CTE Work Together at Career Academies of Decatur
• How Career Academies of Decatur Redefined High School: Building a CTE-Focused Model for Every Student
• 3 C’s of Vocabulary: Building Connections, Categories and Context

You can also hear more from Deb at the Making Schools Work Conference in Nashville this July.