DWYER: Take technical training and education back to a polytechnic future

When Levi Hinderlider was hired right out of high school as one of only four leadership development trainees at Toyota Industrial Equipment Manufacturing, it confirmed that his Brownstown Central High School teacher had prepared him with the skills to succeed in an advanced manufacturing career.

Levi’s teacher, Dan Schwartz, works with multiple industry partners to ensure his students learn precisely what is required to gain employment with manufacturing and logistics companies. His students engage in hands-on learning designed with industry partners, and visit companies to gain a personal understanding of advanced manufacturing and logistics.

Dan and his industry partners are practicing—and proving effective—components of an educational model from the 1800s: polytechnic.

The polytechnic approach is gaining renewed interest among U.S. educators, policymakers and business leaders, and has been the subject of conversations among these same groups in Indiana.

As the polytechnic model of education resurfaced, a variety of definitions and implementation strategies followed. At its core, polytechnic incorporates applied, hands-on learning so students master skills that are expected by industry and are directly applicable to a technical career. These skills often are taught through a combination of classroom instruction and work-based learning opportunities, and can include apprenticeships and internships.

A hallmark of most polytechnic models is a strong relationship between educators and industry leaders who partner to design and deliver technical education for ready-to-work and ready-to-succeed students.

The time is ripe for polytechnic thinking in Indiana and to continue a focus on career-oriented technical education models that are working. A high school diploma is no longer enough to succeed in today’s high-tech industrial workforce. Not necessarily a four-year degree, but postsecondary education or skills and industry-recognized credentials are necessary for employment.

The Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce projects that 65 percent of the jobs by 2022 will demand some postsecondary education and training. Today, Indiana’s postsecondary degree attainment and credentialing programs fall well short of what is needed.

Nationally, in advanced manufacturing alone, about 600,000 good-paying jobs remain stubbornly open because candidates lack the right skills. The need for technical talent is real and will only continue to increase.

The encouraging news is that Indiana has the Hire Technology program, a collaboration offered by Conexus Indiana and Ivy Tech Community College. This initiative has been adopted by more than 130 high schools and has enrolled more than 1,750 students this year.

What makes this offering even more exciting is that every school/location is partnered with and supported by at least one Indiana company. These industry partners are working directly with local high schools and teachers to develop curriculum and host students for hands-on learning experiences, proof that there is an appetite among industry to work with schools to prepare today’s and tomorrow’s technical talent.

Project Lead The Way is another program that equips high school students with science, technology, engineering and math skills. And Purdue University recently launched the Purdue Polytechnic Institute to develop students ready to work and succeed right out of college.

Polytechnic programs can be a new and old way of preparing students for high-tech career success. The nation somehow lost track of this successful approach, and as industry continues to evolve and rely on high-tech workers, we need to create an educational system that re-engages industry, partners them with educators, and arms students with the skills for success.•

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Dwyer is president and CEO of Conexus Indiana, a not-for-profit promoting manufacturing and logistics. Send comments on this column to ibjedit@ibj.com.