To The Lighthouse: Aca-

demic and CTE Teacher

Collaboration in
Career and Tech-
nical Educa-

tion High Schools

Fordham ASGE 7731 • January 31, 2009

J. O’Brien email: jobrien17@mac.com 1

To the Lighthouse: Academic and CTE Teacher Collaboration
in Career and Technical Education High School

1. Teacher Collaboration between CTE/Academic teachers in the Urban Light­

house High School rarely, if ever, takes place.  At Urban Lighthouse HS, teachers 

speak of an initiative in the past between CTE Graphics and Architecture Design 

and ELA which “sank” and became defunct. 

The purpose of  my proposed study is to gain insight as to why the teaching col­

laboration initiative ceased to exist at Urban Lighthouse International a mere 10 

months after its genesis.  By understanding the emic point of view of both CTE 

and Academic teachers, identifying how to overcome the usual challenges faced 

in teacher collaboration and learning the ways in which administrators can nur­

J. O’Brien email: jobrien17@mac.com 2

ture an educationally sound, collaborative environment in the urban setting, we 

can become great agents of change. By sensemaking descriptively and heuristic­

ally about what worked and did not work in the past, we may build and develop 

upon successful CTE/Academic teacher collaboration in an urban high school 

setting. 

2. It is vital that we come to understand the importance of Career and Technical 

Education in the global sense. On a national level, If we can identify how we may 

improve CTE/Academic teacher collaboration in the urban setting we could con­

ceivably raise rigor in the classroom and provide a powerful influx of skilled and 

competitive men and women into the American work force. With a struggling eco­

nomy, America may soon have no choice but to rely on students of the present to 

provide safety and security for the future. 

On a state level, Career and Technical Education reform has been made a “city­

wide priority” by Mayor Michael Bloomberg during his 2008 State of the City Ad­

dress.   Increasingly, the state has also taken an active role in CTE, addressing 

J. O’Brien email: jobrien17@mac.com 3

concern for stakeholders such industry partners  and post secondary institutions. 

(BETHEIL  !3)

On a local level, with the new weight of NYCDOE's Quality Review Rubric, it is 

now more  important than ever to create opportunities for teacher collaboration. 

By examining the emic perspective and understanding why collaboration between 

CTE and Academic teachers was not repeated, we can hopefully avoid the typic­

al stumbling blocks which hinder or prevent true collaboration to occur. Through 

data garnered through the qualitative process, we can begin to create an environ­

ment where both CTE and academic teachers can once again strategically plan 

ways to help close the achievement gap for learners in the urban setting. 

3.  My overarching research questions are: 

What types of successful collaboration between Lighthouse High

School’s CTE and academic teachers occurred in the past? Why was it
successful? Why did it end?

How do teachers currently collaborate in the urban CTE setting? if not,

why?

What are the problems associated with teacher collaboration? Is the

current curricula/programming/ observation/ personality system pro-

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hibitive? If so, what changes can be made to make true CTE and aca-
demic collaboration a reality?

What could be done to inspire teacher collaboration between CTE and

academic teachers?

4. My participants will be Academic and Career and Technical Teachers from 
Lighthouse High School who have successfully collaborated on projects in the 
past. 

Mr. Bruce Tansley- CTE Architecture Design

Mr. Leo Carmichael- CTE Graphic Design

Ms. Stephanie Tweed and Mr. Mende Woolf- ELA Teachers

5. My possible interview questions are:

1.What was your experience and role in the CTE/Academic collabora-

tion in 2006?
2.Do you currently collaborate with an CTE/Academic teacher? If so, ex-
plain
3.What were your first thoughts when you were told that you would be
collaborating with a CTE/Academic Teacher?
4.What made the CTE/academic collaboration in 2005-2006 a success
or failure? Explain your answer.
5.How did you feel when you collaborated with the CTE or academic
teacher?
6.What do you think the ideal CTE and academic collaboration setting
would be?
7.Some people believe that collaboration between CTE and academics
is too expensive to forge. What would you say to them?
8.What could be done to ensure future collaborations would be suc-
cessful?
9.What could Lighthouse HS’s Administration could have done to assist
you in your collaboration?
10.What challenges did you encounter in teacher collaboration?

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 11.Why, in your opinion, did the collaboration cease?
12.Would you say that project collaboration with another teacher is
more difficult/easier than working on your own? Please explain your an-
swer.

13.In your opinion, based upon past experience would you be a) reluct-
ant b) somewhat interested c) interested d) very interested in collabor-
ating with a CTE/academic teacher again? Please explain your answer
in your own words.
14.What factors were overcome in order to make the CTE/Academic
initiative at Lighthouse High School a reality?

6.My library search (key words/topics) that I will use to locate related literature for
my study will be:

Career and Technical Education

Teacher Collaboration
21st Century Learning collaboration
Project based learning collaboration
CTE/ELA initiatives
Qualitative Research in CTE

7.My timeline

Interviews

1/29/09 Interview One: Mr. Bruce Tansley- CTE Architecture Design

2/2/09 Ms. Stephanie Tweed and Mr. Mende Woolf- ELA Teachers

2/3/09 Interview Three: Mr. Leo Carmichael- CTE Graphic Design

8. By examining data from Principal and CTE/academic teacher interviews, re-

view of 2005-2006 curriculum, programming, environment, and administration,
we can identify the ways in which CTE/Academic teacher collaboration can be
implemented and hopefully replicated.

J. O’Brien email: jobrien17@mac.com 6

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