Creative Strategies for Career Connected Learning

Youth Voice in the Media Classroom

Mytoan Nguyen-Akbar and Rick Reyes

Our expanding recognition of the increasing interconnectedness of technology and creativity should lead us to build on our strengths in computer-related creative occupations. These occupations, with their high wages (more on that in subsequent sections) and steady growth, may be avenues for job seekers who wish to use their creative skills while enjoying the high earnings that technology jobs offer.

Scattered through this report are career profiles that are based upon interviews conducted in Summer 2018. We conducted more interviews than could be included in this report, but all insights went into this report and analysis.

The following recommendations emerged from survey responses which included direct quotes from youth, collected anonymously, about what youth enjoy in their media arts Career and Technical Education (CTE) courses and their career aspirations as they relate to the arts. They are supplemented by insights generated by in depth interviews conducted with creatives in media arts occupations in Seattle.

  • Media arts foster a well-rounded education
  • Media arts skills to build opportunities for self-expression
  • Create a more explicit pathway for career connected learning in media arts
  • Allow for semi-structured assignments and flexibility for creativity in media arts course assignments to boost intrinsic motivations
  • Make more space for diversity, inclusion, and culturally-responsive learning in the media arts

Source: Executive Summary