Critical Safety Considerations to Support CTE

As this edition of Techniques focuses on infrastructure in the context of career and technical education (CTE), we examine why safety needs to be embedded at the core of CTE planning to foster long-term success. Within the context of this article, infrastructure refers to “structures and resources that are mobilized by school systems to enable teachers’ efforts to provide, maintain and improve instruction” (Shirrell et al., 2019). While there are many important infrastructure components needed for high-quality CTE programs, safety is one that affects all students and instructors. Safety practices that students learn in CTE programs often transfer to the workplace and postsecondary education settings (Love & Roy, 2022; Threeton & Evanoski, 2014).