Education leaders push equitable approach to tech

Panelists say nurture the next generation of tech workers already here

By Kayleigh Van Wyk she said.

As economic development officials position Grand Rapids to become a tech hub in the Midwest, some leaders are hoping for an equitable learning approach to the transformation.

While a key part of The Right Place Inc.’s tech strategy for Grand Rapids involves attracting companies and recruiting outside talent, panelists at the annual Confluence Thought Series event focused on another part of the plan: nurturing the next generation of tech workers already in the region.

“When it comes to tech in Grand Rapids, a lot of conversations are around creating the space that the industry wants it to be and less around investing in the people who are here,” Marcel Price, chief inspiration architect at The Diatribe, said during a panel held April 19 at the Grand Valley State University DeVos Center for Interprofessional Health.

“I think that as a community, we need to really invest in our schools — like really, really invest in our schools, invest in our communities, and invest in our children if we’re going to be able to cultivate an environment that’s going to get us to where we want to go,” he said.

Speaking during a panel discussion focused on innovation, policy and skills for the tech industry, Price said that as a leader of an organization that partners with schools to empower students through art and creativity, he hopes for some changes to the current education curriculum to foster skills-oriented learning in the classroom.

“I see people and organizations and after-school programs that are teaching young people about technology and giving them access to a camera or a computer or sound design,” Price said. “Can we bring tech right into our classrooms? I would love to see us be able to do that in schools so that when (students) go to higher education, if they choose to go, they’re mastering those skills they’ve already been doing in practice.”

At the same time, Price also advocated for better pay for teachers with tech expertise, posing the question of why anyone would “want to be a teacher to be poor and then struggle to teach?”

Price was joined on the panel by Grand Rapids Public Schools Superintendent Leadriane Roby and Joanne Roehm, senior director of strategy and operations at WMUx, an educational systems design team at Western Michigan University.

Roby experienced the COVID-19 pandemic during her tenure as assistant superintendent of a public school system in Minnesota before moving to Michigan. The pandemic provided a significant learning opportunity for teachers in her school system to “use various platforms and … bring instruction in a different way because you couldn’t be in person,”

“That was a tipping point for most educational systems because it required those who were intimidated by tech to embrace it because there was no other way to communicate,” Roby said. “The benefit of that has been a paradigm shift. You are seeing in classrooms where young people and staff are navigating technology, they are able to communicate in so many different ways.”

For education, cost often serves as one of the primary barriers to adopting new technology. To help overcome that hurdle, WMUx works to build relationships with K-12 partners to cultivate one-onone relationships with students to create roadmaps for success in college and post-secondary education.

Roehm acknowledged the importance of working together and breaking down silos when it comes to effecting change.

“(W)e are really great at operating in silos. … We do our thing and we do it one way,” Roehm said. “Change is difficult and moves at a glacial pace, and that’s not going to cut it if we all want to meet the needs of our community and our students moving forward.”

Roehm also advocated for exposing young students to different types of tech careers, which may require some rethinking of normal narratives.

“One thing that we are working with a lot is manufacturing and this sort of resurgence of the trades. And I’m looking forward to someone coming up with a new definition for that because … a lot of us don’t have positive connotation around that,” Roehm said. “In addition to exposing our children to all of these different career paths and opportunities, we have to be having those conversations with parents and families and helping them change narratives about what their child can do and be and how they can succeed, even if that’s really uncomfortable for them.”

The panelists also discussed the importance of making space for conversation and bringing new ideas to the table. In terms of equity, Roby discussed the work as an often uncomfortable and complicated process, but necessary for the kind of transformation officials are hoping for with the tech hub strategy for Grand Rapids.