THE VOCATIONAL EDUCATION STUDENT
The culture of the 21st century vocational education student and teacher must change to continue and improve upon their success in America and beyond our boundaries. The vocational education student for the most part, has always been viewed as a person who required more attention and multiple teaching styles to be successful. My experience in vocational education from the early 1970’s as a student and a vocational education teacher has encouraged me to offer changes to vocational education. These changes could enhance the overall success of the vocational student as they begin their career path.
Vocational Education, beginning with the early 1970’s, brought us a student who believed their future would be successful
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So, the non-academic students were encouraged to enroll in vocational education courses as a way to fill part of their day. It would have been a better environment for the high school student if career and general counselors, and vocational education teachers were provided additional training in relation to the importance of at least basic academics and there importance to their future in our society. The lack of training for general, career counselors and vocational teachers in the importance of academics was a significant set back for the vocational education student. In addition, if the educational system could have provided an opportunity to change the culture of vocational education by providing an opportunity for collaboration of vocational and academic faculty to plan a vocational career pathway that would incorporate at the minimum basic academic courses that would begin the process of changing the culture of the vocational student for the future.
The 1980’s vocational education student started to challenge the past and embrace the future. In other words, vocational education students started to participate in the world of academics and began to realize that additional knowledge would include
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Most vocational programs are expensive to operate due to equipment labor costs, for example, a culinary and pastry arts program. Vocational programs can become out dated for their time. Technology has put us into the 21st century where jobs are going to require a minimum knowledge of technology to be successful. The time is now to look to the future and design vocational education to meet the needs of this century and beyond.
So how do we plan for the future of vocational education? The students of vocational education have to be prepared to enter their chosen careers with a sense of accountability, passion, knowledge and the motivation to become productive members of our society at a level of success that meets their desires and wants from life.
The vocational programs have to begin at the minimum of the 9-12 grade level. This grade level of education needs to be where the foundations of success are laid for the students. Some of the examples are importance of skill sets that are necessary for success in life. A student must begin to understand and define success for
The university-statehouse-industrial complex has grown such that the traditional models of primary and secondary education have survived two or three decades beyond their practical use. With a public school system that segregates and discriminates based on, “college material or not?” (Brolin & Loyd, 1989) and a university system that places only one in five graduates in work in their field of major (cite), our educational system has passed its prime and is still training and educating for 20th century job markets that no longer exist. The way that we educate and what we educate for and why needs rethinking from the top down and needs to be more practical and pragmatic. Career and technical education (CTE) consisting of specialized, targeted, and focused vocational programs at all levels do more than just prepare a student for a real job – these programs have practical education and socialization value that conventional classrooms centered around a teacher’s monologue for many do not. Nowhere is the added value of such targeted programs more useful and valuable than in special classes, courses, and CTE training aimed at students with disabilities.
When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up? I wanted to be a veterinarian, but as I grew up and experienced new things, that changed. I was lucky that I discovered this before I went to college, but others aren’t so lucky. Many people spend thousands of dollars on a college degree only to discover later on that they want to change careers. Rather than spend a small fortune and years of time getting a new degree, people can go to a vocational or technical school. These schools are exactly what the people in this country need to get the jobs they deserve. Some of the best schools in this country are technical schools, and we need to stop telling our kids that a traditional college is the only way to a successful career. Although
The presupposition of Preparing for a Career by Derek Bok indicates that vocational majors and liberal arts major should merge to help students prepare for their career. Bok states that vocational college only prepare students for the future, but does not teach students the basic knowledge such as U.S history, English, reading and how to think critically and understand what one’s learning. The three archetypes that exemplify what college should do to help students develop intellectual breadth and lifelong learning skills are to combine the vocational and the liberal arts majors together, give students opportunities to build connections in their major, and instructors should give student feedback about their work and what other employers
In the beginning, there were basic schoolhouses to fulfill the needs of a newly industrialized society. The subjects taught had the sole aim of the student being able to secure a job with the ultimate goal of creating a large enough workforce to fill the new societal needs, creating a stigmatization that any subject that does not help to secure a job is useless. Now that that goal has been met, the bases of classical higher education have been fighting their way into primary education while trying to destroy the previously mentioned stigmatization against non-career-oriented subject matter. Only after hundreds of years, humans as a whole are figuring out that the only subject of education should life and all of its manifestations with no other distractions. Because of this, the main ideas of education should be few, but very important. The ideas taught should be applicable to many scenarios and students should be thoroughly taught their application in life. A...
In the United States, the history of Career and Technical Education evolved within four major periods. First, the Awakening period which began in 1776-1826, when the right to a free public education was expressed. During this era, educational opportunities in labor and industrial education were being demanded. The rising working class began to press for an education that were more appropriate for their labor and industry’s needs (Awakening 1776-1826, 1976). Even Benjamin Franklin who represented the Awakening middle class was on board with the rise of technical and vocational education which were taught primarily by private masters or contracted apprenticeships (Cohen, 1976).
no excitement. regardless of what the teacher says, this is not a new challenge"(158). Rose shows how he felt abut his early high school as his teacher were supposed to be teaching exciting subject, but ruin subject by just reading out from the book. making it harder for any to really pay attention in class. " No wonder how so many student finally attribute their difficulties to something inborn, organic: That part of my brain just doesn 't work"(158). Rose state that student 's in the vocational education program having already lost interest in classes they try so hard to contemplate with, instead they decide to move on and blame their inability to learn for the reason they can 't understand what the teacher is teaching them. "They open their textbook and see once again the familiar and impenetrable formulas and diagrams and terms that have stumped them for years"(157). From the beginning of their high year the student in the vocational educational program were set to fail. The school treated them as experiment by placing them into class room with inexperience teacher or not caring teacher. where they have to either decided to go with what the school says or try as best they can to well in the
In the early 1600s, America was given the opportunity of higher education. As decades flew by universities grew and flourished to a point where it’s no longer a struggle to be admitted into a university, and it’s also more accessible to pay for, such as student loans, federal loans, scholarships and grants (Kirszner). Since attending university has become an essential to most high school graduates, universities have welcomed larger classes. A common argumentative debate when it comes to college is whether every American should attend. An example of someone who believes college is only for a handful of individuals is Charles Murray. Murray wrote, “What’s Wrong with Vocational School?” an article published in 2007 for the Wall Street
For far too long, people have regarded vocational schooling as a second class option to a traditional college. Some believe that only under achievers will attend this type of school...
“Vocational Education in Finland.” Ministry of Education and Culture. Ministry of Education and Culture, n.d. Web. 2 Oct. 2013. .
By keeping the old ways of teaching, students are never prepared for jobs that actually exist. Instead students are forced to learn the standard way and lose the ability to apply their prior knowledge to current jobs. Modernized teaching allows an individual to form a creative side of thinking. This is done by using technology, where individuals are able to explore and think of things in new ways never thought of before. Davidson discusses how the education system strictly focuses on preparing students for higher education rather than properly preparing them for jobs in their fields of interest. She
The teachers in the vocational program should bring the students up and make them a better student and hopefully can escape the vocational program and join other students in high school or
Porfeli, E. J. (2009). Hugo Munsterberg and the ORIGINS OF vocational Guidance. Concrete Mixers, Cengage Learning.
Time and time again, education proves to be an incredibly important topic. This is because the education systems are responsible for adequately preparing students for positions of leadership, responsibility, and power as they get older. As Albert Cornelissen, the president of Windesheim University of Applied Sciences explains, “It is difficult to predict what tomorrow’s world will look like. All we know for certain is that we are educating the professionals of and for the future, the next generation” (193). Since these students will one day be the leaders of the future, it is crucial that they learn from properly qualified professionals. As students progress through the years of
Life is gold, why not enjoyed while we can? But can we really enjoy without an education, a certificate or a degree? In the article titled "The New Liberal Arts,” author Sanford J. Ungar says that vocational education leaves out training in areas that students will need to succeed. According to Ungar, "The career education bandwagon seems to suggest that short cuts are available to students that lead directly to high-paying jobs--leaving out 'frills ' like learning how to write and speak well” (191 ). Schools promote different things to catch the attention of students; however, it’s not about what the schools are promoting but the actual education acquired at the end. Although vocational
College in the United States is rapidly changing: more students are attending college, many are doing so online and at community colleges, which is making people question the cost of a traditional college education. It is my belief, along with three-fourths of entering freshman, that those students who are attending a traditional college are viewing college as an economic investment and that the reason to attend college is to get a good job (Bok 281). Part of that economic investment is meant for students to develop themselves. In my case I attended a tradition four year college to grow as a person and to give myself the best chance of getting a good job right out of college. A college education should provide a balance of personal exploration and job preparation because generally people are going to college to grow as a person and become prepared for the professional world.