The Reform of Vocational Education [electronic resource] : The Relationship between Jobs and Schooling / C. H. Edson.
Successful changes that took place as a result of vocational education during the first two decades of the twentieth century are examined and historical parallels are drawn with career education today. The major intent is to give one example of how historical inquiry can inform policymakers who want...
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| Format: | Electronic eBook |
| Language: | English |
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[S.l.] :
Distributed by ERIC Clearinghouse,
1977.
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| Summary: | Successful changes that took place as a result of vocational education during the first two decades of the twentieth century are examined and historical parallels are drawn with career education today. The major intent is to give one example of how historical inquiry can inform policymakers who want to design and oversee educational reforms. The success of vocational education is analyzed in terms of (1) structural innovations (such as the comprehensive high school, the junior high school, and vocational guidance); (2) an emerging ideological consensus that schools can--and should--prepare youth for jobs; and (3) the creation of new groups with vested interests in maintaining those structures (such as vocational education teachers, guidance counselors, and IQ testers). The author concludes that, in terms of ideology, the success of vocational education may be seen in the unquestioned acceptance of the idea that schools should and can prepare youth for rapidly changing career requirements, with the result that career educators tend to narrowly focus their attention on how the schools can best perform that function. Advocates of career education are urged to be aware that designing and overseeing educational reform requires a thorough understanding of all the questions implied (particularly the question of whether schools can prepare youth for jobs) and that historical inquiry need not be immodest about what it can contribute to that process. (LAS) |
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| Item Description: | ERIC Document Number: ED138833. ERIC Note: Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association (New York City, New York, April 7, 1977). |
| Physical Description: | 14 p. |