Job Training versus Career Development: What Is Voc Ed's Role?

The question at hand is: should professors take time and add vocational training to help students in their desired career field in addition to keeping up with the aspects of liberal arts? According to Bok, some professionals as well as university members argue that students can still get a career in their respective field without the vocational training and just a liberal arts degree. Respectively, many students worry that without the prior training for their potential career, it will be more difficult without the experience, especially when competing for the spot. As an alternative, Bok would suggest creating vocational subfields to correlate with their courses. In addition, this will allow the student to decide if that career path is right for them or not. Which is why both a liberal arts education and vocational education go hand in hand. It helps a student become a more well-rounded worker and scholar. They will have the skills to see the bigger picture and comprehend it as well as the knowledge of the career.

Vocational Education has been around throughout history in ways that were not noticed as a trending way for education. After the wars, families were self-sustained through personal knowledge and self-learned skills needed to survive. As society, advanced, newer, more efficient ways of completing tasks and learning took place, to include assistance outside the home, so families could better provide for itself. It was through these advancements that paved the way to vocational education as we know it today. There has been

People can attend trade schools or community colleges to obtain the knowledge needed in a short period of time to join the workforce sooner. While the salary for these occupations do not pay as well as a doctor , lawyer or teacher, they can still help you to be more successful. This option also isn’t as costly as obtaining four or two-year degrees . “Professor Lerman, the American University economist, said some high school graduates would be better served by being taught how to behave and communicate in the workplace”(Steinberg, 2010). Switching from a school environment to a workplace can be an issue for many graduates. Due to college and graduate schools being pushed to the forefront of focus there is a lack of preparation provided to the students who choose to go straight into the workforce after graduating high school. In some cases this results in poor work ethic, the ability to work well with others,professionalism and handling issues in a work environment. “Yet despite the need, vocational school programs, which might teach such skills, have been one casualty in the push for national education

In a review of research, Boesel et al. (1994) noted that descriptive findings indicated that vocational students were less likely than general students to drop out (if more likely than academic students). However, students who defined themselves as vocational students in 12th rather than 9th grade in a follow-up survey or who were defined by having a vocational concentration were often much less likely to drop out than

Have you ever wondered why you couldn’t take a class at school that truly interests you, such as learning about the culinary arts or discovering the ins and outs of being an emergency medical technician? Vocational education is an option that is becoming increasingly popular for students seeking a wider variety of class choices. Sometimes, when people hear the words “vocational education,” a negative image pops into their minds. Many people believe that vocational education is primarily offered to non-college bound students, dropouts, or students with special needs. What people don’t realize is that vocational education can give students the opportunity to improve their employability skills, become informed about different career options, and learn helpful skills they can use throughout the rest of their lives even before going to college and being released into the real world. Therefore, I believe that vocational education should be offered to students.

One of our class readings stuck out to me. The reading was "The Return of Vocational High Schools: Career Path or Kiss of Death" by Allie Bidwell. In this she talks about career and technical schools, otherwise known as vocational schools. In the article, she mentions, "… it's not enough for students to get an education past high school- they also must have the skills needed for in-demand jobs"(Bidwell). This article relates to me deeply because last year I went to a career and technical school to further my education in the nursing world. At the end of the course, all of the students who took the class for the whole year had the opportunity to test to get their CNA license. I was fortunate enough to be able to get my license at the age of

Charles Murray is writing to The Wall Street Journal, which is a huge and very diverse audience to whom to present such a controversial argument. The point Murray is trying to make is that vocational schools are more effective and logical courses of action for young people entering the job market than is the conventional 4-year-university track. In championing the cause of vocational schools over college, Murray uses logos, appeals to authority, though his tone makes him come across as a little condescending. This may almost damage his argument overall. Murray’s argument is persuasive through his use of

There is a large group of students who by high school know what career they want outside of high school. These students deserve to have the opportunity to start learning skills needed for that career by bringing more vocational schools to states like Nevada where the graduation rate is so low. “The latest figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) show that about 68% of high school students attend college. That means over 30% graduate with neither academic nor job skills” (Wyman, "Why We Desperately Need To Bring Back

“It seems better to me for a child to have these skills and never use them, than not have them and one day need them”, a quote from a well known author named Kristin Cashore. Federal support for vocational education began with the Smith-Hughes Act of 1917 which is an act of the United States Congress that promoted vocational education in "agriculture, trades and industry, and homemaking", and provided federal funds for this purpose. These acts focused on basic support, providing funds for teachers and teacher training, and encouraging administrations such as schools to have support for vocational education through broad funding requirements. The vocational curriculum is something that is a mixture of classroom lessons such as functioning laboratory

The presupposition of “Preparing for a Career” by Derek Bok indicates that vocational and liberal arts majors should merge to help students prepare for their career. Bok’s purpose is to convince the readers to treat both majors equally, whether it’s vocational or liberal arts. Bok argues that vocational and liberal arts should combine because liberal arts gives students writing, reading, presentation skills and critical thinking while vocational majors prepare students for their future career. Bok suggests that college should give students opportunities to build connections in their major, instructor should give students feedback about their work.

There comes a time in life where individuals have to leave school to join the world of work whereby they will work their way up to the top. This is where career development comes into place. Career development is defined as progress through various stages in a career (Schreuder & Coetzee,2011). These are stages one goes through in order to mature in a career and for development to even exist, one has to start with making a career choice then developing it .A career choice can be defined as the relation between people’s personality types and their different occupational environment in which they work in.

When you think of vocational school, you may think of automotive training or plumbing school. However, there is a wide choice in

One of the main points of this lecture is the futility of earning a college degree simply as a way to earn money. Watts speaks of a situation involving recently graduated students who come to him for career advice, during a time when he worked as a vocational counselor.

Understanding career and technical education is essential to determine the importance of the lineup. The article evaluates two questions: What does the experience look like and who is involved, demographics. The article explains that the studies goal is to discover the true efficiency that career and technical education holds while maintaining an unbiased based. The study remains unbiased

This lesson mainly addressed aspects related to career development. This lesson encourages students to discover their academic and personal strengths, their skillsets, and their interests. Students then take those concepts and apply them to career exploration. They are able to link their strengths, preferences, and abilities to potential future career paths. Some of the specific aspects of career development that I addressed include applying planning and career exploration in setting and obtaining lifelong career goals, applying necessary skills for career readiness and success, and teaching students where and how to obtain information about post-secondary options. In this lesson students are encouraged to apply decision making skills to place different careers into the appropriate career fields. In doing so, they are also encouraged to begin thinking about careers that are of interest to them and what career goals they have for themselves. They will be given resources in order to continue career exploration outside of the classroom. While I do not expect sixth graders to fully decide their career path, it is my firm belief that it is never too early to get students thinking about careers and having them set goals in order to obtain the career and future that they desire. I also believe that this unit touches on social and emotional development as well as academic development. This lesson allows the student to collaborate with one another and work in groups as well as in pairs. This promotes relationship building and teamwork. It also allows students to take an inventory of their personal strengths and skillsets. This could boost self-esteem and promotes a sense of self-awareness. Lastly, this unit also encompasses academic development. Students will understand that good grades and academic success are key elements to obtaining the career that they wish to have. By being academically successful, this will allow them greater options and opportunity post high school graduation.