Introduction to Principles of Career and Technical Education

1. Sources: Gordon Chapters 1, 2, 4, 8; Career and Technical Educator’s Survival Guide Chapter 1; and Wonacott and WI Legislative websites Introduction to Principles of Career and Technical Education

2. Some Basic Terms Defined • Academics • Includes mathematics and science; letters, humanities, and communication; art and design; and education, among other fields • Career & Technical (Vocational) Education • Courses directly related to the preparation of individuals for paid or unpaid employment in occupations requiring other than a baccalaureate or advanced degree

3. Some Basic Terms Defined • Comprehensive High School • Typical U.S. high school offering, at minimum, academic studies and usually some career and technical education • Area Center or Vocational High School • Secondary school that specializes in career & technical education.

4. Some Basic Terms Defined • DPI • Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction with responsibility of elementary and secondary schools • WTC System • Wisconsin Technical College System, with 16 districts, offering programs up to two years in length that focus mainly on training for technical careers

5. CTE Areas of Study • Agricultural Education • Business Education • Family and Consumer Sciences Education • Trade and Industrial Education • Health Occupations • Technology Education • Technical Education

6. CTE in Wisconsin • DPI Vocational License Areas • Business • Marketing education • Health occupations • Home economics related occupations • Technology related occupations

7. CTE in Wisconsin • WTC Education Directors • Manufacturing and Engineering • Education, Training and Consumer Services • Health and Human Services • Finance, Marketing and Hospitality • Business and Information Technology • Adult Basic Education and Literacy • Apprenticeship, Architecture and Construction • Agriculture and Natural Resources • Communications and Transportation Technology • English as a Second Language and International Education

8. Useful Web Links • www.dpi.state.wi.us • Teacher licensing • Wisconsin education standards • www.witechcolleges.com • Programs of study • Links to individual colleges • Information for prospective students

9. Useful Web Links • www.wtcsystem.edu • Site map and links to all campuses • Employment certification • Reports and new initiatives

10. Some Statistics (Wonacott, 2003) • In public secondary schools, one or more courses identified with vocational education are offered in 93 percent of the nation’s 15,200 comprehensive high schools • About 75 percent of all comprehensive high schools offer specialized courses in one or more occupational program • Fewer than 5 percent of comprehensive high schools offer courses from more than 6 vocational programs

11. A Brief Historical Perspective • The vocational education movement in the U.S. started in the nineteenth century. Some reasons: • The Industrial Revolution and the need for a skilled, trained workforce • Many people did not complete school, and those who did were prepared with a liberal education

12. European Influences • Rousseau’s Emile • Orphan boy learns through a tutor • Germany’s apprenticeship programs • Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi • Formal education should be available to all children • Sweden’s Sloyd system and the Russian system (manual training)

13. The German Dual System • Highly regarded • Apprentice • Ages 15 to 18 or 19 work in business 3-4 days a week and attend school 1-2 days a week • 60 percent technical education, 40 percent general education • Paid a monthly allowance, which increases with productivity • System governed by Chambers of Industry & Commerce and Crafts & Trades and professional associations • Gymnasium for college bound who enter university at age 19

14. Manual Training • Hampton Institute 1868 Virginia • African American school • Students worked for the school to earn tuition • Worcester Polytechnic Institute 1868 • Curriculum combined theoretical classes with production work in laboratories • Baltimore Training High School 1884 • North Bennett Street School, Boston, 1885 • Origin of manual arts/shop training

15. History of Apprenticeship • Oldest type of CTE in the U.S. • Formal agreement with an employer for training • Voluntary • Involuntary—indentured servant • Industrialization decreased length of time needed for training workers and free public schools became part of U.S. culture.

16. History of Apprenticeship • Fitzgerald Act of 1937 • Established standards • Brought management and labor together • International Labor Organization recommendations of 1939 • Written agreements • Learning schedules • Wage scales • Classes for related instruction

17. Apprenticeship Today • Government credentialing • Most are high school graduates • On-the-job training with skilled and experienced craft worker • Related classes • Wages about one half of fully trained workers • Partnerships with trade associations and labor unions

18. Phases of Technology Development • Application of power to machines • Introduction of mass production • Influence of automation • Miniaturization • Global network/Technological explosion What are some implications of technology development for the U.S. workforce?

19. Leaders Who Have Influenced CTE in the U.S. • Booker T. Washington • W.E. B. Dubois • David Snedden • Charles Prosser • John Dewey

20. Booker T. Washington • Tuskegee Institute vocational programs • Every student was required to do manual labor • An educated person possessed • Both cognitive and problem-solving skills • Self-discipline • Moral standards • Sense of service • Believed vocational education was means to build economic self-reliance and to better integrate Blacks into American society

21. Guidelines Based on Washington’s Views of Education • Motivation is essential to genuine learning • Students learn best when education meets their needs or purposes • Learning is enhanced when material has meaning to learner • Learning is facilitated when learning participates in planning the learning experience • Learning is always influenced by emotions

22. Principles of Skill Development Based on Washington’s Guidelines • Students should never be required to memorize by rote any material they fail to understand. • Skill acquisition involves two stages: integration and refinement. • Skills should be taught when they can be mastered efficiently by students. Mastery level varies between learners and their learning styles.

23. W.E.B. Dubois • Central figure in founding NAACP • Disagreed with Washington (debates) • Felt vocational education meant a substandard living for Blacks • Advocated more traditional academic education and opportunities in managerial and executive levels

24. David Snedden • Faculty member at Columbia University and commissioner of education in Massachusetts • Public education should be responsible for physical education, vocational education, and liberal education • Vocational education and liberal education are distinctly separate • Two levels of vocational education: higher vocational (professional) education and vocational training • Three aspects of vocational education: practical, technical, and general vocational studies

25. Charles Prosser • Was a student of David Snedden, associate commissioner or education in MA, and executive director of National Society for Promotion of Industrial Education. • Successful vocational education combines two elements • Practice and thinking about practice • Doing and thinking about doing • Dual system—academic and vocational are separate • Sixteen theorems (Appendix D)

26. John Dewey • Philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer; professor of philosophy at Columbia University • Education was preparation for life/adult society and important for everyone • Broader definition of vocation—more than preparing for an occupation • Opposed to dual system, felt it separated children by class • Academics needed with skill training; advocated a curriculum that combines liberal and vocational education • Table 2.1 compares philosophies of Dewey and Prosser

27. ACTE • Association for Career and Technical Education, formerly American Vocational Association (AVA) • Annual convention • Techniques magazine • Additional publications • 5 geographic regions and state associations (WACTE) with publications and conferences • 13 professional divisions (Business Education, Marketing Education) with vice presidents

28. ACTE’s Website www.acteonline.org

29. ACTE Facts • ACTE is the largest professional association for people involved in career skills and site-based education • M. D. Mobley, executive secretary, 1951-1965, developed a philosophy of vocational education that is still considered relevant today

30. Mobley’s Philosophy of Vocational Education • Vocational education must be part of the total education program • Vocational education must be available to all people • Vocational education must be everybody’s concern • Professionalism of vocational education must continue • Youth groups must be considered part of the total vocational education program