Vocational education

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Vocational education (or Vocational Education and Training (VET), also called Career and Technical Education (CTE)) prepares learners for careers that are based in manual or practical activities, traditionally non-academic and directly related to a specific trade, occupation or vocation, hence the term, in which the learner participates. It is sometimes referred to as technical education, as the learner directly develops expertise in a particular group of techniques or technology.

Generally, vocation and career are used interchangeably. Vocational education might be contrasted with education in a usually broader scientific field, which might concentrate on theory and abstract conceptual knowledge, characteristic of tertiary education. Vocational education can be at the secondary or post-secondary level and can interact with the apprenticeship system. Increasingly, vocational education can be recognised in terms of recognition of prior learning and partial academic credit towards tertiary education (e.., at a university) as credit however, it is rarely considered in its own form to fall under the traditional definition of a higher education.

Up until the end of the twentieth century, vocational education focused on specific trades such as for example, an automobile mechanic or welder, and was therefore associated with the activities of lower social classes. As a consequence, it attracted a level of stigma. Vocational education is related to the age-old apprenticeship system of learning.

However, as the labour market becomes more specialised and economies are demanding higher levels of skills, governments and businesses are increasingly investing in the future of vocational education through publicly funded training organisations and subsidised apprenticeship or traineeship initiatives for businesses. At the post-secondary level vocational education is typically provided by an institute of technology, or by a local community college.

Vocational education has diversified over the 20th century and now exists in industries such as retail, tourism, information technology, funeral services and cosmetics, as well as in the traditional crafts and cottage industries.

Contents 1 VET internationally 1.1 Australia 1.2 Commonwealth of Independent States 1.3 Finland 1.4 German language areas 1.5 Singapore 1.6 United States 2 Readings 3 See also 4 External links 4.1 Vocational Guidance 4.2 Vocational School Examples 4.3 ERIC Articles 4.4 National and International organisations and agencies 4.5 Reports

[edit] VET internationally

[edit] Australia

In Australia vocational education and training is post-secondary and provided through the Vocational Education and Training (VET) system and by Registered Training Organisations. This system encompasses both Government and private providers in a nationally recognised quality system based on agreed and consistent assessment standards.

[edit] Commonwealth of Independent States

The largest and the most unified system of vocational education was created in the Soviet Union with the Professional`no-tehnicheskoye uchilische and, Tehnikum. But it became less effective with the transition of the economies of post-Soviet countries to a market economy.

[edit] Finland

There are two kinds of vocational education, secondary and post-secondary. Secondary education at a vocational school (ammattikoulu) is usually taken immediately after primary school, at ages of 16-21. Some programmes, however, require a secondary academic degree (ylioppilastutkinto, or matriculation examination). The education is primarily vocational, and little academic general education is given.

With academic or vocational secondary education one can enter higher vocational schools (ammattikorkeakoulu, or AMK). AMK degrees take 3,5-4,5 years. Legally, they are not university degrees in Finland, although in foreign countries similar degrees may be called "university level". This is reflected by some Finnish schools giving English titles such as Bachelor of Science, with no Finnish translation.

[edit] German language areas

Vocational education is an important part of the education systems in Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein and Switzerland (including the French speaking part of the country).

For example, in Germany a law (the Berufsausbildungsgesetz) was passed in 1969 which regulated and unified the vocational training system and codified the shared responsibility of the state, the unions, associations and chambers of trade and industry. The system is very popular in modern Germany: in 2001, two thirds of young people aged under 22 began an apprenticeship, and 78% of them completed it, meaning that approximately 51% of all young people under 22 have completed an apprenticeship. One in three companies offered apprenticeships in 2003; in 2004 the government signed a pledge with industrial unions that all companies except very small ones must take on apprentices.

The vocational education systems in the other German speaking countries are very similar to the German system and a vocational qualification from one country is generally also recognized in the other states within this area.

Additionally there is the Fachhochschule since the 1970's in West Germany and since the 1990's in Austria, former East Germany, Liechtenstein and in Switzerland. This type of institution offers degrees (Diplom(FH), Bachelor's and Master's degrees), which are one of the worldwide rare examples of a higher education that is considered in its own form to fall also under the (local) definition of a vocational education.

[edit] Singapore

In Singapore, the Institute of Technical Education provides vocational education after secondary education. Polytechnic institutions in Singapore also offer vocational courses. This is different from the Institute of Technical Education because it provides the opportunity to continue onto higher education such as University degrees.

[edit] United States

In the United States, the approach is varied from state to state. Most of the technical and vocational courses are offered by Community Colleges. Historically, junior high schools and high schools have offered vocational courses such as home economics, wood and metal shop, typing, business courses, drafting and auto repair, though schools have put more emphasis on academics for all students because of standards based education reform. School to work is a series of federal and state initiatives to link academis to work, sometimes including spending time during the day on a job site without pay.

The Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) is the largest national education association dedicated to the advancement of education that prepares youth and adults for careers.

[edit] Readings

• Achilles, C. M.; Lintz, M.N.; and Wayson, W.W. "Observations on Building Public Confidence in Education." EDUCATIONAL EVALUATION AND POLICY ANALYSIS 11 no. 3 (1989): 275-284.
• Banach, Banach, and Cassidy. THE ABC COMPLETE BOOK OF SCHOOL MARKETING. Ray Township, MI: Author, 1996.
• Brodhead, C. W. "Image 2000: A Vision for Vocational Education." VOCATIONAL EDUCATION JOURNAL 66, no. 1 (January 1991): 22-25.
• Buzzell, C.H. "Let Our Image Reflect Our Pride." VOCATIONAL EDUCATION JOURNAL 62, no. 8 (November-December 1987): 10.
• O'Connor, P.J., and Trussell, S.T. "The Marketing of Vocational Education." VOCATIONAL EDUCATION JOURNAL 62, no. 8 (November-December 1987): 31-32.
• Ries, E. "To 'V' or Not to 'V': for Many the Word 'Vocational' Doesn't Work." TECHNIQUES 72, no. 8 (November-December 1997): 32-36.
• Ries, A., and Trout, J. THE 22 IMMUTABLE LAWS OF MARKETING. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1993.
• Sharpe, D. "Image Control: Teachers and Staff Have the Power to Shape Positive Thinking." VOCATIONAL EDUCATION JOURNAL 68, no. 1 (January 1993): 26-27.
• Shields, C.J. "How to Market Vocational Education." CURRICULUM REVIEW (November 1989): 3-5
• Silberman, H.F. "Improving the Status of High School Vocational Education." EDUCATIONAL HORIZONS 65, no. 1 (Fall 1986): 5-9.
• Tuttle, F.T. "Let's Get Serious about Image-Building." VOCATIONAL EDUCATION JOURNAL 62, no. 8 (November-December 1987): 11.
• "What Do People Think of Us?" TECHNIQUES 72, no. 6 (September 1997): 14-15.

[edit] See also

• Community college
• Constructivism (learning theory)
• Vocational school
• Vocational university
• Family and consumer science
• Finishing school
• Further education
• Institute of technology
• Technical and Further Education (Australia)
• Training
• IEK: Vocational education schools in Greece.
• Widening participation (UK)

[edit] External links

[edit] Vocational Guidance

• Choosing a Career or Vocational School

[edit] Vocational School Examples

• Automotive Vocational Schools, a website devoted to vocational schools in the automotive field.
• Jschool: Journalism Education & Training, an example of a vocational college in journalism education.
• Medical Vocational Schools, a website devoted to vocational schools in the medical field.

[edit] ERIC Articles

• Constructivism, Workplace Learning, and Vocational Education
• The Business of Vocational Education
• Employers' Expectations of Vocational Education
• Reducing the Dropout Rate through Career and Vocational Education
• Vocational Education's Image for the 21st Century
• Vocational Education Performance Standards

[edit] National and International organisations and agencies

• Australian Department of Education, Science and Training
• Australian NCVER listing of web sites, Australian and international, containing vocational education and training (VET) information
• European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP)
• European Forum of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (EFVET)
• German Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB)
• UNESCO-UNEVOC International Centre for Technical and Vocational Education and Training
• UK Department for Education and Skills
• Learning and Skills Network (England)
• [National Institute for Adult and Continuing Education (UK)
• Scottish Executive Education Department
• US Dept of Labor of Employment and Training Administration - Office of Apprenticeship Training, Employer and Labor Services (OATELS)
• US Dept of Education - Office of Vocational and Adult Education
• U.S. Job Training and Vocational Education Programs
• Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE)

[edit] Reports

• Vocational Education in the United States: Toward the Year 2000 US National Center for Education Statistics