Making Education Relevant.

Overview & Synopsis

Public education has become interested recently in the vocational system for the wrong reasons and is approaching it from the wrong perspective. Vocational education is not a separate discipline. Rather, it is an approach to the disciplines and the learning processes which, properly used, could reconstruct the American educational system for greater relevance of general education. Much of today's social unrest is the result of a steady decrease in the availability of jobs for the unskilled and a simultaneous increase in the number of young people who are totally unprepared for skilled employment. The blame belongs to the schools and colleges, for their failure to prepare students for today's world of work. Today's students are career-oriented. A liberal education is not enough. A redefinition of vocational education is needed to encompass the career theme. An educational program can, at one and the same time and at all levels, prepare students not only for better lives but also for better occupations. The current initial general education, then specialization, is inappropriate. The intertwining of liberal and vocational elements in an educational program should be integrated throughout the entire educational experience. Some Ford Foundation-assisted pilot programs to help achieve this end are described in this paper. (MF)