Education for Business and Administration: A Study of Developing Prospects in Commercial Education in Western Europe.

Overview & Synopsis

Making general vocational education available in Western Europe is the result of the rapid expansion of jobs available in commerce and administration, higher standards in general education producing people capable of performing the tasks, and educational motivation. Areas of commercial and administrative activity needing employers are distributive trades and salesmanship, government, technical industry, and international trade. Caution must be exerted to ensure that general vocational education remains general. The structure of commercial education may be considered by function of employment, by the type of school, whether schooling is to be part or full-time, apprenticeship schemes, and correspondence education. Among the aims, skills, and aptitudes of commercial education are listening comprehension and verbal skills, communication skills, computer skills, knowledge and references sources, possession of initiative and adaptability, and capacity for working as part of a group. Common reference points are needed as a base for curriculum design. A wide range of teaching methods must be employed in business and administrative education. Traditional methods of evaluation must be reexamined and professional continuous learning opportunities should be provided. Education is necessarily viewed as a life-long process. (AG)