Cooperative Education: Its Role and Scope in Vocational Education.

Overview & Synopsis

Since 1960, cooperative education has become one of the major curriculum alternatives in American education at both the secondary and postsecondary levels. Among the many factors that have contributed to the popularity of cooperative education as a method of instruction are the following: the establishment of the National Commission for Cooperative Education, which gave cooperative education a national focus and significance; establishment of centers in colleges and universities for the training and development of cooperative personnel; availability of Federal funding for cooperative education programs; expansion of postsecondary-level cooperative education programming in four-year liberal arts colleges and two-year community colleges; and the attention focused in various national studies and reports on the need for greater labor market relevance in education. Cooperative education has been found to be beneficial to students, schools, and cooperating organizations alike. Research has shown that, by coordinating work experience with campus educational programs, cooperative education better prepares students for participation in the labor market, increases their motivation by allowing them to perceive connections between the jobs they hold and material taught at school, helps students develop a greater dependence upon their own judgments, improves their human relations skills, and reduces the number of dropouts. (MN)