The New Interest in Vocational Education

There seems to be a new and growing interest in vocational education founded on STEM. This is certainly understandable, given the fact that so many of today's college graduates are unable to find jobs. Couple that with the media's feature articles popping up on  Yahoo and elsewhere informing us that there are jobs that pay well but don't require a degree and one can understand the resurgence (here). 

In the past, vocational education (read "shop and cooking classes") were places where schools dumped minorities, English learners, students with behavior (or attitude) problems, and those with disabilities (here). At some point society became aware that this practice was a civil rights issue. Then vocational education went out of fashion.

According to Cohen and Besharov (2002) "vocational education lost popularity in the United States due to an increased emphasis on academic skills and a belief in college for all, coupled with a perception that vocational education was becoming an educational backwater for the disadvantaged." Here 

The problem, though, with stove piping youth towards vocational education is the quality of the vocational education may not serve youth's future interests. Are they being prepared for one particular job? Or will they have the skills to adapt to a changing workplace? And what about issues such as citizenship, the search for the meaning of life, learning to examine life, and developing a refined taste in order to enjoy a lifetime of learning in the areas of the arts? Or the development of emotional intelligence, social skills, leadership, critical thinking, interpersonal skills, ethical reflection, and creative thinking? Isn't there a danger that the arts and humanities will become limited to the upper classes who can afford to "indulge" in them at places such as Harvard and Yale while the lower classes focus on plumbing and carpentry?

But let us back up a moment and look at the changing workforce. In the last few years the field of architecture and drafting went from being a sought after career to one of high unemployment. In the future, though, it will no doubt experience a resurgence through 3-D printing. Imagine an item, perhaps an antique, that you cannot buy. But you could go to a draftsman and have it drawn, and then go to the local hardware store where the drawings would be fed into a 3-D printer and made. If this transpires, droves of youth, infatuated with 3-D printing, will no doubt enroll in drafting and architecture classes. Now imagine a little further down the line. Someone invents a digital camera that photographs the item and produces a ready 3-D image that can be electronically sent to the printer. The result - lots of folks out of work.

Instead of looking at preparing individuals for one particular career, vocational education programs must incorporate other disciplinary approaches, including the humanities, to educating youth. Isn't it time we explored the connections between career, business, science, social science, the arts, and humanities (here)?