[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by blankall

This is a major advantage of starting programs like vocational training early. High school students can enter a program where they get exposed to a variety of trades early, and can choose the one they like or perhaps not choose to continue at trades at all. Much better than having young adults flounder around at retail jobs until they happen to find a gig somewhere.

Agreed. This is why this is a common core education challenge than it is a higher ed issue. Vocational training and channeling individuals into vocations needs to start earlier than post-secondary education. The challenge with vocational training is making sure that the individuals are indeed going to be engaged in this vocation long-term, and then supporting their needs.

Basically, schooling takes a shift from constant "general studies" to actually exposing children and young adults to careers. The main difference is that education is used to explore actual career orientated interests and talents. As opposed, to just getting a not so useful degree and then using young adulthood to explore careers.

The problem with what you are suggesting is that most people are not prepared to select a career at a young age. All you're doing to forcing students to make a decision based on a vocational interest. Kids are not prepared to make that call. Most people coming out of high school are not prepared to make that call either. That is why general education is as successful as it is in our economic system.

There's nothing contradictory about that at all. You can have vocational schools without locking someone into a single distinct career. In no way am I saying, be a carpenter at 15, and now you're stuck there. If we go back to the German model, the vocational schools teach a variety of career focused skills that become more focused over time. Even then, some students may decide that path isn't for them, and they can learn that at an early age.

But you're locking student in at that young age. That is the complaint about the European systems that leverage this vocational focus. The Finish model of education is very highly regarded, probably the best education system in the world, but there are problems with their vocational focus. For students who enter that branch of the system it is hard to transfer to the other because they have gone down a divergent branch where learning is very different. The community college systems routinely see students that have to make these transitions and it is difficult for student to change modalities. They struggle and it takes time. So it is important we keep that in mind or align teaching modalities so they are similar in structure and can more easily translate. The branching is intentional to leverage the interests and strengths of learning style for the students, so this may hurt both systems. Interesting discussion though.