Archived Information

Issues for Consideration

This final section highlights a few key issues from the author's presentation and interpretation of data and information related to vocational teacher education. It is hoped that NAVE II might speak to these issues and provide remediation in subsequent legislation.

(1) Colleges and universities have diminished greatly their capacity to produce teachers for our nation's systems of vocational and technical education. There are many reasons for this, chief among which is the loss of federal and state funds. Structures must be rebuilt (or perhaps "born again") if an adequate supply of teachers is to be provided for our nation's public schools, vocational and technical institutes, and community colleges.

(2) But it isn't only a problem of numbers. There is little consensus on the theoretical framework for subject matter and the related pedagogy for preparing 21st Century teachers to teach in vocational and technical education. Therefore, research and consensus building on the knowledge base to undergird teacher preparation is imperative.

What is it teachers need to know and be able to do to teach all work-bound students as they prepare for employment in the 21st Century workplace? The knowledge base will undergird development of a core curriculum and core pedagogy for all teachers in vocational and technical education programs.

(3) Minimal standards must be developed for secondary and postsecondary faculty in federally-funded vocational and technical education programs. The wide-spread practice of credentialing vocational education teachers primarily on the basis of an arbitrarily-determined number of years or hours of work experience ought to end. Standards (or demonstrable outcomes) should be comparable to those drafted by other education professions and policy groups (e.g., National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Council of Chief State School Officers, National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, National Association for Accreditation of Teacher Education).

(4) Financial assistance ought to be provided to some colleges and universities who will:

• commit to prepare preservice and inservice teachers to deliver on the major initiatives in Perkins II and other components from an agreed-upon knowledge base;
• commit to a professional identity with vocational and technical teacher education, broadly conceptualized and appropriate to the nation's futuristically-oriented vocational and technical education systems;
• experiment with new conceptions and new models of delivering teacher education;
• provide a solid general education to prospective vocational education teachers, including perhaps 12 semester credits in mathematics/technology, 12 credits in science, 12 credits in language arts, and 12 credits in social sciences (some credits should be earned in applied subjects);
• integrate pedagogy with subject matter and academics and include collaborative activities with teacher educators and students from other professional education subject areas (math ed, science ed, adult ed, and language ed);
• provide faculty teams and related resources and then prepare them to offer quality vocational teacher education;
• recruit nontraditional students into teacher education;
• offer a field-based model for nondegreed but practicing vocational and technical education teachers to enable them to earn a baccalaureate degree within a reasonable period of time;
• include instruction appropriate to diversity, special populations, technology, adult education, the cognitive sciences, and contextual learning;
• agree to conduct research and evaluation studies on their own programs and those offered in secondary and postsecondary schools in their geographical areas;
• integrate theory and research with practice;
• coordinate or administer vocational teacher education through a college or school of education; and
• provide staff development of vocational teacher educators to include technical, technological, and pedagogical updating.

[Responsiveness of Vocational Teacher Education to Major Initiatives in Perkins II]

[References]