手机版
您的当前位置: 首页 > 职称英语 > 卫生类 > 职业教育:既单一又速成?

职业教育:既单一又速成?

来源:卫生类 时间:2018-12-12 点击:

America"s misplaced disdain for vocational education
美国人对职业教育的偏见

SARAH ZANDER and Ashley Jacobsen are like many teenage girls. Sarah likes soccer. Ashley was captain of her school"s team of cheerleaders this year. They are also earning good money as nursing assistants at a retirement home. Sarah plans to become a registered nurse. Ashley may become a pharmacologist. Their futures look sunny. Yet both are products of what is arguably America"s most sneered-at high-school programme: vocational training.

莎拉•兰德和阿什莉•雅克布森是典型的美国少女。莎拉喜爱足球而阿什莉是学校的啦啦队队长;她们同在一家养老院做护理,收入颇丰。莎拉计划成为执业护士,阿什莉则有望成为药剂师。她们的前途看似一片光明。然而俩人却都是在美国来说最受歧视的高中生教育项目---职业培训的产物。

Vocational education has been so disparaged that its few advocates have resorted to giving it a new name: “career and technical education” (CTE). Academic courses that prepare students for getting into universities, by contrast, are seen as the key to higher wages and global prowess. Last month the National Governors Association proposed standards to make students “college and career ready”. But a few states, districts and think-tanks favour a radical notion. In America’s quest to raise wages and compete internationally, CTE may be not a hindrance but a help.

职业教育受人冷眼,因此其少数的拥护者寄希望于将职业教育改名为“职业生涯与应用科学教育”(CTE)以改变现状。对比之下,文化课程被认作打开大学大门的敲门砖,是取得丰厚薪酬和提高国际竞争力的关键。上个月,全美州长协会提议数条新标准让学生“做好学业和事业两手准备”。然而,少数州和智库则倾向于更为激进的观点,在美国寻求提高国民收入/劳动收入,参与国际竞争的时机,CTE应该是推动力而不是障碍。

America has a unique disdain for vocational education. It has supported such training since 1917; money now comes from the Perkins Act, which is reauthorised every six years. However, many Americans hate the idea of schoolchildren setting out on career paths—such predetermination, they think, threatens the ethos of opportunity. As wages have risen for those with college degrees, scepticism of CTE has grown too. By 2005 only one-fifth of high-school students specialised in an industry, compared with one-third in 1982. The share of 17-year-olds aspiring to four-year college, meanwhile, reached 69% in 2003, double the level of 1981. But the fact remains that not every student will graduate from university. This may make politicians uncomfortable, but it is not catastrophic. The Council of Economic Advisers projects faster-growing demand for those with a two-year technical-college degree, or specific training, than for those with a full university degree.

美国人持特有的、歧视职业教育的心态。虽然政府早在1917年(《史密斯法案》)就支持职业教育;现今的柏金斯法案每六年就重新签署以继续扶持职业教育。但是,很多美国民众憎恶让在校学生进入就业市场的做法。在他们看来,这样预先决定学生命运的行为是对机会公平这个信念的挑战/威胁。随着大学教育接受者的收入增加,对CTE的质疑与日俱增。2005年,只有五分之一的高中毕业生接受了职业教育(致力于学习某一技术),1982年,这一比例为三分之一。相反,2003年,申请四年制大学的青少年(17岁)比例高达69%,为1981年的两倍。现实是,并不是所有的学生都能从大学毕业。这让政客们心存芥蒂,但问题并不是无可弥补的。经济顾问委员会努力宣传,希望给民众留下相对于全日制大学毕业生,就业市场对接受两年制技术教育或专业培训的劳动力需求增长更快的印象。

A growing chorus of state and local leaders argues that CTE can help. Rather than pit training against university preparation, they are trying to integrate the two. CTE students may go on to university, to training or directly into work. The Perkins Act nudges such efforts forward, but the big shove comes from beyond Washington. Wisconsin’s governor, Jim Doyle, has expanded his state’s youth apprentice programme, which provides high-school students such as Sarah and Ashley with jobs. Academic courses are complemented by those at technical colleges.

越来越多州及地方领导支持CTE。相较于将职业教育与大学预科相对立的看法,他们尝试将二者合而为一。CTE毕业生可以选择继续读大学、接受培训或直接参加工作。柏金斯法案仅为这项计划提供些微助力,美国政府才是再大的幕后推手。威斯康星州州长吉姆•多伊尔推广了该州的青年见习计划,为诸如莎拉和阿什莉的高中生提供实习工作。对这些在技术学校学习的学生而言,文化课只是补充。

The most successful model, however, may be “career academies”. Started in Philadelphia in 1969, mimicked in California in the 1980s and supported elsewhere by Sandy Weil’s National Academy Foundation, these small schools combine academic and technical curriculums and give students work experience. When properly implemented, career academies can produce striking results. The non-partisan MDRC found that college attainment did not rise relative to a control group, but career academies did boost students’ earnings by 11%. Among boys, earnings were 17% higher. Young men were more likely to be married.

CTE中最为成功的模式,就是“职业学院”。1969年,费城首创此模式;20世纪80年代被加利福尼亚借鉴模仿,在韦尔夫人(桑迪•韦尔)的国家学术基金会的资助下推全国。这些学校将文化课学习与技术课相结合,并为学生提供实习工作机会。如果这些设想都能实现,职业教育将令人眼前一亮。无党派组织MDRC(Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation)发现完成大学学业与进入管理层没有什么联系;但职业教育确实能让收入提高11%。在男性学员中,收入增长了17%,同时年轻学员的婚姻率也有所提高。

The challenge is to scale up such programmes. Within a sprawling high school in Chicago, Kevin Rutter runs a small finance academy, teaching students about markets, accounting and personal finance, welcoming executives and helping students find internships. Chicago’s schools system this year said it would revamp its CTE system to mimic academies such as Mr Rutter’s, merging academic work with training for growth industries. California has pursued similar reforms; CTE’s main champion is Arnold Schwarzenegger.

如何按比例增加这样的项目是个挑战。在芝加哥一所颇具规模的高中,凯文•路特开办了一所小规模的财经专业学校,教授市场学、会计、个人理财等课程。他欢迎企业行政管理人员来校,帮助学生获得实习机会。芝加哥教育部门称其将模仿路特先生的专业学校模式,将文化课教学与针对增长性产业的培训相结合,更新CTE系统。加州州长阿诺德施瓦辛格是CTE的有力支持者,加利福利亚也将继续推进类似的改革。

Mr Obama should presumably push along such efforts. Last year he asked every American to commit to at least one year of training, whether through a “community college or four-year school, vocational training or an apprenticeship”. However, the governors’ new standards still emphasise academic skills. The education secretary’s plan to reauthorise No Child Left Behind barely mentions CTE. Advocates hope this will change.

奥巴马总统先生也有可能推进各地职业教育改革努力。去年,他要求每位美国人承诺参加为期至少一年的培训,无论通过“社区大学、四年制大学、职业教育或见习”方式。但是,各州州长提出的新标准依然强调文化课能力。教育部计划重申“No Child Left Behind”,CTE几乎没有提及。CTE的赞成者希望这种状况有所改变。更多信息请访问:http://www.24en.com/

In the meantime, a bold new programme is inching forward. The National Centre on Education and the Economy (NCEE), a think-tank, is developing a test that students may take in their second year of high school. On passing, they could proceed to a community college or stay in high school to apply to a four-year university. Those who fail would take extra courses to help them pass. A pilot programme, supported by the Gates Foundation, will begin in eight states next year. Some parents are already outraged by the imagined spectre of tracking. Marc Tucker, who leads the NCEE, argues that a path to a community college might keep students engaged. Such a system would provide students with more opportunity, not less.

当此际,一个大胆的新计划正在慢慢成形。智库国家教育与经济中心(NCEE)正开发一项针对高二年级生的测试。如果通过,学生可以选择进入社区大学或继续高中学业并申请四年制大学;如果未通过,则通过额外课程学习以通过考试。在盖茨基金会的资助下,此方案将在8个州试点。一些家长对此十分愤慨,担忧有可能出现的学生分层问题。国家教育与经济中心主任马克•塔克认为可以向职业教育接收者开放社区大学,这样,学生们能够得到更多的机会,而不是更少。

上一篇:中华人民共和国食品卫生法
下一篇:最后一页

神马英语网—在线英语学习_免费英语学习 https://www.smyyk.com

Copyright © 2002-2018 . 神马英语网—在线英语学习_免费英语学习 版权所有 京ICP备10015900号

Top