Vocational Education vs. College Education

Mindi Gordon

 

As the title reads, my research paper is going to be about vocational education vs. college education, but I'm worried that "vs." is the wrong term to use.   Although I am pro-vocational education, I do see the need for traditional college and I hope that my research and the way I present it doesn't totally discount that. I'm excited to learn about all the creative ways that high schools have been implementing vocational education in schools across the country.  So far I have read about some pretty interesting ideas; for example one school created a whole curriculum around building an outdoor walkway to classes to manage over crowding in hallways.  During this project, students were able to learn firsthand about careers such as construction, project management, and even landscaping.   I am hoping to be able to come up with more substantial reasons or evidence for why the vocational route should be better introduced in our high schools and how that could be more beneficial to our students that don't have the resources or drive to attend college.  While I try to nail down a more specific topic, I am also attempting to find a variety of sources.  My plan is to get input from Mr. Hackney and peers on how I should continue to do that.