The Future of Vocational Education in America
There are many challenges that a nation faces when preparing the next generation to take part of the adult society life. One being, preparing the newer generation for the careers of tomorrow. Vocational education practices can prepare younger students for successful careers that are obtainable later in the future. The contextual learning teaches concepts that are applied to the real world of work such as hands-on activities and problem-solving exercises. Vocational education opens new doors in high school education and provides students with an alternative to a college degree.
Let’s be real, four years of college is not the route for many students for many reasons. Money can be a major deciding factor in whether a student decides to go to college, as well as their GPA. Or simply pursuing four more years of academics is not for them. Imagine if everyone went to college to pursue being a doctor, lawyer, or a history teacher. This world wouldn’t be able to function. This is where a vocational education comes in hand. Vocational education gives the world electricians, plumbers, mechanics, hair stylists, chefs, and so much more! College isn’t for everyone, and that’s totally okay.

How Could You Possibly Know What You Want to do In Life Without Hands-on Experience?
Niels V., author of The Benefits of Vocational Training in High School, talks highly of a vocational education in high school. He mentions that the traditional path in the United States, is to finish high school, then worry about a career. However, he believes that how can these children know what they want to do, without some hands-on experience. He states, “Even high school students who are set on a specific career often don’t get any hands-on experience in high school, especially if they’re bound for college” (V. Niels, 2017). It must be hard for students, to come up with ideas of what they want to be in life. I was fortunate enough to get that hands-on experience that helped me determine what I wanted to do for a career. Niels V. also mentions “…that giving students the chance to try out their chosen careers early on can better prepare them for the future” (V. Niels, 2017). I completely agree with this statement, gaining that experience can be beneficial to the student. Therefore, going to a vocational school is a great option. You should take advantage of those opportunities to “supplement” your education.
White-Collar vs. Blue-Collar
Mark Phillips, author of Why Should We Care About Vocational Education?, explains that there is a blue-collar stigma in a white-collar society. People believe that blue-collar jobs — for example, plumbers and electricians, are classified as a low status. If you choose to pursue a career like that, you are usually frowned upon. Phillips states, “We live in a society that places a high value on the professions and white-collars jobs, and that still considers blue-collar work lower status” (Phillips, 2012). Blue-collar work shouldn’t be displayed as a lower status, the jobs are always booming, and the pay can even be a lot better than white-collar jobs. Phillips goes on about how there is a bias against vocational education and that we need to break that bias. He states that it is, “destructive to our children”, and that, “they should have the opportunity to be trained in whatever skills their natural gifts and preferences lead them to…” (Phillips, 2012). These students should be allowed to follow whatever path in life that they want, parents shouldn’t stop their children from pursuing a vocational education just because they didn’t go to college.
It’s sad that people who decide to take the vocational route are usually picked on. People think that we aren’t getting a real education and that we “can’t” go to college if we go to a vocational high school. That’s not true at all. It can help you in determining what you want to do after school.
Alex Ellison, who wrote A More Inspiring Way to Talk about Vocational Education, goes in great depth that people aren’t just limited to vocational jobs in today’s day and age. This world has so much to offer, we have many amazing opportunities that we can take advantage of. We can go for a hands-on job known as a blue-collar job or we can go to college and pursue a career known as a white-collar job, such as being a lawyer. He mentions, “The box of opportunities has simply grown; the vocations of old are largely still there, but that is not all we are limited to pursuing” (Ellison, 2018). In 2019, there are so many careers we can pursue. You can be a pilot, doctor, teacher, or even a mechanic. You can pursue whatever your heart desires. That is what’s so great with living in the United States, we have access to a vocational education as well as a college education. Whatever you decide to do, just know it’s not the wrong choice.
Vocational Opportunities
In the article, Should Public Schools Provide Students with Vocational Opportunities, author Grace Chen goes into detail about how public-school education should provide students with vocational alternatives. A great benefit of vocational education is the fact that students can seek employment once they graduate and can even continue to greater educational opportunities. As Chen mentions, “…students are prepared to pursue immediate employment, advanced education opportunities, and added career choices” (Chen, 2019). Whereas, if you were to graduate from a regular public school, with no hands-on experience and decided that college wasn’t for you, it would be tough for you to get a good paying job. My brothers and I went to a vocational high school and got that hands-on experience that Chen had talked about. They decided that plumbing and electrical was for them, once they graduated, they got full time jobs in those fields and now they have high paying jobs. This is just a prime example, of what Chen had mentioned — these students are able to land exceptional jobs once they graduate. Both of my brothers are enrolled in night classes to seek further education. Just because you graduate from a vocational school, and get a blue-collar job, it doesn’t have to be the end of your academic education. You can continue your education, and that can be beneficial to you because you will be guaranteed a higher pay.
Internship Programs in High School? Yes, That’s What I Said!
Valerie Strauss, an education writer for The Washington Post, posted Mark Phillips blog from the Edutopia, Why Should We Care About Vocational Education?, onto The Washington Post. In this post, Mark Phillips goes into detail that schools in the United States are creating programs for students to gain some hands-on experiences while in school. He states, “There are also more schools across the United States that are creating internship programs that help students gain workplace experiences while enrolled in an academic high school” (Strauss/Phillips, 2012). These internship programs can be beneficial to these students. It can be a deciding factor of whether the student might want to pursue a trade like that in the future. From personal experience of my own, I went to a vocational high school and pursued Business Technology, it helped me in deciding what I wanted to do after high school. I decided that I wanted to be an accountant — to do that, it meant that I had to go to college and get my CPA license. Vocational education is what helped me decide what I wanted to do in life, before that I thought I would just be a hair stylist or even a history teacher.
The common thought is that vocational education is for the student that cannot function in a normal classroom situation. While this theory can be somewhat true, vocational education has taken a turn to high technology programs that allow students to work in an environment much like the real-world job market. This type of classroom provides for new and different experiences that differ from the normal classroom routine. The vocational high school that I went to, was set up in a way that we had academic classes one week, then the next week would be spent in our specific trade, for example, I had business technology. In my trade, we learned how to use Microsoft applications and we even got certified in them. We also learned how to do some accounting, data entry, indexing & filing, and learned some management skills. Our class was set up like a business office and it provided all the latest innovations. My favorite part was being able to get an internship while being in high school. I enjoyed getting that hands-on experience that I would’ve never gotten if I went to a regular high school.

After High School
A guidance counselor can paint a picture about what a student has for options, the vocational classroom allows students to paint their own picture, in hopes that it will inspire and shape goals for college. It worked for me. Before I enrolled into a vocational high school, I haven't had a clue about what to do later in school or with life. After graduating high school, I had a good picture of what I wanted, and now I am going after it. I realized that after going to a vocational high school, college was the best option for me. I’m not trying to say that this is for everybody, but it could be for you.
Sources:
Chen, Grace. “Should Public Schools Provide Students with Vocational Opportunities?” Public School Review, 7 May 2019, www.publicschoolreview.com/blog/should-public-schools-provide-students-with-vocational-opportunities.
Ellison, Alex. “A More Inspiring Way to Talk about Vocational Education.” Medium, Good Education, 26 Aug. 2018, medium.com/good-education/a-more-inspiring-way-to-talk-about-vocational-education-d7bb8a787726.
Phillips, Mark. “Why Should We Care About Vocational Education?” Edutopia, George Lucas Educational Foundation, 29 May 2012, www.edutopia.org/blog/vocational-education-benefits-mark-phillips.
Strauss, Valerie. “Why We Need Vocational Education.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 5 June 2012, www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/why-we-need-vocational-education/2012/06/04/gJQA8jHbEV_blog.html.
V., Niels. “The Benefits of Vocational Training in High School.” ThinkTank Learning, 13 Sept. 2017, ttlearning.com/blog/benefits-vocational-training-high-school/.