Education is a noble endeavor. It transpires the brilliance and ingenuity of people’s mind. It likewise harnesses individuals so that sooner or later they will be equipped to be competent people that may support their nations. Education is vital to the lives of individuals, specifically at an early age for it serves as a key to his or her future to be successful and for them to find a job easily. Through education, a child would enhance his or her knowledge, develop talents and skills and make use of these skills and as well as enhance them. It enables a child to learn more about living, about life, the facts of living and in different fields. It also enables a child to broaden his or her knowledge and understand the whys and what’s in life.
The question on whether or not vocational education is inferior to general (liberal) education is dependent on the personal conviction of an individual who indulge him/her self to such process of learning. May it be vocational or general (liberal) in nature, I will agree to the idea that education is a means of finding both the pursuit of happiness and human fulfillment. For me, it is not the question of the type of education a person should hold. What counts the most is the learning that took or taking place and the development of my skill as a capable person who can face various challenges for human survival.
Vocational education is as important as general education in today’s contemporary living. With the various considerations present in the working environment, the need for vocational expertise is necessary. The labor market of the equally competitive corporate world requires more specialized and skillful individuals. The government and businesses are increasingly investing to human resources that are not just degree holders but at the same time possessing the abilities needed on the specified area of labor. With the diversified nature of vocational education in this era, the need for proper and immediate application of suitable knowledge on people and the industry they belong is highly vital as a contributory factor in the development of the organization in which he/she affiliate his/her self and also for individual interest. I believe that vocational education is equated to the level of general education efficiency. But one thing to be taken at hand is the fact that vocational education is only applicable to a specific field of expertise. A person is equally educated by just possessing a degree on vocational education. As Stevenson (2003) suggest: “Symbolic analysts need to understand and embrace technological developments and respond to the human resource needs of a rapidly changing economy. In addition, workers in the global economy are increasingly expected to create new knowledge by accessing information from broad sources. This means they need to select the kinds of knowledge relevant to work, make choices about how this knowledge can and should be generated and implement strategies to contextualize general knowledge for more specific ends” (p. 207).
General education, on the other hand is an all encompassing system of learning and knowledge acquisition. I stand to the belief that it is an avenue to transmit tested ideas and concepts for the future application and inheritance. As significant as vocational education at a certain extent, general education serves as a foundation of basic knowledge before delving into specialized level of learning. Further, general education appears to be the preparation of youth in dealing with the personal and societal struggles a democratic society faces (Faust 1950). Basing it from the assumptions with reference to human nature, the process of human development and change, the way in which learning takes place, and the extent and method of transfer vary greatly. General education opens wider horizon for students to maximize their potentials in all fields possible for exploration and study. The gift of general education is the assurance that knowledge acquired in the process is highly useful in the struggle for human achievement and fulfillment. In searching for the pursuit of happiness, general education is another way to cut the journey of human sufferings because by possessing basic knowledge obtained is an armor to fight the peculiarities of daily living. Whether general education should take responsibility for what human beings do or only for what they understand is another of the issues about which conceptions and practices diverge (Henry 1952). Then again, general education is “designed to instill not only skills, but habits of mind that will enable students to appreciate a variety of issues, to think independently and critically, and to learn independently, outside as well as within their ultimate area of specialization” (Stearns 2002).
Education learned by a person is useless unless it is utilized and applied for his/her ultimate happiness and benefit. May it be general or vocational in nature; I will still consider that education is as vital as the presence of air that we breathe, the water that we drink, the food that we eat, and the life that we live. The only difference is the fact that they are applicable to two uniquely characterized environments but still related and interconnected in applications and usage. Hence, education is for human development and perfection as well as a means for human ultimate pursuit of happiness.
As I am lingering on both issues, I came up with a relative suggestion that general education and vocational training must be considered as a part of integrated education for inclusive learning. The knowledge that is theoretically acquired in the formal schooling should be reinforced in the application and development of skills in the vocational training. My ambivalent thoughts on both aspects may be considered as valid due to the fact that people view things on different perspectives.
In the higher education sector, the changes that are mainly economic in nature are seen on the cases of developed countries like the US and the UK as driven by the competition of world’s leading universities and colleges. Jacobs and van der Ploeg (2006) recognize the need of European higher education to undergo reform because most European universities and institutions, with exception to others, are unable to compete with the best and leading educational settings in the Anglo-Saxon world. The main problem observed by both authors is the excessive regulation from the state as well as the prerequisite of more funding. Even if this is the case, it is still understood that the European educational systems must maintain “the dual objective of mass access and excellence” (p. 537) that entails an active and competitive higher education sector. American, European, and to some extent Australian educational settings project the idea of globalization based on how these countries understand the extent of influence, particularly on far reaching economic powers (Filbeck 2002). The global economic growth among Asian countries such as Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, Malaysia, South Korea, and Thailand, from agro-industrial to newly industrial, and from newly industrial to post-industrial status (Castells 1993 cited in Filbeck 2002) is also tantamount to the need to restructure educational systems. Because of the need to sustain global economic growth among these countries, the national governments strive to have the best education within their geographic location so as to limit the sending of their citizens to international schools to pursue higher degrees. Through national policies and funding, the restructuring of higher education is dependent on how national governments prepare the future and potential human capital based on their competencies and competitiveness. According to Jacobs and van der Ploeg (2006), the scale in the higher education sectors in other counties has improved to a large extent. With this fact, global educational communities and their managements should worry about fair competition and undercutting of quality and quantity of higher educational services (Jacobs and van der Ploeg 2006). This is primarily rooted on the idea that globalization promotes competition among similar and provides both opportunities and threats to other sectors. Also, Croatia evaluated the case of globalization affecting education specifically on countries under transition and on the relationship to sustainable development (Slaus et al. 2004). Education in the globalizing world is geared towards sustainable development. With this, it is supposed that education is a major factor on national and global development. The number of countries that are influenced by globalization in terms of their higher education structures is growing. Provided that globalization vastly affects all countries and creates integration to major societal sectors, it is not impossible to think that one of the days or in the near future, the higher education goes further than every student ever imagined.
For me, it is not a question of the validity of vocational and general education as TRUE EDUCATION. But then again, the personal jurisdiction of every unique individual is a major consideration and the application of all knowledge obtained in several fields of education is highly relative in the modes of living the individual is up to. Lastly, education in any form is still education. It is the materialization and application of theories, concepts, and knowledge that gives its total importance. And the eventual development of skills in specialized fields is just an additional benefit every person can have in his/her own judgment.
References
Adler, M. J. (2003). General Education vs. Vocational Education. The Mortimer J. Adler Archive The Radical Academy. [online] (cited 20 November 2008) Available from
Faust, Clarence H. "The Problem of General Education", in The Idea and Practice of General Education: An Account of the College of the University of Chicago, p. 6. by Present and Former Members of the Faculty. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 1950.
Filbeck, DA (2002, December) ‘An analysis of the effects of globalization on the restructuring of higher education in Thailand’, Doctoral dissertation, The University of Texas at Austin, [online] (cited 20 November 2008) Available from http://hdl.handle.net/2152/670
Henry, Nelson B. ed General Education. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. 1952: 1-7.
Jacobs, B and van der Ploeg, F (2006, July) ‘Guide to reform of higher education: a European perspective’, Economic Policy, 21: 47, 535-592
Slaus, I, Slaus-Kokotovic, A, and Morovic, J (2004, September) ‘Education in countries in transition facing globalization—a case study Croatia’, International Journal of Educational Development, 24: 5, 479-494
Stearns, Peter. “General Education Revisited, Again”. Liberal Education. 88.1. (2002): 42+.
Stevenson, John ed. Developing Vocational Expertise: Principles and Issues in Vocational Education. Crows Nest, N.S.W.: Allen & Unwin. 2003.
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