A Brief History of Vocational Education职业教育简史

Throughout history， vocational education has given students hands-on experience to prepare them for employment. Today’s vocational education is a well-developed schooling system which balances class time and work experience.

纵观历史，职业教育所提供的实操经验为学生就业做好了准备。如今，职业教育已经发展为一个完善的教育体系，兼顾课堂时间和工作经验。

Vocational schools， also known as trade schools， career colleges， and technical colleges， train students for skills-based careers. Those interested in careers such as event planning， accounting， graphic design， plumbing， or law enforcement can study at a vocational technical school. Career and Technical Education （CTE） results in either a certificate or associate’s degree.

职业学校培养学生从事技能型职业，又称为高职学校、职业学院、技工学院。对活动策划、会计、平面设计、管道工、执法等行业感兴趣的学生可以去职业技校学习。完成职业技术教育（CTE）可获得结业证书或副学士学位。

Students have been training for specific vocations for thousands of years， just not in the way we think of vocational education today. Women learned domestic1 skills from their mothers， and young men trained for specific trades under skilled professionals. Young apprentices， for example， may have learned to shape swords by shadowing2 the town’s bladesmith. This type of hands-on， skills-based learning has lasted throughout human history. As we have developed， so has it.

数千年以来一直有人在接受特定的职业培训，只是与我们今天所认为的职业教育有所不同。女性向母亲学习家务技能，年轻男性则在专业人员的指导下接受特定行业的培训。譬如，年轻的学徒可能会跟随镇上的刀匠学习铸剑。这种实操性的、技能型的学习贯穿人类历史，随着人类的发展而发展。

The history of career technical education （CTE） traces its origins to post-Civil War America， with the opening of the St. Louis Manual Training School in 1879 under the umbrella of3 Washington University. The school grew out of the non-traditional thinking of educator Calvin Milton Woodward， who believed that the traditional school model would struggle to address the country’s need for skilled labor4 at a time of rapid industrialization.

CTE最早出现在内战之后的美国——1879年，圣路易斯手工培训学校建立，隶属于华盛顿大学。这所学校诞生于教育家卡尔文·米尔顿·伍德沃德的非传统想法。他认为，在快速工业化的时期，传统的学校模式将难以满足国家对熟练劳动力的需求。

Rather than isolate academic and technical education， Woodward and his team sought to open a school that addressed both， educating students with both “books and tools.” It would focus particularly on skills needed for woodworking and metalworking. Students at the school did do academic work but also balanced their days with time in the workshop and learning to use various tools.

伍德沃德和他的团队不主张把学术教育和技术教育分割开来，而是试图开设一所兼顾两者的学校，用“书本和工具”双管齐下教育学生。这所学校将特别侧重木工和金属加工所需的技能。学生们虽然也有课业，但每天会有一定时间到作坊中学习使用各种工具。

While the Manual Training School represented the first model of CTE in America， it was far from the last. The field of CTE has gone through many evolutions over the years， as educators and policymakers have searched for the best model for trade-based education.

虽然手工培训学校代表了美国CTE的第一种模式，但它远非最后一种。多年来，教育工作者和政策制定者一直在寻找职业教育的最佳模式，CTE这一领域经历了许多变化。

The most notable development to U.S. vocational education came in the early 20th century. Before the Great Depression， society was industrializing. Agriculture was less lucrative， and children from rural areas were showing up to attend schools that were already overcrowded. Those schools were even less prepared for the influx of immigrants that were arriving in the United States at the same time.

20世纪初，美国职业教育得到最显著的发展。在大萧条之前，社会正在工业化。农业的获利变少，农村地区的孩子纷纷入读早已人满为患的学校，而同一时期涌入美国的大量移民更是让这些学校猝不及防。

Factories， on the other hand， needed laborers （and so did many in-demand trade professions）. Many workplaces employed young people， but the United States passed its first child labor law in 1916， which began to limit child labor. It was no longer so widely accepted for young children to sit beside their parents and learn a trade hands on （many lobbyists deemed it unsafe and cruel）. So， to help factories find skilled employees and to help schools deal with huge student bodies， U.S. high schools began to offer vocational education programs.

另一方面，工厂需要劳动力，众多热门行业也是如此。许多工作场所雇用年轻人，但美国在1916年通过了第一部童工法，开始限制使用童工。人们不再普遍接受让年幼的孩子坐在父母旁边动手学习技艺，许多游说者认为这既不安全又残忍。因此，为了帮助工厂找到熟练的员工，以及帮助学校应对庞大的学生群体，美国高中开始开设职业教育课程。

In 1917， the Smith-Hughes Act became the first law to authorize federal funding for vocational education programs in U.S. schools. It established vocational education as acceptable training for certain future professionals who wouldn’t need bachelor’s degrees to do their jobs， such as plumbers， mechanics， and factory workers. They completed their training in focused vocational programs associated with high schools.

1917年，《史密斯-休斯法案》成为第一部授权联邦拨款在中学开设职业教育课程的法律。它规定，未来所从事工作不需要学士学位的专业人士接受职业教育即可，比如水管工、修理工和工厂工人。他们在与高中关联的针对性职业课程中完成培训。

According to American RadioWorks， on paper5， the creation of these Voc.Ed6 programs solved major problems （like overcrowded classrooms and the demand for a skilled workforce）， but in reality， it was still problematic. Notably， the students who were assigned to vocational education programs were often immigrants or poor children from rural areas. This meant that these marginalized groups were not given a chance to study a liberal arts curriculum （which was necessary for students who planned to go on to college）， even if they wanted to. Desks in the liberal arts classes at high schools continued to be reserved for middle- and upper-class white students. Underprivileged students were encouraged to learn only the skills necessary to sustain jobs， then enter the workforce as soon as possible. If they tried to change career paths later down the line7， they often found that they had little or no training in core subjects， which thereby prevented them from returning to college or switching careers.

据美国广播工厂报道，这些职业教育课程的诞生虽然在理论上解决了一些大难题，比如教室过度拥挤和对熟练劳动力的需求，但实际上仍然存在问题。显然，被分配去读职业教育课程的学生往往是移民或者来自农村的贫困儿童。这意味着，这些边缘群体即使想要学习通识课程（这对计划上大学的学生来说是必要的），也没有机会。高中通识课程的课桌仍然专属于中上阶层的白人学生。学校鼓励弱势学生只学习岗位必备技能，然后尽快成为劳动力。如果他们后来试图改变职业道路，往往会发现自己很少或者根本没有接受过核心科目的训练，这就阻碍了自己重返大学或转行。

The Perkins Act of 1990 attempted to reconcile these problems. It now provides vocational programs to young students as a way for them to start their educational careers， not limit them. Students can begin their CTE courses in high school or after obtaining their diplomas or GEDs9， and they leave prepared to either go right into a career or continue working toward a four-year degree.

1990年的《珀金斯法案》试图调和这些问题。目前，该法案为年轻学生提供职业课程，以此开启而非限制其求学之路。学生们可以在高中期间或者获得毕业文凭/普通教育发展证书后开始学习CTE课程，到结束时可以直接就业，也可以继续攻读四年制学位。

While a certain untrue stigma surrounding Voc.Ed persists （namely that no student would choose CTE if he or she had other options）， these programs now include school-based and work-based learning through supportive business partnerships. Many vocational programs use new technologies and web resources， such as online classes， to help their students excel in school and in the workplace.

关于职业教育的不实污名仍然存在，即：假如有其他的选择，没有学生会选择职业技术教育。但是在合作企业的支持下，如今这类培训既有在校学习也有实操学习。许多职业课程利用新技术和诸如线上课程等网络资源帮助学生在学校和职场脱颖而出。

（译者为“《英语世界》杯”翻译大赛获奖者）

1 domestic家庭的，家务的。

2 shadow跟随……实地学习（或参观）。 3 under the umbrella of属于……，在……范围内。 4 skilled labor熟练劳动力，指同一工种内具有丰富经验和熟练技术的生产者。

5 on paper理论上。 6 vocational education的缩略词。 7 later down the line在未来的某个时间。

8 GED = General Educational Development，等同于高中学历。