Learning Partnerships for the New Economy: Lessons from Efforts to Integrate Academic and Occupational Curricula in the Secondary School
Abstract:
One response in many countries to the challenges of preparing students for the new economy has been proposals for the integration of academic and occupational curricula at the secondary level. This challenge has been taken up in British Columbia through the development of "applied academics"-courses designed to develop academic principles through workplace contexts. Using data from a case study of a demonstration district, this paper will analyse some of the problems these courses have encountered as they have been introduced. Although they began with significant support from a variety of educational and industry stakeholder groups, the courses ran into resistance when they were seen as disrupting traditional versions of both academic and vocational subjects. To be successful the courses need to provide students with attractive pathways to good jobs and to post-secondary education. Implications for the way we think about negotiating partnerships for educational change are explored.
Authors:
Jim Gaskell
Jim Gaskell is a professor of science education in the Departtment of Curriculum Studies in the Faculty of Education at the University of British Columbia. For the past 5 years he has been the principal investigator of a case study of Applied Academics as part of the SSHRC funded Western Research Network in Education and Training. Applied Academics is a provincial ministry of education program designed to integrate academic and occupational education to prepare students with skills for the new economy. He is also the North American representative to the International Organization for Science and Technology Education.