DOCUMENT RESUME ED 254 654 Daniels, M. Harry; And Others

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY'4Today, most people are ill prepared to cope with workplace changes that occur during theirlifetimes. Rapid technological advances have transformed not only present work life, but havedrastically altered expectations for the future. Occupational.education requires pretechnicalknowledge and skills. Pretechnical education is defined in this paper as basic generalizable skills,transition skills, and problern-solving skills. The acquisition of these skills allows an individual toenter available occupations and to benefit from training on the job for progression into higherlevel Occupations. These. skills are viewed as the best preparation for work. given the rapid paie ofjob changes. The essential characteristics of pretechnical curricula described in this paper providecurriculum developers with the basis for designing these curricula. The focus of these curricula isat the secondary level.*.Even now, workers are continually, confronted'with change. Traditional views of labor andmanagement are rapidly changing as the economy moves from an industrial to an informationalbase. The composition of the work force is changing, too. Technological advances,in equipmentand techniques are making jobs obsolete. More wbrkers are experiencing the reality of changingjobs or entering retraining programs. The.prospectof multiple job changes during the life span isbecoming certain. Tomorrow's workers will be confronted with even more changet.Vocational education always has been influenced by technological innovations that havealtered the requirements of occupations and work environments. In fact, a central feature of vocational education programs typically was specialized job skills training. Vocational trainingprograms have been most effective when they emphasize highly specialized skills that are tied tospecific needs of employers, particular equipment,-or production processes. Programs of this typehave enjoyed a long and strong tradition among vocational educators and, in thp past, have oftenbeen very successful. Specialized skills continue to be important, but workers must prepare forretraining experiences during their work life. The rapid increase in technological change reqUiresan emphasis or human factors in the workplaCe.Human resources are increasingly recognized to be the least understood and most underutilized element in the workplace. Some experts have suggested that the future of the marketplacedepends on the ability of business and industry to maximize the personal power of work forcemembers. An increase in personal power is dependent on an individual's ability to learn new waysto adapt to impending change.Vocational educators must accept new responsibilities for preparing students to work and livein a technological world. In addition to job skill training, vocational educators must now consider----two important and related tasks. The first task involves the identification and development of skillsneeded to prepare individuals for careerprogression, as well as career entry. Most graduates startwith available entry-level occupations, Out they must undertake more education, training, andretraining. The second task concerns the integration of that knowledge into an implemented curriculum in the schools. The thrust of this paper is directed toward implementation at the secondaryschool level. However, implementation of a pretechnicalicurriculum at the postsecondary levelshould not be ruled out.vii

This paper presents a model for a pretechnical curriculum, with.special emphasis on humanfactors at the workplace. The model focuses on self-empowerrpent, or the individual's ability tounderstand and to deal effectively with events that influence career changes. An individual's selfempowerment Is related to his or her mastery of three categories of interrelated skills arld knowledge. These form the core 21 the pretechnical curriculum proposed in this paper. They are astot iows:Generalizable skills and knowledge skills and knowledge actively used in work performance, that are transferable across jobs and occupations, and that are instrumental to joband classroom successTransition skills and knowledgeskills and knowledge used to manage life transitions,particularly occupationally elated ones such as job loss, job change, promotions, demotions, and so onProblem-solving skills and knowledgeskills and knowledge eniployed in the resolutionof situations involving interpersonal problems, information and task-related problems, orproblems related to people's behavior in cooperative group settingsCore knowledge in these areas precedes and supplements more specialized technical knowledgeacquired later during the education cycle. This core knowledge is applicable to a wide variety ofjobs and occupations. It can be integrated with scientific concepts.underlying the cluster of occupations selected by the student as a career education emphasis.This publication recommends ways to implement the concepts in this curriculum and confronts issues and problems associated with the introduction of this pretechnical curriculum invocational education.viii

.INTRODUCTION6e.The Need for a Pretechnical Curriculum.Basic job skills area 'reflection of theAmerican worker's activities and values. For aJong time. it has been relatively easy to reviseour basic skills needs as technology andsociety changed. Now changes are occurring'so rapidly that predicting lifelong basic skillsneeds has become very difficult. In fact,change itself has become the only predictable certainty of the future. Already, the ability to deal with change is critical for manyAmericans. They are now confrontingchanges in their jobs, changes in theirschooling, changes in their personal lives,and changes in the world around them. Con-.temporary education must provide opportunities for students to learn how to adapt tothese changes, and the skills that are neededmust be considered basic skills. This publication describes a model for preparing studentsto adapt and cope with change.Coping with change requires "generalizable skills, transition skills,and problemsolving kills. These areas form the heart elpretechnical education. Acquisition of theseskills should allow an individual to enteravailable occupations and-toteriefit fromtraining on the job for progression intohigher-level occupations. Acquiring pretechnical knowledge and skills begins a veryyoung age. During elementary school, students use this knowledge to form a foundation for later learning. This paper focuses onthe secondary grades as the ones where proficiency in these skills should be evident.Change has always been central toAmerican life. More than a century ago, deTocqueville remarked tha: "the American hasno time to tie himself to anything, he growsaccustomed only to change and he ends byregarding it as a natural stale of man"(Pierson 1938). This social commentaryabout 19th-century America seems remarkably apt as our Nation approaches the 21stcentury. Contemporary theorists (Bridges4e' 1980; Gould 1978; Levinson et al. 1978; Moosand Tsu 1976; Schlossberg 1981, 1984;Schneider 1984) have noted that Americanadults are encountering an increasingnumber of changes during their life spansThat call for new patterns of behavior or forrevisibns in thdir perceptions of self andenvironment.Even though our predecessors alwaysaccepted and adapted to change, they usuall* had relatively stable life-styles. Contemporary Americans, however, are living in themidst of a technological revolution for whichthe ratebof change is accelerating. They willhave to boeven more flexible, more versatile,and'more adafttible in.planning and actualizing their respective careers and lives (Naisbitt1982;.Pratzner 1978). They will have to learnhow learn throughout the rest of theirSupporVotithis assertion is as follows:4We don't believe a high school graduateiftii5 All retire 35 years from now fromthe same job for which he was hiredduring that peilod he will need to betrained and retrained many times. (Education Commission 61 the States 1983, p.14)In our view, formal schooling in youth isthe essential formulation for learningthroughout one's. life. But without lifelong learning one's skills will becomerapidly dated. (National Commission onExcellence in Education 1983, p. 9).

4Learning never reaches a terminal point. As,long as one remains alive and healthy, learn. ing can go on and shduld. (Adler 1982, p. 31)-Educational systems will be called uponto play a centralirple,in educating students'who can adapt tethe changes that,the future.,holds. Parents will expect schools to proxidethe skill's and strategies that their Children' .will need to survive and prosper with everincreasing soul and technological' changeas they enter-the world of work. In the mono'graph Adaptation to Work (Ashley et al.1980), it was noted that many workers in theAmerican labor force were unable to adapt tothe changes, demands, 'and rebponsibilitiesof work. Business and industry.wiltlOok tothe schools to produCe workers who possessand use skills that contribute to. achievement'of employers' goals. The education sector.has no alternative but tb respond to this 4.emerging imperative because society wilt'surely hold public schools accountable foraccomplishing this important task. The frame.of reference for this publication is what"'Lemons (1984) called "technology education," which he defined as "singular andcumulative educational experiences providedto studertta for developing Technologicalliteracy prior to their entry, into technologicaloccupational training.programs or employment" (p. 2).These educational experiences aregeneral in nature and normally provided atthe elementary and secondary levels. Theconcept of "pretechnical education" as usedin this publication is synonymous with technology education. The student; either youthor adult, acquires the necessary prerequisiteknowledge and skills during his or her pre4echnical experiences to negotiate a careerpath successfully. This. path maytake thestudent thioughanumber of job changes.Success-is defined id optimizing satisfactionfreorn'work, while minimizing resource cos,,of time, money, itrid expertise. Adequatepretechnical experiences as outlihed in thispublication would allow an individual tomove from job to job in an efficient manner.Such a move may be a promotion within acareer cliister or a lateral transfer to another'company or another career field. Theis, pretechnical experierices must be'general innature, primarily intended to prepare theindividual for career change.A Model for Self empowerment,.How should, be educational communityrespond to these clear, urgent, and pressingdemands? Alternative solutions haire beenproposed from a variety of sources (Adler1982; Botkin, Dimancescu, and St'ata 1982:Boyer 1983; DeBevoise 1982; Gisi and Forbes1982; Goodlad 1984; Naisbitt.1982; Pratzner1978; Ravitch 1983; Selz 1980; Timpane1982). Based on a review of these and otherresources, research, interviews, and workshops, the authois have identified a comprehensive model for pretechnical currieula forpreparing students to adapt'with change.,Themodel has two basic assumptions:.The nature of work in the future willbe characterized by constant change,which means that most workers willbe,employed in several different jobsowithin or across occupational clustersduring their lifetimes. Acceler.: .ated Change represents a significantfactor that must be considered byindividuals as they prepare for theirinitial employment.Individuals' employability options inthe future will be shaped by theacquisition End maintenance of specific classes of skills and knowledge.Three classes of such skills andknowledge have been identified:generalizable skills, problem-solvingskills, and transition skills.Figure Pdisplays the three classes ofskills and knowledge within which instructional strategies and pretechnical curriculadecisions may be developed.Generalizable skills and knowledge(hereafter referred to as generalizable0

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writing, and arithmeticare crucial for adapt-skills) are actively used in work per.Vormance, are transferable acrossjobs and occupations, and areinstrumental to success on the joband in the classroom. Examplesinclude mathematical, reasoning,communication (written and oral).,interpersonal, technological, and attitudinal skills.ing with change, but they are- no longer asufficient education for the workers of tomorrow. We have extended essential skills toinclude transition skills and problem-solving-skills. These skills will help provide tomor-row's worker the opportunity for Melo?,employability and well-being.The 'Model introduced here represents anextrapolation of available knowledge andopinion concerning the future of work andthe skills that individuals will need if they areto find work in the future. The purpose of theremainder of this publication is to explicatethe model and to demonstrate its usefulness.Transition skills and knowledge(hereafter-referred to as transitionskills) are used. to manage life transitions, especially occupationallyrelated ones. They include managing,changes in the environment, in relationships, and in oneself; managingstress, loss, and grief; and makingdecisions.'This purposrillbe achieved bysummarizing predictions about thefuture of work and the requisiteneeds of employees-and identifyingthe implications of those predictions,Problem-solving skills and knowledge (hereafter referred to asproblem-solving skills) are employedin the resolution of problematic situations, including interpersonalproblems (group and individual),information and task-related problems, and problems -related to people's behavior in cooperative groups.providing criteria for building a pretechnical curriculum that will beresponsive to both the needs ofemployers and employees,describing transition skills andproblem-solving skills and theirapplications, andTwo classes of skills from the model areotscussed in this report: transition skills andproblem-solving skills. Generalizable skillshave been described in detail in several current sources, one of which is Greenan's(1983) Identification of generalizable Skills inSecondary Vocational Programs. Generalizable skills, including the three Rsreading,Ascribing how the pretechnical cur.;riculum may be implemented into theschools.413--

FUTURE OF WORK: EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE NEEDSperforming high-level, creative, highpaid, full-time jobs in a good work environment. . . . At the bottom will be lowpaid workers performing relativelysimple, low-skill, dull, routine, highturnover jobs in a poor work environment. These jobs will often be part-timeand usually lacking job security andopportunities for career advancement.Employers and employees have alwaysxl interrelated concerns about work. FOremployers, future concerns will revolvearound the need to sustain state-of-the-artproduction and service capabilities in orderto remain competitive within the market. Foremployees, future concerns will center on theneed to find meaningful and satisfyingemployment and to adapt with changes thatoccur within or are related to the work setting. Based on a review of the literature,however, three major factors are predicted todisrupt the balance that must exist betweenthe concerns of employers and employees:----(1)-1WeImpact-et-leohnological change on thestructure of the labor market, (2) the increasein the transitory nature of work, and (3) theemergence of participatory work environments in business and industry. Each ofthese factors has important implications forthe formulation of a pretechnical curriculum.(P. 8)The AFL-CIO report gave two additionalcharacteristics of the committee's labormarket projection:Between these two major tiers will befewer and fewer permanent well-paid,full -time, skilled, semi-skilled, and craftprodUction and maintenance jobs whichin the past have offered hope and oppor-,.tunity and upward mobility to workers.(p. 4)Structure of the Labor MarketA Two-tiered Work ForceOne estimate pf the net impact of technological changes has been provided by theAFL-CIO Committee on the Evolution of--Work (1983). This-committee's-rWo?1, bitiiidon reports from a variety of experts from business, industry, and public and privateresearch institutions, predicted the formationof a two-tiered work force.---Below the two-tier work force is a laborsurplus underclass, the workers whodon't have jobs and don't have job prospects. There is some movement in andout of this labor surplus underclass, butupward movement is essentially limitedbottom level of theetwn-lier-worktoforce. (p. 9)Craig (1983) of The Ohio State Universitystated that the work force of the future *illrequire researchers and scientists and "a fewhighly skilled technical engineers andmechanical machine maintenance people. .But the mass of people will not haveadvanced technical skills" (p. 7),As computers and robots take over moreand more functions in the factory and theoffice, a two-tier work force is developing. In some cases, jobs are beingupgraded. In many other cases, jobs arebeing downgraded. . At the top will bea few executives, scientists and engineers, professionals, and managers,.Types of OccupationsImplicit within these predictions aboutthe structure of the future labor market are5.

assumptions about the types of occupationsthat will be available to the majority of individuals. The predominant assumption is thatan increasing number of workers will belimited to low-skilled, routine, high-turnoverjobs. Levin (1984) of Stanford University predicted that in the future, the vast majority ofjobs will be "low-level service occupationssuch as waiters, sales clerks, kitchen helpers,fast-food workers, and cashiers" (p. 4).curriculum. If the pretechnical curriculum isdesigned to provide everyone with.theopportunity to live successfully in a technological society, then it must prepare peopleto adapt to change. The importance of adaptability for high school graduates wasemphasized in a recent report from theNational Academy of Sciences (1984) entitledHigh Schools and the Changing Workplace:The Employers' View: As a panel ofeconomists, educators, and employersstated, "Graduates of American high schoolsneed to be. adaptable to changes in the workplace more than they need any particular jobskill. This adaptability is by far the mostimportant characteristic of the young personentering the workplace" (pp. xi-xii). A growing number of people believe that adaptability most likely to be achieved whenstudents receive a soft basic education asopposed to one with a narrow vocationalfocus (Lemons 1984; Levin 1984; Levin andRumberger 1983; Rumberger 1984). Voce-tional education can make significant contributions to the goal of adaptability.Rumberger (1984) contended that technological innovations will have a negativeimpact on the structure of the future labrJrmarket. According to him, these innovationswill not only reduce the total number of jobs,but they will also reduce the skill requirements of most jobs. Moreover, others havepredicted that the reduction of jobs and skillrequirements will be pervasive. Not only willpeople in such specific occupations assecretarial, bookkeeping, paralegal work, andrepair be affected by technical innovations(Levin 1984), but entire industries and occupations will be affected as well (Faddis,Ashley, and Abram 1982).TransitoFy Nature of WorkIn most instances, the redirection of jobor skill requirements will involve the dislocaWork is becoMing increasingly transitorytion of workers and the incorporation ofin nature. There are two reasons why workmachines or technical equipment. The net .can no longer be viewed as a static concept.result of this trend is that workers will beFirst, we are entering. a period of rapid techlimited in both the number and variety ofnological. change in which.both entry-levelavailable occupations.tome workers will beand high-skill positions are being trans- ,able to obtain high-tech positions (approxi formed7 often4n-unpredictableWays: Second,mately 3 percent), but the remainder wilLbeno one can accurately predict which jobs willlimited to occupations that will require only abe available to people during their lifetimeshigh school education (Levin 1984). Most of(Levis) 1984).these jobs will lack security or opportunityfor career advancement. In either situation,workers nevertheless will be confronted withDislocation and Retrainingthe prospect of change, change that willaffect not only their work, but almost everyThe certainty of technological changeother aspect of their lives.and the unpredictability of its outcomes,coupled with the inaccuracy of job forecasting, guarantee that most workers will changeImplicationsjobs several times during their live

DOCUMENT RESUME. CE 040 858. Daniels, M. Harry; And Others Towaid Excellence in Secondary Vocational Education