The Richness of Occupational Instruction: The Paradox in U.S. Community Colleges

Instruction in occupational subjects is potentially richer and more complex than instruction in academic subjects. There are many competencies to master, including manual and visual abilities, problem-solving and interpersonal skills, and nonstandard linguistic and mathematical abilities. The settings of occupational education are more complex because they include workshops (or real work), which are the location of “hands-on” teaching. This paper argues that the special pedagogical conditions of occupational education are routinely ignored, especially in English-speaking countries, and that community colleges often fail to provide the support necessary for their full development. The result is that the potential richness and complexity of vocational instruction are often undeveloped within the classroom and unrecognized by academic instructors and administrators. This paper was presented at Teaching and Learning Within Vocational and Occupational Education and Training Conference, Goettingen, Germany.