Designing vocational and technical teacher education for the 21st century: implications from the reform literature

This paper reviews general teacher education reform initiatives and, in particular, the reform of vocational teacher education. Through a review of research, the author investigates what vocational teachers need to know about teaching, learning, curriculum content and students. The discussion also examines what teacher educators need to know in order to develop effective vocational teachers. The principles for vocational-technical education or work-based teacher education are outlined. The components of a model for the design of work-based teacher education are described. These components include philosophical foundations, principles, standards of knowledge and practice, curriculum framework and assessment. The author also provides an extensive reference list and keywords for retrieving information from the ERIC database on the topics discussed in the paper. Show less