A further call

Well, I didn't really figure out a good solution to my problem. In the end, I simply left the vocational issue open, for it is becoming increasingly clear that the lines are blurring between professional and vocational, at least as far as the world of work is concerned. Unfortunately, that world of work is starting to get the upper hand.

That sounds like I'm about to start shirking responsibility, but that's not it at all. My point is that too much of what we do in life is centered around work, as if making a living (regardless of whether in a professional, service, crafts or trade manner) is the most important thing about our existence. Sure, we all have to eat, and we would like something meaningful to do during daylight (or nighttime - for your night owls) hours, but it seems sad to me that we would define who we are through what it is we do for a living, regardless of whether we spent a lot of time preparing for it or not.

No, what bothers me about the focus on work is the notion of economic utility that underlies it. Of course, this isn't my own brain child, rather I read further in Postman and he describes this as one of the least clearly defined, yet surely impacting, narratives of our times. It would seem that we've made it into the supreme measure of all things, and this is what is so problematic. It is tightly linked to the other "gods" (as Postman phrases it) that we serve, namely consumerism and technology. While he sees consumerism as the ultimate false idol, I think economic utility is much more perfidious.

Economic utility reduces everything to money, including knowledge and people. It's not what we know that matters, it's how much it is worth (in money terms) to others and whether we can sell it or not. This thought is, if pursued to its end, the quintessential instrumentalizing of whatever it touches. If what we learn and what we know and what we hold to be good, and true, and right is subject to the measure of dollars (or euros or ... ) and cents, it means that truth goes to the highest bidder and those of us for whom no economic value can be determined are expendable. Postman points this out quite cogently in relation to modern education, and I believe that he hit the nail square on the head. The recent financial crisis cost the little people billions in cash and future rewards, yet not a single person was held accountable for the roles they played in what happened. Why? According to the narrative of economic utility, no wrongs were committed. Unfortunately, both the responsible and the newly liable know that this is not true.

As I pointed out last time, education is about making a life, and life and lives are worth more than can be translated into monetary value. Education, especially higher education, should enable the student to function in the world of work, to be sure, but we should not expect for a moment that this solely means that what is learnt is directly marketable in the workplace. Thinking critically, making informed decisions, knowing how to sort fact from opinion, and many other skills are particularly necessary in today's world, and their lack - from Enron to Iraq - have cost a lot of people a lot of money, but an even higher cost in loss of life.

Maybe it's time we started thinking about what is really valuable and what it is worth to us as a whole, not just individually. And maybe there should be a closer tie-in between what we profess and that to which we feel called.

Vocations and Professions

My initial reaction is that vocations have to do with being called; professions do the calling. Catchy, I suppose, but not very helpful.

I've been given a small but difficult task in a project in which I'm taking part: make clear the difference between vocational training and academic-based education in 25 lines or less. Seems to be a lot like an old contest from a cereal box. It isn't. European educational policy hangs in the balance. OK, not in the balance, but over my shoulder.

There are two fundamental oppositional pairs that I'm wrestling with: (1) training vs. education and (2) vocational vs. ???. The problem's pretty obvious: I'm missing the second element of the second pair. At the moment, I've classified it as a language problem.

Grow (1991) makes a sensible and simple distinction between training and education: the former, he contends, is "learning to do something well"; the latter, "becoming prepared for an uncertain life". It's a start. Granted, there are certain professions, like lawyers, doctors, teachers, and others, which are heavily engaged in training, and this training is to prepare the learner for functioning on the job. So, there is certainly an occupational component, at any rate. My hesitancy arises in placing profession opposite vocational, because I think this sends the wrong signal, especially in terms of the task I need to perform.

Leafing through Postman (1995), however, has provided me with a potential exit out of my dilemma. Though differentiating between schooling and education, he raises an interesting distinction that appears helpful to me: training, learning to do something well, enable us to make a living. Education, on the other hand, in preparing one for uncertainty, helps us to make a life for ourselves. The difference is simple, yet profound.

To participate in a professional field, of course, one starts with a basis in education, and then adds the training on top. Vocational training, for the most part, starts with the fundamentals (3 Rs, basic general knowledge, etc.) and then focuses primarily on the training part. Of course, highly skilled tradespeople are capable of functioning well in an uncertain world, but the focus of their skill development is not the uncertainty, but certainty: doing their trade well. Higher education, though, is supposed to prepare us for greater levels of uncertainty?

Perhaps. This is the thought I'll have to pursue. I'm still missing a word in for my pairs. Vocational/Professional is too sharp. Vocational/Academic seems too bookish. Vocational/Occupational is not sharp enough. The search continues.

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Grow, G. (1991) "Teaching Learners to be Self-Directed." Adult Education Quarterly, 41, 125-149

Postman, N. (1995) The End of Education, NY, Vintage Books