1990's American STW Theory And Practice Research

STW was a hot issue of American vocational education field in last decade. It took contextual learning theory and career development theory as theory guides, initiated in few states like Michigan, Wisconsin, and California where vocational education was comparatively advanced. In 1994, American Congress authorized School-to-Work Opportunity Act. The act accelerated the nation's STW development. STW aimed to help every student further his/her study, find first high salary job by integrating vocational and academic curriculum, strengthening relationships between secondary and post-secondary schools. It insisted every student should receive vocational education, school-based learning, work-based learning, and connecting activity consist of vocational education activities, states should build up partnerships of employers, schools, teachers, parents, communities, and education specialists. STWOA provided almost all 50 states with $1.5 billion to execute STW reform. In 2001, the act expired. In 2001,Bush came into power. The federal government changed its support to STW. STW once again became local initiatives.STW was influenced by factors of politics, society, economy, and vocational education itself. It successfully built up series of projects. It appeared to be education nationalism. It rethought important questions of vocational education, which influenced the development direction of American vocational education in the new century.After several decades'development, Chinese vocational education has achieved a great many, but there are some factors that block its development. This paper focuses on STW theory and practice in 1990's America. It uses documents analysis, comparative analysis, and factors analysis as research methodology. It begins with impetuses of STW, then concludes theoretical frame of the reform, analyzes STW practice, and make some conclusions of STW. Based on these, the author proposes its inspirations. This paper discusses the following six sections.Section I is the preface. The author presents origins and meanings of the study, related researches done by American and Chinese scholars, key conceptions of the paper, and the frame of it.Section II analyzes STW impetuses from political, economic and social point of view.Section III aims to explain what STW is. It fist illustrates the theoretical basis of STW, then builds up a STW framework which includes career education target, aim, activity, curriculum and practice manner.Section IV analyzes STW practice. It includes progress stages, practice contents, and practice barriers.Section V evaluates STW reform.Section VI carries on the inspirations. It first gives a simple description of factors that block the development of Chinese Vocational Education, then gives some suggestion: (1) to improve students quality by offering everyone vocational education.(2) to overcome the rigid and closed operation model by various ways.(3) to help students make their own career plan by strengthening career development education.