High School Students And Vocational Students, Future Orientation, A Comparative Study

After the junior middle school graduation, the education that adolescence acceptdivides into two different kind. They are the general secondary education and thevocational education. Although the adolescence who are studying in general secondaryand vocational students are at the same age, the goals of the two kind of schools isdifferent, so do the curriculum. Does that affect the adolescence's future orientation? Isthere any difference between general secondary and vocational students' future orientation?Revised Chinese version of adolescence future orientation questionnaire was administeredover 1,500 general secondary and vocational students .On the base of data, the differencesof future orientation between general secondary and vocational students according toeducational track, the gender, and location were analyzed. The main findings are asfollows:1. General secondary students expressed more hopes for their future education thanvocational students did, but they mentioned less hopes for their future occupation thanvocational students. No differences between general secondary and vocational studentswere found in their parent and present family.2.The age of that general secondary students anticipated their hopes for their futureeducation, occupation, family/marriage, and their parent and present family would beactualized much later than vocational students did.3. Vocational students expressed more concerns for the future occupation thangeneral secondary students did. General secondary students expressed more concerns fortheir future education and their parent and present family. No differences betweengeneral secondary and vocational students were found according to concerns forthemselves.4. General secondary students expressed their concerns for their future education,future occupation, and for themselves would be actualized later than vocational studentsdid. No differences between general secondary and vocational students were foundaccording to concerns about their parent and present family.5. Girls mentioned more hopes for their future education and their parent and presentfamily than boys did. Boys mentioned more hopes about for their future occupation andfor their future family/marriage.6. Adolescence living in rural areas mentioned more hopes for their future educationthan those living in urban areas. Adolescence living in urban areas mentioned more hopesfor their future occupation than those living in rural areas and towns. Adolescence livingin rural areas mentioned more hopes for their parent and present family than those livingin urban areas and towns.7. Compared to vocational students, general secondary students expressed higherlevel of commitment related to future education, and lower level of exploration related tofuture occupation . Vocational students expressed higher level of commitment related totheir future family than general secondary students did.8. The level of exploration related to future education general secondary studentsshowed was higher than that related to future occupation and family. The level ofexploration related to future occupation general secondary students showed was higherthan that related to future family. The level of exploration related to future occupationvocational students showed was higher than that related to future education and futurefamily. The level of exploration related to future education vocational students showedwas higher than that related to future family.9. Compared to boys, girls showed higher level of exploration and commitmentrelated to future education, and lower level of that related to future family. No genderdifference was found in the level of exploration and commitment related to futureoccupation.10. Adolescence living in rural areas showed higher level of exploration related tofuture education than those living in towns. Adolescence living in rural areas showedhigher level of commitment related to future occupation and future family.The study analyzed the differences of future orientation between general secondaryand vocational students' future orientation. On one hand, it can enrich the psychologyknowledge of general secondary and vocational students' future orientation and makecontribution to research the effect of educational track on adolescence. On the other hand,it can offer theoretical guide to educational circles, families, and society to carry on careercoach according to the various educational track and adolescence's characters.