Career Education

Career education first gained public attention in 1971 under the leadership of the U.S. commissioner of education, Sidney P. Marland, Jr. Under the motto of “All Students, All Occupations, All Subjects,” career education was presented as the reform whereby schools would justify their worth by dedicating themselves to preparing students for the world of work.

The term career education replaced vocational education in 1972, and from 1973 to 1976 nearly 400 articles were listed under the banner of “career education” in the Education Index. Career education was hailed as the solution to the problems caused by the “irrelevance” of general education, with its causation of social problems such as truancy and unemployability, and as the remedy for students' ignorance of the realities of the world of work. Career education would meet the needs of all American youth, negating the current practice, which satisfied the needs of the distinct minority who would be college graduates. Career education promised more than meeting the needs of individual students; it offered the nation an opportunity to compete successfully in the world's markets. Career education would require an overhaul of the U.S. educational system, including teacher training. It would require a collaborative effort on the part of national, state, and local educational leadership, in combination with other government officials, business leaders, and labor leaders. It was billed as having three stages: (1) awareness in Grades K–5; (2) exploration in Grades 6–9; and (3) preparation, in Grades 10–14.

Career education became known as the pet project of Commissioner Marland. He defined it as a concept or a point of view. It would rectify the dismal record of general education that had wasted the potential of millions of American youth and had had destructive effects on American society in general. Education would become relevant for all American youth and would indoctrinate them in their early years into the real world, the world of work. It would operate as a bridge between school and work, between school and employers, between childhood and adulthood.

Career education advocates saw their movement as the reform that would enable the student to look upon him- or herself as a potential worker and to grasp the perceptions of the realities of work. It would span the worker's entire life and would include unpaid as well as paid labor and work activities associated with leisure and recreational time.

A number of powerful organizations officially backed career education. The movement received support from the National Education Association, the National Association of Chief State School Officers, the National Advisory Council on Vocational Education, the National Association of Secondary School Principals, the American Association of Junior Colleges, the College Entrance Examination Board, the National Institute of Education, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The American Vocational Association was in the forefront of career education's backers. This organization felt the movement was so strong that no obstacle was too formidable to be overcome. Its success could not be blocked, aiming as it did to restructure the curriculum for 54 million schoolchildren and another 8 million in college. Its future was bright; guaranteed by the enthusiasm that surrounded it. Vocational educators were called on to take the leadership in advancing this all-embracing educational reform movement. The school curriculum was to be revamped in elementary school where the talents of each child were to be discovered as was his or her relation to the world of work.

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