Career education is a concept that originated in the early 1970s. As explained by one of the field'soriginal theorists, the premise of career education was that schools should "use the entire educationalexperience to better prepare youth for career success in the full range of occupations while using thepotential relevance of academic learning as a motivator for educational success" (Mangum 1992, pp.31-32). Career education is intended to prepare each individual for career development--that is, toselect and engage in productive, satisfying work throughout life.Perhaps the most essential element of career education is the close link it espouses betweeneducation and work. In its broadest sense, career development seeks to answer fundamentalquestions about education and work for each individual (Terry and Hargis forthcoming): "What do Ido with my life? How much education do I need? What satisfactions do I want from my work?What skills can I develop? What level of income do I hope to have? How do I change careers?" Thegoal of career education is to provide the individual with the knowledge and skills needed to answerthose questions.Thus, it could be said that career education is but one more chapter in the historical debate over themerits of a liberal education versus a technical education. Herr (1987) traces this debate back to thenation's founders, contrasting Franklin's preference for a pragmatic, utilitarian education withJefferson's belief that possession of basic academic skills equipped one to move into almost anyrealm. It could also be said that career education espouses an approach midway between a liberaland a technical education: Although the value of theoretical knowledge for its own sake cannot bedenied, and although specific occupational knowledge and skills are certainly needed, no lessnecessary are the basic academic skills, an understanding of their relevance to the workplace, andspecific knowledge about the world of work...
