, p. 125). According to his basic plan, the typical student would examine basic occupation types during the elementary grades, particular job clusters in junior high, and learn specific skills and job types in high school. Under this plan students would be prepared to enter work after graduation or pursue areas of chosen study at the post-secondary level.
Career education became a popular educational concept, although it is not without critics. There are the basic philosophical questions that cannot be avoided. Should career education provide a student with specific skills or a broad, humanistic understanding of work? Should career education prepare him for a specific job or for a general grasp of what it is to be a part of the economy? These differences between a vocational viewpoint and a liberal philosophical viewpoint have not yet been resolved.
Another theme in the 1960s and 1970s was a trend called "distributive education." This term was applied to cooperative arrangements between schools and businessmen who were interested in the education of youth. Small owner-operated stores, large retail chains, and merchant associations gave high school students hands-on experiences in varied aspects of retailing, wholesaling, supervision, and support which proved to be quite practical for application after graduation. By the early 1980s distributive education had become even more comprehensive, including programs in advertising; apparel and accessories; automotive work; marketing services; finance and credit; food marketing and service; general retailing; hardware and building materials; farm and garden businesses; home furniture; industrial materials handling; travel services; small business management; transportation industry; and warehouse wholesaling (McClure, Chrisman, & Mock, 1985, p. 131).
Along with the general concern of career education, greater emphasis has been placed upon practical career assistance for st...