Throughout history， vocational education has given students hands-on experience to prepare them for employment. Today’s vocational education is a well-developed schooling system which balances class time and work experience.

縱觀歷史，職業(yè)教育所提供的實(shí)操經(jīng)驗(yàn)為學(xué)生就業(yè)做好了準(zhǔn)備。如今，職業(yè)教育已經(jīng)發(fā)展為一個(gè)完善的教育體系，兼顧課堂時(shí)間和工作經(jīng)驗(yàn)。

Vocational schools， also known as trade schools， career colleges， and technical colleges， train students for skills-based careers. Those interested in careers such as event planning， accounting， graphic design， plumbing， or law enforcement can study at a vocational technical school. Career and Technical Education （CTE） results in either a certificate or associate’s degree.

職業(yè)學(xué)校培養(yǎng)學(xué)生從事技能型職業(yè)，又稱為高職學(xué)校、職業(yè)學(xué)院、技工學(xué)院。對(duì)活動(dòng)策劃、會(huì)計(jì)、平面設(shè)計(jì)、管道工、執(zhí)法等行業(yè)感興趣的學(xué)生可以去職業(yè)技校學(xué)習(xí)。完成職業(yè)技術(shù)教育（CTE）可獲得結(jié)業(yè)證書或副學(xué)士學(xué)位。

Students have been training for specific vocations for thousands of years， just not in the way we think of vocational education today. Women learned domestic1 skills from their mothers， and young men trained for specific trades under skilled professionals. Young apprentices， for example， may have learned to shape swords by shadowing2 the town’s bladesmith. This type of hands-on， skills-based learning has lasted throughout human history. As we have developed， so has it.

數(shù)千年以來(lái)一直有人在接受特定的職業(yè)培訓(xùn)，只是與我們今天所認(rèn)為的職業(yè)教育有所不同。女性向母親學(xué)習(xí)家務(wù)技能，年輕男性則在專業(yè)人員的指導(dǎo)下接受特定行業(yè)的培訓(xùn)。譬如，年輕的學(xué)徒可能會(huì)跟隨鎮(zhèn)上的刀匠學(xué)習(xí)鑄劍。這種實(shí)操性的、技能型的學(xué)習(xí)貫穿人類歷史，隨著人類的發(fā)展而發(fā)展。

The history of career technical education （CTE） traces its origins to post-Civil War America， with the opening of the St. Louis Manual Training School in 1879 under the umbrella of3 Washington University. The school grew out of the non-traditional thinking of educator Calvin Milton Woodward， who believed that the traditional school model would struggle to address the country’s need for skilled labor4 at a time of rapid industrialization.

CTE最早出現(xiàn)在內(nèi)戰(zhàn)之后的美國(guó)——1879年，圣路易斯手工培訓(xùn)學(xué)校建立，隸屬于華盛頓大學(xué)。這所學(xué)校誕生于教育家卡爾文·米爾頓·伍德沃德的非傳統(tǒng)想法。他認(rèn)為，在快速工業(yè)化的時(shí)期，傳統(tǒng)的學(xué)校模式將難以滿足國(guó)家對(duì)熟練勞動(dòng)力的需求。

Rather than isolate academic and technical education， Woodward and his team sought to open a school that addressed both， educating students with both “books and tools.” It would focus particularly on skills needed for woodworking and metalworking. Students at the school did do academic work but also balanced their days with time in the workshop and learning to use various tools.

伍德沃德和他的團(tuán)隊(duì)不主張把學(xué)術(shù)教育和技術(shù)教育分割開(kāi)來(lái)，而是試圖開(kāi)設(shè)一所兼顧兩者的學(xué)校，用“書本和工具”雙管齊下教育學(xué)生。這所學(xué)校將特別側(cè)重木工和金屬加工所需的技能。學(xué)生們雖然也有課業(yè)，但每天會(huì)有一定時(shí)間到作坊中學(xué)習(xí)使用各種工具。

While the Manual Training School represented the first model of CTE in America， it was far from the last. The field of CTE has gone through many evolutions over the years， as educators and policymakers have searched for the best model for trade-based education.

雖然手工培訓(xùn)學(xué)校代表了美國(guó)CTE的第一種模式，但它遠(yuǎn)非最后一種。多年來(lái)，教育工作者和政策制定者一直在尋找職業(yè)教育的最佳模式，CTE這一領(lǐng)域經(jīng)歷了許多變化。

The most notable development to U.S. vocational education came in the early 20th century. Before the Great Depression， society was industrializing. Agriculture was less lucrative， and children from rural areas were showing up to attend schools that were already overcrowded. Those schools were even less prepared for the influx of immigrants that were arriving in the United States at the same time.

20世紀(jì)初，美國(guó)職業(yè)教育得到最顯著的發(fā)展。在大蕭條之前，社會(huì)正在工業(yè)化。農(nóng)業(yè)的獲利變少，農(nóng)村地區(qū)的孩子紛紛入讀早已人滿為患的學(xué)校，而同一時(shí)期涌入美國(guó)的大量移民更是讓這些學(xué)校猝不及防。

Factories， on the other hand， needed laborers （and so did many in-demand trade professions）. Many workplaces employed young people， but the United States passed its first child labor law in 1916， which began to limit child labor. It was no longer so widely accepted for young children to sit beside their parents and learn a trade hands on （many lobbyists deemed it unsafe and cruel）. So， to help factories find skilled employees and to help schools deal with huge student bodies， U.S. high schools began to offer vocational education programs.

另一方面，工廠需要?jiǎng)趧?dòng)力，眾多熱門行業(yè)也是如此。許多工作場(chǎng)所雇用年輕人，但美國(guó)在1916年通過(guò)了第一部童工法，開(kāi)始限制使用童工。人們不再普遍接受讓年幼的孩子坐在父母旁邊動(dòng)手學(xué)習(xí)技藝，許多游說(shuō)者認(rèn)為這既不安全又殘忍。因此，為了幫助工廠找到熟練的員工，以及幫助學(xué)校應(yīng)對(duì)龐大的學(xué)生群體，美國(guó)高中開(kāi)始開(kāi)設(shè)職業(yè)教育課程。

In 1917， the Smith-Hughes Act became the first law to authorize federal funding for vocational education programs in U.S. schools. It established vocational education as acceptable training for certain future professionals who wouldn’t need bachelor’s degrees to do their jobs， such as plumbers， mechanics， and factory workers. They completed their training in focused vocational programs associated with high schools.

1917年，《史密斯-休斯法案》成為第一部授權(quán)聯(lián)邦撥款在中學(xué)開(kāi)設(shè)職業(yè)教育課程的法律。它規(guī)定，未來(lái)所從事工作不需要學(xué)士學(xué)位的專業(yè)人士接受職業(yè)教育即可，比如水管工、修理工和工廠工人。他們?cè)谂c高中關(guān)聯(lián)的針對(duì)性職業(yè)課程中完成培訓(xùn)。

According to American RadioWorks， on paper5， the creation of these Voc.Ed6 programs solved major problems （like overcrowded classrooms and the demand for a skilled workforce）， but in reality， it was still problematic. Notably， the students who were assigned to vocational education programs were often immigrants or poor children from rural areas. This meant that these marginalized groups were not given a chance to study a liberal arts curriculum （which was necessary for students who planned to go on to college）， even if they wanted to. Desks in the liberal arts classes at high schools continued to be reserved for middle- and upper-class white students. Underprivileged students were encouraged to learn only the skills necessary to sustain jobs， then enter the workforce as soon as possible. If they tried to change career paths later down the line7， they often found that they had little or no training in core subjects， which thereby prevented them from returning to college or switching careers.

據(jù)美國(guó)廣播工廠報(bào)道，這些職業(yè)教育課程的誕生雖然在理論上解決了一些大難題，比如教室過(guò)度擁擠和對(duì)熟練勞動(dòng)力的需求，但實(shí)際上仍然存在問(wèn)題。顯然，被分配去讀職業(yè)教育課程的學(xué)生往往是移民或者來(lái)自農(nóng)村的貧困兒童。這意味著，這些邊緣群體即使想要學(xué)習(xí)通識(shí)課程（這對(duì)計(jì)劃上大學(xué)的學(xué)生來(lái)說(shuō)是必要的），也沒(méi)有機(jī)會(huì)。高中通識(shí)課程的課桌仍然專屬于中上階層的白人學(xué)生。學(xué)校鼓勵(lì)弱勢(shì)學(xué)生只學(xué)習(xí)崗位必備技能，然后盡快成為勞動(dòng)力。如果他們后來(lái)試圖改變職業(yè)道路，往往會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)自己很少或者根本沒(méi)有接受過(guò)核心科目的訓(xùn)練，這就阻礙了自己重返大學(xué)或轉(zhuǎn)行。

The Perkins Act of 1990 attempted to reconcile these problems. It now provides vocational programs to young students as a way for them to start their educational careers， not limit them. Students can begin their CTE courses in high school or after obtaining their diplomas or GEDs9， and they leave prepared to either go right into a career or continue working toward a four-year degree.

1990年的《珀金斯法案》試圖調(diào)和這些問(wèn)題。目前，該法案為年輕學(xué)生提供職業(yè)課程，以此開(kāi)啟而非限制其求學(xué)之路。學(xué)生們可以在高中期間或者獲得畢業(yè)文憑/普通教育發(fā)展證書后開(kāi)始學(xué)習(xí)CTE課程，到結(jié)束時(shí)可以直接就業(yè)，也可以繼續(xù)攻讀四年制學(xué)位。

While a certain untrue stigma surrounding Voc.Ed persists （namely that no student would choose CTE if he or she had other options）， these programs now include school-based and work-based learning through supportive business partnerships. Many vocational programs use new technologies and web resources， such as online classes， to help their students excel in school and in the workplace.

關(guān)于職業(yè)教育的不實(shí)污名仍然存在，即：假如有其他的選擇，沒(méi)有學(xué)生會(huì)選擇職業(yè)技術(shù)教育。但是在合作企業(yè)的支持下，如今這類培訓(xùn)既有在校學(xué)習(xí)也有實(shí)操學(xué)習(xí)。許多職業(yè)課程利用新技術(shù)和諸如線上課程等網(wǎng)絡(luò)資源幫助學(xué)生在學(xué)校和職場(chǎng)脫穎而出。

（譯者為“《英語(yǔ)世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎(jiǎng)?wù)撸?/p>

1 domestic家庭的，家務(wù)的。

2 shadow跟隨……實(shí)地學(xué)習(xí)（或參觀）。 3 under the umbrella of屬于……，在……范圍內(nèi)。 4 skilled labor熟練勞動(dòng)力，指同一工種內(nèi)具有豐富經(jīng)驗(yàn)和熟練技術(shù)的生產(chǎn)者。

5 on paper理論上。 6 vocational education的縮略詞。 7 later down the line在未來(lái)的某個(gè)時(shí)間。

8 GED = General Educational Development，等同于高中學(xué)歷。