Basic Contrasts Between Adult And Vocation Courses
The educational opportunities of the present generation are ever-expanding, all thanks to the immeasurable contribution of the internet. An individual can learn a specific trade, or be updated on the latest in career-related skills, just by browsing the web. Among the numerous prospects for learning which is available via the web, adult education and vocational training are two of the most erroneously misconceived. It is true that both are similar in the purpose of educating the individual, enhancing a person’s skill to maximum efficiency; but there are also stark differences, with each method carrying its own peculiar feature.
Adult education is concerned with the training and development of the adult individual. This is done with methods which are aimed to capitalize on the person’s accumulated knowledge and real-world experience, enhancing and building upon this basic foundation. With the new knowledge gained from adult education, the individual can improve upon and add depth to their current educational experience, and also get a good idea on how to apply this newfound knowledge to practical and real-life situations. Although adult education is commonly offered in the workplace in the form of skills training, or in the classroom in the form of continuing or basic education, the recent offerings of online adult education courses have been gaining ever-increasing support. Adult education can be considered as supplemental learning, taken to improve a person’s knowledge and skill within his or her chosen field.
Vocation education is essentially career-specific education, meaning that it only relates to a certain area of employment, or a specific industry sector. Courses of this nature lean to the practical side of knowledge, and are more focused on skills; indeed, many vocation courses rely heavily on work-related projects and hands-on experience. Although the nature of vocational education was originally non-academic and relates to a particular trade (or vocation), recent offerings in the field also include proficiencies which previously belonged to the academic fields, such as engineering and information technology. In this sense, vocational education may be taken for technical education, wherein the individual directly gains expertise in a specific technique or technology.
Adult education primarily aims at instructing adults, while vocation courses can educate anyone, even those below the legal age, as long as they are willing and committed to gaining a new skill in the industry field of their preference. The difference between adult education and vocational education is essentially based on the age of the student, as the thin line which differentiates the two blur with existing and upcoming technologies. For example, the technology boom of the nineties led to mass enrollments of both adults and adolescents to computer training courses – a discipline which is vocational in nature, but also appeals to the majority of the adult population. Those who had been into white collar careers needed the education to keep up with the pace of the possible applications of this new technology to their chosen careers, while others saw this as an entirely new field with applications completely different from those which were then available. In this way, the prospects of adult education and vocational instruction overlapped, resulting in a healthier industry wherein everyone can benefit.