Just as professional careers now demand technical skills and an ability to work in teams, technical careers require an ability to diagnose and analyze problems. The School to Work Opportunities Act of 1994 focuses on improving the way students are prepared for careers, college, and citizenship. We are now learning a lot more about learning and we know that a lot of people with very high intelligence levels learn better in practical settings. We also know that practical skills now require a higher order of thinking. So the old dividing line between vocational and academic is fast becoming blurred and will become more and more meaningless as time goes on.
Children learn better when they see a purpose to their studies.
And cognitive research shows that people learn best by doing, when they apply their academic lessons to real-world activities and situations. Future nurses learn about genes and atoms, as well as how great authors' illnesses and mental conditions shaped their own pictures of the world. Future artists study not only the art of the past but also learn anatomy and the mathematics behind perspective and distance. Workplace personnel help teach courses in school and assist teachers in planning relevant lessons and courses. Student progress is evaluated both by what students know and what they are able to do.