Functional integration means that learning moves closer to work. Learning in the context of real problem-solving is also more meaningful and motivating. At the same time, work itself changes. Continual adaptation requires faster transmission of existing know-how, and also more rapid creation of new ideas to improve products or work processes. People up and down the pay scale must be motivated more by intrinsic interest and curiosity in order to keep asking questions about how things could be done better.
Contemporary competition depends on a continual flow of ideas from everyone.
To prepare individuals for this kind of work, many employers now have been calling for education that promotes creative thinking for all students, not just for the elite as in the past. Apparently, there is some convergence between the economic and humanistic missions of education. Vocational education and schooling for work therefore take on new significance. No longer alternatives to academic education, they now can serve as means to promote it. The basic dichotomy between academic and vocational education is dissolving along with the boundaries between learning and work.