A Plan of Trade and Job Analysis for Organizing Printing Instruction in School or Plant Situations

The trade and job analysis approach to managerial and educational problems has been employed effectively in many situations, particularly in vocational instruction in schools and industry. The continuous flow of new methods, techniques and processes, the development of intricate equipment, and the massing of information in the printing trade, require constant upgrading of skills, knowledge, talents and abilities of personnel. Also, the functions and responsibilities of the foremen or shop supervisors, now more highly specialized and better organized, are focused on human relations, production, and training. Without an organized system of presentation, any training course becomes a jumbled mass of incoherent information. Trade and job analysis determines the content and sequence of subject matter, which will provide well-balanced courses of instruction. Possible overlooked details and overlapping in the student’s work may be avoided. Instructional analysis, set up on the basis of the most effective order of learning, will accelerate the training of craftsmen and allow more effective “breaking in” of new men. The quality and effectiveness of programs of trade and industrial education can be no better than the competence of the teachers. A study of Qualifications and Preparation of Trade and Industrial Teachers conducted by the Division of Vocational Education of the United States Office of Education, indicated that educators, supervisors, and teachers were emphatic in selecting Trade Analysis and Course Construction, Methods of Teaching Industrial Subjects, and Development of Instructional materials, as the three courses contributing the most to their teaching success. The analysis technique remains the best method of arriving at subject matter content for all levels of industrial education. Trade and job analyses also contribute to keep teachers, vocational instructors, in-plant training directors and foremen up to date on new developments in the trade and in education. It is hoped that the topics covered in this plan may give a quick working knowledge through an organized body of information on trade and job analysis techniques, and that the suggested analysis procedure may serve as an aid for people engaged in the printing instruction. The basic fundamentals herein would also be useful for the preparation of instructional materials, demonstration of the type of physical facilities required, formulation of methods of presentation, and elimination of obsolete material from courses of instruction