Occupational Experience Qualifications of Vocational Business Education Teachers in Utah

On December 18, 1963, President Johnson signed into law the Vocational Act of 1963. With its passage, cooperative secondary school office education and distributive education received needed encouragement and financial assistance. Educators in business are, as never before, challenged to prepare effective teacher-coordinators for the cooperative part-time program in business. The instructor of a vocational course should have a thorough and up-to-date knowledge of his subject area. One of the ways in which the vocational business education teacher can obtain this knowledge is through actual job-related experience. The Peabody Report, compiled by the George Peabody College for Teachers, under the direction of W. D. McClurkin, states: No work experience is required for the teacher in a non-cooperative program but 2,000 hours are required for a teacher in the cooperative office education program. Many teachers do not meet this requirement. The Utah State Plan for Vocational Education sets forth the occupational experience requirement for vocational business education teachers as follows: distributive education: Teachers who instruct marketing programs shall have an accumulative total of at least one year of occupational experience in the field of distribution. office occupations: Teachers who instruct office occupations programs shall have had an accumulative total of at least one year of occupational experience in office occupations fields. The shortage of teachers qualified to teach in the cooperative office education program is a problem of concern to the Office Occupation\u27s Department of the Vocational Education Division. 5 Before the value of the occupational experience requirement can be assessed, steps must be taken to determine if the requirement is being adhered to. An appraisal of what conditions and practices currently exist must be made