A case study of technical and vocational education in Turkey

The primary purposes of this paper were to provide data and information about the education system in respect to the responsiveness of vocational and technical teacher education in Turkey. The wide extant research literature and a survey of institutional members of the Higher Education Council and Ministry of education on Vocational Education provided the primary sources for the paper. Further, there is little consensus on the theoretical framework for subject matter and related pedagogy for preparing 21st Century teachers to teach in vocational and technical education. Beginning teachers are being made aware of such major initiatives as integration of academic and vocational education, school-to-work transition, and special populations. However, a solid theory and research base and the related connections with practice to undergird the initiatives and to bring about long-term, systemic change is probably not being provided at most colleges or universities. The capacity of vocational high schools and universities to produce teachers who are prepared to teach effectively all work-bound students for employment for the 21st Century workplace needs to be rebuilt.