Philosophy and Practice of Career and Technical Education Practitioners in China and U.S.: Some Insights

Abstract

Teaching philosophy is recognized as a major force shaping teaching practices of instructors across all fields of education. In the present article, we take a cross-cultural perspective on teaching philosophy in the field of career and technical education. The teaching philosophies of practitioners in Chinese vocational agricultural universities and American land-grant universities are compared in terms of 6 philosophical approaches commonly found in adult education. Data collected through the researcher-developed Philosophies of Vocational Education Scale revealed commonalities between the 2 groups (64 Chinese, 64 American) of randomly polled instructors, despite the difference in social settings. Liberal, progressive, behaviorist, somewhat humanistic philosophy was favored in both groups. Analytic and radical philosophies were not so apparent among instructors in either group.