JITE v39n1 - From the Guest Editor - Four Decades of Scholarship

Volume 39, Number 1
Fall 2001


Four Decades of Scholarship

Over the past four decades, the Journal of Industrial Teacher Education has been the symbol of scholarly research for the National Association of Industrial and Technical Teacher Educators (NAITTE). To recognize the important contributions that the Journal , its editors, and its authors have provided NAITTE and the profession as a whole, the Journal's Editorial Board decided to prepare this 40th anniversary special issue of the Journal . This special issue contains one article from each of the Journal's four decades. It is hoped that through the re-publication of these four original manuscripts, the profession can reflect on its past accomplishments and position itself for a leading role in teacher education for the 21st century.

In order to select the four Journal articles to be re-published in this special issue, four nationally renowned industrial teacher education scholars were identified. Each of these individuals was asked to select a representative Journal publication from one of the past four decades, and to provide our readers with an introduction for that selection.

Professor Emeritus Rupert N. Evans of the University of Illinois graciously examined the Journal's first years, 1963-1969 (Volumes 1 through 7). Professor Evans provides a perspective of the profession's feelings toward research during that time period. As a representative piece, Evans selected a manuscript by Willard M. Bateson and Jacob Stern that appeared in Volume 1, Number 1, of the Journal . Bateson and Stern, in their manuscript titled, "The Function of Industry as the Basis for Industrial Education Programs," presented a rationale for using an examination of industry as the foundation for determining industrial education learning objectives.

Professor Dennis R. Herschbach from the University of Maryland shares his insights into the decade of the 1970s. Herschbach describes the societal events that influenced the development of the career education movement. Professor Herschbach suggested the inclusion of Rupert N. Evans and Gordon McCloskey's (1973) work entitled "Rationale for Career Education," which appeared in Volume 10, Number 2 of the Journal . Evans and McCloskey discussed the importance of work to our society and noted that employment of the day required higher levels of knowledge.

The field of education was transformed in the 1980s by the publication of A Nation at Risk and the educational reform movements it engendered, according to Professor Emeritus Frank C. Pratzner of The Ohio State University. Pratzner selected an article by Angelo C. Gilli, Sr. as the manuscript that symbolized the 1980s. Gilli's 1984 article "The Role of Vocational Studies and Training in General-Liberal Schooling," appeared in Volume 21, Number 3 of the Journal . Gilli examined the liberal schooling beliefs of Adler and provided vocational educators some insights into their contributions to the goals of liberal education.

Professor Emeritus David C. Bjorkquist of the University of Minnesota provided the final Journal selection of this 40-year span. The manuscript Bjorkquist selected for the decade of the 1990s was Wirth's 1994 "An Emerging Perspective on Politics for American Work and Education for the Year 2000: Choices We Face," which appeared in Volume 31, Number 4 of the Journal . In this article, Wirth discussed the social transformation that has occurred across the United States. Bjorkquist leaves readers with some thought provoking questions to contemplate as they read Wirth's entry in this special issue.

Through the efforts of these four industrial teacher education scholars, our readers have been provided a brief glimpse into the Journal's , and the profession's, past. As industrial teacher educators and their students revise their programs to be more reflective of schooling and work in the 21st century, we hope that this special issue of the Journal will provide new insights into the profession's development and its evolution during the publication period of the Journal .

The Journal Editorial Board, NAITTE, and the profession are deeply indebted to Professors Bjorkquist, Evans, Herschbach, and Pratzner for their assistance with this special issue of the Journal .

George E. Rogers
Guest Editor