JITE v40n1 - From the Editor - Professional Responsibility

Volume 40, Number 1
Fall 2002


FROM THE EDITOR

Professional Responsibility

Where does a new Editor of the Journal of Industrial Teacher Education (JITE) begin? First by acknowledging those individuals who have assisted with that editor's professional development related to the Journal . My first encounter with a JITE Editor was with Frank Pratzer and his unwavering commitment when my first refereed article was published in the Journal . Following that very positive experience, editors Scott Johnson and Karen Zuga continued the JITE's tradition of professional development for this junior industrial teacher education faculty member. As Zuga (1998) noted in her first "From The Editor", I also researched past Journals to develop a sense of the flavor of this introductory piece.

During this review, I gained a deep sense of understanding regarding the development of our professional journal. To me the objectives of the JITE, as stated by Ralph C. Bohn (1963) in Volume 1, Number 1, still seem relevant for today's industrial teacher educators. Bohn noted that the JITE's objectives were to:

  1. Provide distribution of research to the industrial teacher education profession.
  2. Promote venturesome thinking; challenge and evaluate the accepted; encourage experimentation and creative problem solving.
  3. Establish harmony within the profession. (p. 1)

It is the goal of this Editor to continue the "professional generosity," as termed by Rodney Custer (1996 , p. 3), of meeting these original objectives of the JITE and additionally nurturing junior industrial teacher education faculty. The term that I feel best describes this Editor's role is that of "professional responsibility." We as professional educators truly do have the responsibility to develop our profession and in so doing develop our replacements. As the editors before have so admirably done,it will be the professional responsibility of this Editor and the JITE Editorial Board to assist in developing and defining our profession, for junior industrial teacher education faculty as well as for experienced teacher educators. The members of the Editorial Board and I look forward to this opportunity to serve our profession.

Transitions

JITE Editorial Board changes for Volumes 40 and 41 include Stephen Petrina of the University of British Columbia leaving as Assistant Editor following several years of outstanding service. Also leaving the role of Assistant Editor is Janet Z. Burns from Georgia State University. However, Janet assumes the role of Associate Editor, where her judgment and guidance will be greatly appreciated by this Editor. James C. Flowers of Ball State University and Andrew E. Schultz from Central Michigan University remain on the JITE Board as Assistant Editors. New Assistant Editors include Robert T. Howell of Ft. Hays State University and Mary Jo Self from Oklahoma State University. Judith V. Wood from Purdue University will provide her expertise as Style Editor for Volumes 40 and 41 of the Journal .

In This Issue

This issue of the Journal presents four articles with a common focus on industrial teacher education. Dale E. Thompson, Cecelia Thompson, and Betsy Orr provide an examination of teachers' perceptions of performance-based teacher education modules. The authors indicate that even though the performance-based modules were developed over two decades ago, teachers still believe that the modules assisted with their professional development and that the content was relevant for their classrooms.

Next Chris Zirkle presents his research that identified barriers of trade and industrial education teacher to participating in distance education. This study indicates a disparity between general education courses and courses offered by industrial teacher education with respect to their availability. Zirkle discusses other issues related to distance education.

Klaus Schmidt gives readers the findings of his classroom action research case study. Schmidt compared students' perceptions and learning outcomes between traditional classroom instruction and on-line course instruction.

Finally, Dan Brown describes the supply-and-demand status of our profession. Brown compares his findings to those of earlier research in this area.

Continuing the focus on industrial teacher education, Karen Schaefer and Janet Z. Burns express their views on the importance of developing teachers who have the ability to reflect on their teaching.

Andrew E. Schultz provides readers with his insight into On Globalization , a new text by George Soros. Following this book review is the Journal's "Bits and Pieces" section, which contains information regarding submitting manuscripts to JITE and how to become a member of the National Association of Industrial and Technical Teacher Educators.

GER

References

Bohn, R. C. (1963) . From the editor. Journal of Industrial Teacher Education , 1(1), 1-2.

Custer, R. L. (1996) . Professional generosity. Journal of Industrial Teacher Education , 34(1), 3-6.

Zuga, K. F. (1998) . From the editor. Journal of Industrial Teacher Education , 36(1), 2-4.