Eccl. 2:24.
Types of Vocational or Educational Preparation
For the teen-aged client, high schools offer vocational training while the student is still in school. These programs usually involve educational subjects and training. For example, students study general curriculum during the first part of the school day and work during the remainder of the school day. These study programs include such work as office or retail sales work, automotive repair, or mechanical repair work. This is called the “learn and practice” approach for occupations where post-high school education is not necessary. This type of education is especially helpful for handicapped students who have had limited experience in working.
Vocational-technical schools offer education after high school. The length of various educational programs in the schools differs from several months to one or two years. Typical courses may include air conditioning, refrigeration, and heating technology; automotive technology; carpentry; barbering; and cosmetology. These schools usually emphasize skills and appeal to those people who do not have an interest in academic studies. If a client is older, in the USA he may also be accepted in these schools without a high school diploma.
We have to understand though that these schools give only minimal skills for employment and these skills may not be transferred to other jobs. For example, a person who repairs refrigerators cannot easily find work in another job such as automotive repair.
1. Why is the "learn and practice" approach good for students with little work experience?
(Only one of the following answers is correct.)
a) It gives them experience,
b) It helps them to understand their job better,
c) It combines knowledge and experience in doing work.
Correspondence or evening courses
Educational institutions offer home study courses. These courses must be chosen with care because this method is not suitable for many people. It means that the rehabilitation counselor must be vigilant to check on the client’s progress of study at regular intervals. However, sometimes learning by correspondence is the only alternative for a person with limited mobility. Sometimes a tutor from the school can be arranged for the homebound client. The tutor then helps the student to better understand the material and give him verbal conformation that he is learning the material adequately.
Apprenticeship Programs
Apprenticeship programs provide training in carpentry, masonry, machining and other crafts. Training periods last from 2 to 5 years. Apprenticeship programs are available for many of the same occupations that are taught in trade schools. The choice between a trade school and an apprenticeship program will depend on factors such as the person’s age, educational level, and what is available in the community where he lives. One of the best benefits of an apprenticeship program is that it gives the apprentice wages immediately. The wages are lower than a skilled worker’s pay, but there is financial payment for work done. Usually, the apprentice is under the supervision of a master. This is particularly appropriate for those persons who do not like classroom instruction. Additionally, apprentice training is conducted in many skilled trades for which there are no available school facilities.
Many workers get enough experience to become qualified in occupations that require apprenticeship without the formal apprenticeship program. However, the advantage of an apprenticeship training is that there is a written outline of the apprenticeship program and a certificate that gives evidence of qualifications for employment and pay.
On-the-Job Training
The most common way to train new workers in business and industry is through on the job training. New employees learn new tasks and the routine of their assigned job from a supervisor or a more experienced employee. The company may also have an instructor that does all the training of a new employee. This type of instruction is particularly effective.
There are programs where the company offers handicapped clients a job where they are trained. On the job training is often the only possibility in areas where there are no apprenticeship programs or trade schools. The training must have objectives and follow an outlined description of the job duties. As with apprenticeship programs, the trainee receives lower pay than regular employees and gradually receives incremental raises in salary.
2. The difference between an apprenticeship and on-the-job training is:
(Only one of the following answers is correct.)
a) an apprenticeship is a longer time period of training,
b) the apprenticeship gives the trainee more money,
c) on-the-job training is not as complicated as the apprenticeship.
Homebound Training
For various reasons, some severely handicapped individuals are unable to leave their home to participate in vocational training to participate in vocational training or other rehabilitation programs. There is a great need for these people to have meaningful activity.
Such activity may mean the difference between living at home or being institutionalized. If a person is isolated in his home, his psychological health decreases and may result in institutionalization. One of the goals of the homebound program is to establish contact between the outside world and his personal world.
Deprivation suffered by the homebound person may reduce his levels of social, intellectual, and vocational functioning. If left unchecked, such deprivation can produce irreversible consequences and makes rehabilitation impossible.
There are ways to help such persons. Working on crafts is a well-known program used in many countries to help the homebound. Training is given these persons to produce a marketable product for sale. There are stores that sell such items. The homebound person receives income and personal satisfaction from his work.
Adult Education
Adult education programs are many and varied. They are for people who want to better themselves through advanced training courses or training. Often adults participate in such courses in the evening hours when their responsibilities for their children or home decrease somewhat. During evening courses, there is less pressure and more informal atmosphere.
These courses may be found in colleges, libraries, public or government agencies, business organizations, or social agencies. Libraries have formal classes on computer literacy and provide information and learning materials for study. Governmental agencies have training for their employees that include education on new processes for office procedures, new ways of providing information about programs offered by the government, and informational services for health, education, and welfare. Businesses educate employees to perform their jobs better or to increase the quality of life they have with their families.
A quality of life program may include ways to communicate better with one’s wife or children. Religious organizations often have informal courses on spiritual growth and family relationships. The church also sponsors group therapy. Other institutions such as the Red Cross provide education for health care and personal health habits. Community institutions such as museums and art institutes have mini-education programs for adults interested in history or art.
While these educational programs may not provide a job for a person, they can help him to learn new skills or increase his knowledge of a certain specific topic. Such courses may also help a person through a long recovery period. He learns new material that may help him increase his value as an employee or help him identify a new interest and possible new job if he cannot return to his former job.
3. Adult education is helpful because:
(Only one of the following answers is correct.)
a) It provides practical education,
b) It helps to pass time while healing,
c) It may increase his knowledge to make him a more valued employee.
Alternatives - What Options Does an Injured Worker Have?
The best alternative for the injured worker is to return him to the job that he had. This may not be possible because of physical limitations. The alternative possibilities are as follows:
- a) return to work with the same employer, but in a different job,
- b) return to work with a new employer in a job that is related to his former job,
- c) return to work with a new employer in a completely new job with his present limitations,
- d) no return to work, short-term training in another job and then return to work with a new employer,
- e) no return to work, long-term training for a new profession with a new employer
How can we know what educational program is best for our clients? How do we know if they need education after an injury? What are the priorities in an educational program? As you do a vocational assessment and understand the physical limitations of a person, you begin to understand the type of work he can and cannot do. For example, if he is employed as a warehouse worker and loses his leg, the chances of him returning to work and carrying heavy boxes of goods decreases. If there is not work for him within the warehouse, what will he do? It is at this time, you begin to explore what he may want to do.
4. Why is it important for worker to return to the same job or the same company where he worked before the accident?
(Only one of the following answers is correct.)
a) He is already familiar with the work place and his former co-workers,
b) He can earn the same salary,
c) It gives others in the work place a positive feeling.
ATTENTION! After sending your answers to this lesson, 
CLICK HERE and use the following educational assessment worksheet to collect information about your client's educational interests. [You can also use this form later to gather information for any client.]