In an article on The Guardian website, Peter Wilby suggests ‘vocational’ is now associated irrevocably with low status jobs. In the same way, perhaps, the term ‘engineer’ is now applied in many cases to functions previously performed by a ‘technician’.
Wilby’s article looks at the split between academic studies and those which encourage ‘doing, designing and problem solving’. Those of a certain age might recall a similar split in the education system between grammar schools and secondary moderns, where those in the grammar sector looked down their snobbish noses at those who were learning trades and other useful skills.
Six decades later, it seems we have learned very little.
