Business/Industry/Labor and Personnel Development in Vocational Education. Information Series No. 124.

Effective strategies to maximize the input of business, industry, and labor in vocational education personnel development programs are the focus of this information analysis paper. Topics developed in the paper include program development aspects of business, industry, and labor linkages with vocational education as they concern advantages of educators establishing linkages, and constraints to establishing these linkages. Successful examples of linkages, described in terms of benefits and prevailing patterns of programs, include the following: (1) personnel exchange programs, which provide opportunities for short-term, up-to-date work experiences for vocational educators, (2) cooperative internship programs, which provide relevant educational experiences that cannot be obtained through university instruction, and (3) business/industry/labor programs, which include industry-education councils, workshops, seminars, conferences, plant visits, and fellowships. Research dealing with these training programs is briefly discussed. Summary observations based on the literature review concerning the present state of business, industry, and labor linkages with vocational teacher education departments are presented. (TA)