A Comparative Study of the Trends in Career and Technical Education Among European Countries, the United States, and the Republic of China.

Theories influencing the development of trends in career and technical education (CTE) in Europe, the United States, and the Republic of China (Taiwan)were examined. The analysis established that, when determining the goals of CTE and areas of focus of efforts to improve CTE curricula and delivery, European countries focus on theories related to continuous economic development and the social organization of innovation and, consequently, concentrate on CTE's role in human resource development. The United States is emphasizing CTE's role in the movement toward high-productivity work organizations, whereas the Republic of China is concentrating on development and implementation of a series of coherent CTE curricula to avoid overlapping of individual curricula's contents. The following themes for implementation of CTE curricula in Taiwan were identified: (1) establishment of occupational standards; (2) competency certification; (3) collaboration between schools and industry; and (4) lifelong learning theory. The following areas of direction and strategies for CTE were identified in the study countries: (1) occupational profiles, core occupations, and cooperation between education and industries in Europe; (2) tech prep and improvements in postsecondary education in the United States; and (3) implementation of a coherent CTE system, collaboration between schools and industries, and school-industry incubation practices in Taiwan. (Contains 10 references.) (MN)