When I was a kid, my town had a Polytechnic that ran vocational courses and they tended to attract those students that were not capable, for whatever reason, of being able to attend the High Schools and Grammar School. It seems to me that vocational courses and the concept of the apprenticeship is precisely what we are trying to mimic in our classrooms by doing PBL.
If schools are serious about preparing students for the "real world", should they begin to take this concept to the next level and have vocational units specific to the job roles students may actually do when they leave school.
My brother might have been what is termed an 'at-risk' student. He left the Grammar School because he always skipped school and entered the Poly where he did a Meterology, 100%, Project course as an A Level. He never turned up to class...but skateboarded (this was 25 years ago when skateboarding in N.Ireland was done by 5 people) to the Stevenson Screen to take his readings and make his weather predictions every day; he aced the project! He has since joined the Royal Navy as a Marine Engineer and was awarded an OBE from the Queen last month!
Traditional schools and traditional teaching styles aren't always suitable for every student, but that doesn't make them bad students, or less intelligent or productive to society!
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