Spotlight: OCCUPACS
OCCUPACS- An Occupational Learning Activity for K-8 Children
How did this program benefit students?
How can educators teach children about what different career choices are out there? Taking elementary school children on multiple field trips to the dentist office, kitchen in a large restaurant to see how a chef works, or even on the road with an electrician is just not feasible. This is where OCCUPACS came in. These were fifteen learning activity packages developed by the Center for Educational Studies at Eastern, funded by the Division of Vocational and Technical Education of the Illinois Board of Vocational Education and Rehabilitation. The OCCUPAC project was implemented by the EIU Lab School in the 1970-71 school year, and subsequently tested in public schools in Decatur, Lombard, Marshall, and Martinsville.
Dr. Donald Gill and the staff of the Buzzard Lab School cooperated with all aspects of the project. Additionally there was also an interdisciplinary team of professors from Buzzard to provide input: from home economics, industrial arts education, and elementary education. Businesses and industry in the Charleston-Mattoon area allowed project staff members to talk with and photograph employees for the construction of the OCCUPACS.
Photo courtesy of Booth Library University Archives
Newspaper clipping courtesy EIU archives.
One of the primary goals of the OCCUPACS project was to build wholesome attitudes towards all useful work whether it is a grocery clerk, office manager, or a doctor. One of the main philosophies behind the Lab School echoed Dewey's concept behind learning: that children learn by seeing, talking, listening, and "doing". Under many school programs, skills and knowledge are taught as objectives in themselves, rather than as tools to help students reach their natural goals. In these environments, adventure and curiosity are stifled.
OCCUPACS enabled a student to have control of their future by allowing him or her to possess a framework for making decisions relative to their work life. Thus the exercises provided in the OCCUPACS would enable the participants, by the time they reach the 9th grade, to be able to relate intelligently their own capacities and interests to whatever occupation will be best for the individual.
See this article from the Charleston Times Courier to read more.
Newspaper clipping courtesy EIU archives.