Mindfulness, therapy and vocational values: exploring the moral and aesthetic dimensions of vocational education and training

Abstract

The debilitation and devaluation of education in general and vocational education and training (VET) in particular has been explored and described in recent years by a wide range of critical commentators. Education stands in dire need of therapy, and this paper suggests a therapeutic process for rejuvenating and enhancing VET through attention to the moral and aesthetic values which, arguably, should underpin all genuinely vocational learning. These processes need to counter the claims made by Ecclestone & Hayes about the so-called 'therapeutic turn' in education. It is suggested that such claims are exaggerated and mistakenly based on a one-sided intellectualist conception of the educational task. On a more positive note, it is argued that the theory and practice of 'mindfulness' - present-moment attention and awareness - can serve to foster moral, social and aesthetic values which can be utilised to enhance and enrich vocational studies at all levels of the system.