Teaching to Inspire Vocation: Restoring a Critical Element of Professional and Technical Education

A unique handbook for collegiate faculty, instructors, administrators, and graduate students in education to help professional and technical students discover meaning, purpose, and vocation through their scholarship. College students are looking for more than instrumental career knowledge and skills, they are looking for something to care about and build their lives around: a vocation. The book provides recommendations to enhance and amplify collegiate professional and technical instruction and curricula to support student discernment of vocation. Teaching for Vocation begins by making a case for teaching for vocation and provides a historical perspective on vocation in Western education. However, the core of the book focuses on the specific elements for an instructional framework on teaching for vocation.

Table of Contents:
Table of Contents Acknowledgements Preface Introduction Answering Mary’s Question Chapter 1Vocation in the History of Education Chapter 2Vocation in Context Cognition and Vocation Spirituality and Personal Knowledge Liberal Learning and Vocation Vocational Vocabulary and Narrative Vocation and Community Service Vocation and Calling Conclusion Chapter 3Authenticity, Mentoring, and Learning Community Elements Authenticity Mentoring Learning Communities Chapter 4Contemplative Practice Element Vocation and Cognition Vocation and Attention Vocation and Contemplative Practice Mindfulness Reflection Contemplative Reading, Writing, Listening, Seeing Contemplative Movement Conclusion Chapter 5Vocational Narrative Element Framing Narrative Language and vocabulary Craft, Practice, and Quality Chapter 6Experiential Learning Element Service-Learning Planning and Organizing Contemplative Practice in Service-Learning Chapter 7Teaching for Vocation Using Vocabulary Using Contemplative Practice Mindfulness practice: Breathing Mindfulness practice: Listening Mindfulness practice: Reading Mindfulness practice: Writing Mindfulness practice: Contemplative Movement Mindfulness practice: Information Technology Using Service-learning Planning and Organization Student Assessment Service-Learning Project Examples Program Assessment Conclusion Bibliography Index About the Author

About the Author :
Timothy C. Hohn is a retired faculty member and Chair of the Horticulture Department at Edmonds College, where he taught horticulture for 22 years. He received a Masters degree in Public Garden Management from the University of Delaware’s Longwood Program in 1986 and is the author of Curatorial Practices for Botanical Gardens, also by Rowman & Littlefield.

Review :
"Hohn has done a wonderful job synthesizing a broad range of important ideas and findings, and I wish him much success with the book. It deserves a wide reading." Tim Hohn has filled a noticeable gap in the growing literature on vocation and calling. Having spent his career teaching and advising students in technical and professional fields, he has developed a deep awareness of the vocational challenges that these students face. His book is filled with helpful narratives and practical advice that will make a genuine difference for college teachers and their students. For educators at community colleges and technical institutes, Teaching to Inspire Vocation is essential reading; but at four-year liberal arts institutions as well, teachers and advisors will find practical wisdom and useful suggestions to support their classroom teaching and improve conversations with advisees at all stages of life. If our students are to discern their vocations, they will need mentors who--in their teaching and advising--have found their own calling; we can all be grateful that Tim Hohn has found his.