ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that an adherence to common epistemology lies behind the attitudes and values that have structured and directed some recent curricular and administrative recommendations. It goes on to claim that many of the recommendations are educationally undesirable. The chapter examines the educational implications of objectivism for taking the degree of overlap between the ideas of vocationalism, consumerism, managerialism and objectivism as an indication of their mutual coherence. It provides an imaginary example of a curriculum initiative that might serve further to illustrate the extent of this coherence. The curriculum initiative might be announced in a consultative paper that described a situation of poor economic performance within the host country coupled with unfavourable international comparisons of participation rates in vocational education. It might be claimed that old vocational qualifications were not widely understood nor accepted and that people were not being prepared adequately for working life.
