Welcome and Introduction to:
VOED 6513
History and Principles of
Vocational Education
Dr. David M. Agnew
Associate Professor
Arkansas State University
History
Main Entry: his·to·ry
 Pronunciation: 'his-t(&-)rE
 Function: noun
 Inflected Form(s): plural -ries
 Etymology: Latin historia, from Greek,
inquiry, history, from histOr, istOr
knowing, learned; akin to Greek eidenai
to know.

What is History?

Webster’s definitions
– An account of what has happened,
especially to people, country, etc.
– All recorded past events
– the branch of knowledge that deals
systematically with the past.
– A known or recorded past
What is History?….Continued
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A narrative of events; a story.
A chronological record of events, as of the life
or development of a people or institution,
often including an explanation of or
commentary on those events.
History is a methodical record of important
events which concern a community of men,
usually so arranged as to show the
connection of causes and effects, to give an
analysis of motive and action etc.
Is History Important?
Is it worth our time to look back?
 Will knowing history affect the future?
 Will we become confused with the past?
 Will knowing history help us make
better decisions?
 Would we be better off not knowing the
past?

Yes
No
Maybe
Usefulness of any knowledge depends
on what you “do with it “.
 History can become an invisible barrier
if we are not careful.

What do the great thinkers
and leaders throughout
history say about history?
Marcus Tullius Cicero
Roman statesman 106-43 BC
 History
is the witness
that testifies to the
passing of time; it
illumes reality,
vitalizes memory,
provides guidance in
daily life, and brings
us tidings of
antiquity.
Shakespeare

There is a history in all
men’s lives.
Napoleon

"History is the
version of past
events that people
have decided to
agree upon."
Thomas Jefferson 1743-1826
Third President, 1801-1809

If a nation expects to
be ignorant and free,
in a state of
civilization, it expects
what never was and
never will be.
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

"Books are the carriers of
civilization. Without books,
history is silent, literature
dumb, science crippled,
thought and speculation at
a standstill."
Abraham Lincoln


Fellow Citizens, we cannot
escape history
(Upon the subject of
education) I can only say that
I view it as the most important
subject which we as a people
can be engaged in. That
every man may receive at
least, a moderate education
and thereby be enabled to
read the histories of his own….
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
1841 –1935. U.S. Supreme Court Judge
"A page of history is
worth a pound of logic."
 “Young man, the secret
of my success is that at
an early age I
discovered that I was
not God. Oliver Wendell
Holmes, Jr.

Sir Winston Churchill
British Prime Minister during WWII


"For my part, I consider
that it will be found much
better by all parties to
leave the past to history,
especially as I propose to
write that history myself."
History will be kind to me,
for I intend to write it.
H. G. Wells (1866-1946)
Author


"Human history
becomes more and
more a race between
education and
catastrophe.“
Best known for THE TIME
MACHINE (1895), one of the first
modern science fiction stories,
THE INVISIBLE MAN (1897), and
THE WAR OF THE WORLDS
(1898).
Harry S Truman (1884-1972)

"Men make history, and not
the other way around. In
periods where there is no
leadership, society stands
still. Progress occurs when
courageous, skillful leaders
seize the opportunity to
change things for the
better.
Lyndon Baines Johnson, 1908 –1973
Thirty-Sixth President, 1963-1969

On the subject of
history….The
knowledge of which
gives dimension to
the present,
direction to the
future, and humility
to the leaders of
men.
Albert Cooper

"A true history of human events would
show that a far larger proportion of our
acts as the results of sudden impulses
and accident, than of the reason of
which we so much boast."
Robert Heinlein, The
Notebooks of Lazurus Long

"A generation which ignores history has
no past and no future."
John Gardner
WWII Vet. Former Secretary of HEW, Author, etc.


"History never looks like history when you are
living through it.“ quoted by Bill Moyers
“We don't even know what skills may be needed in the years
ahead. That is why we must train our young people in the
fundamental fields of knowledge, and equip them to understand
and cope with change. That is why we must give them the
critical qualities of mind and durable qualities of character that
will serve them in circumstances we cannot now even predict."
John Gardner, "Excellence ""
Franklin D. Roosevelt 1882-1945
Thirty-Second President 1933-1945

Books cannot be
killed by fire. People
die but books never
die. No man and no
force can abolish
memory…….
Armstrong Williams
 We
need such reminders every
now and again to keep us
grounded in reality and keep the
most important events of our
history from becoming footnotes
in our memory.
– The unforgettable power of' `Beloved' Relevancy:
93; (The Washington Times ) Armstrong Williams;
10-17-1998
Jack Handey
Author/Humorist

Many people think that history is a dull
subject. Dull? Is it "dull" that Jesse James
once got bitten on the forehead by an ant,
and at first it didn't seem like anything, but
then the bite got worse and worse, so he
went to a doctor in town, and the secretary
told him to wait, so he sat down and waited,
and waited, and waited, and waited, and then
finally he got to see the doctor, and the
doctor put some salve on it? You call that
dull?
The Devil's Dictionary -- 1911

HISTORY, n. An account mostly false, of
events mostly unimportant, which are brought
about by rulers mostly knaves, and soldiers
mostly fools. Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914)
Henry Ford
Ford has a better Idea

"History is more or less bunk."
In the 1940s Ford was sued for patent rights infringement by Harry
Ferguson and was forced to pay the largest settlement every paid
for stealing a patent.
Misc… Quotes
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The past is always a rebuke to the present. Robert
Penn Warren
History is the record of encounters between character
and circumstance. Donald Creighton
History is not history unless it is the truth. Abraham
Lincoln
History is lies agreed upon.
When a person dies a library of information dies with
them.
All law and the enforcement requires a knowledge of
history.
Progress in Research is based upon a record of the past.
The future ani’t what it used to be.
Subject: Freshmen Class
Just in case you weren't feeling too old
today, this will certainly change things.
Each year, the staff at Beloit College in
Wisconsin puts together a list to try to give
the faculty a sense of the mindset of that
year's incoming freshmen. Here's this year's
list:
 1 The people who are starting college this
fall across the nation were born in 1980.

Freshman Class of 1999
continued ....
2. They have no meaningful recollection
of the Reagan Era and did not know
he had ever been shot.
 3. They were prepubescent when the
Persian Gulf war was waged.
 4. Black Monday 1987 is as significant
to them as the Great Depression.
 5. There has been only one Pope. They
can only really remember one president

Freshman Class of 1999
continued....
6. They were 11 when the Soviet Union
broke apart and do not remember the
Cold War.
 7. They have never feared a nuclear war.
"The Day After" is a pill to them, not a
movie.
 8. They are too young to remember the
space shuttle blowing up, and Tiananmen
Square means nothing to them.
 9. Their lifetime has always included AIDS

Freshman Class of 1999
continued....
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10. They never had a Polio shot, and likely do not
know what it is.
11. Bottle caps have not only always been screw
off, but have always been plastic. They have no
idea what a pull-top can looks like.
12. Atari pre-dates them, as do vinyl albums.
13. The expression "you sound like a broken
record" means nothing to them.
14. They have never owned a record player.
Freshman Class of 1999
continued....
15. They have likely never played Pac
Man and have never heard of Pong.
 16. Star Wars look very fake to them, and
the special effects are pathetic.
 17. There have always been red M&Ms,
and blue ones are not new. What do you
mean there used to be beige ones?
 18. They may have heard of an 8-track,
but chances are they probably never
have actually seen or heard one.

Freshman Class of 1999
continued....
19. The Compact Disc was introduced
when they were 1 year old.
 20. As far as they know, stamps have
always cost about 32 cents. (Accurate
until recently.)
 21. They have always had an answering
machine.
 22. Most have never seen a TV set with
only 13 channels, nor have they seen a
black-and-white TV.

Freshman Class of 1999
continued....
23. They have always had cable.
 24. There have always been VCRs, but
they have no idea what BETA is.
 25. They cannot fathom not having a
remote control.
 26. They were born the year that
Walkmen were introduced by Sony.
 27. Roller-skating has always meant
inline for them.

Freshman Class of 1999
continued..
28. The Tonight Show has always been
with Jay Leno.
 29. They have no idea when or why
Jordache jeans were cool.
 30. Popcorn has always been cooked in
a microwave.
 31. They have never seen Larry Bird
play, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is a
football player.

Freshman Class of 1999
continued....
32. They never took a swim and
thought about Jaws.
 33. The Vietnam War is as ancient
history to them as WWI, WWII, or even
the Civil War.
 34. They have no idea that Americans
were ever held hostage in Iran.
 35. They can't imagine what hard
contact lenses are.

Freshman Class of 1999
continued....
36. They don't know who Mork was or
where he was from.
 37. They never heard the terms:
"Where's the beef?", "I'd walk a mile for
a Camel," or "de plane, de plane!”
 38. They do not care who shot J.R. and
have no idea who J.R. is.
 39. The Titanic was found? I thought
we always knew where it was.

Freshman Class of 1999
continued...
40. Michael Jackson has always been
white.
 41. Kansas, Chicago, Boston, America,
and Alabama are places, not groups.
 42. McDonald's never came in
styrofoam containers.
 43. There has always been MTV.

What does that have to
do with us???????
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There are things that I think other people
know…. But they don’t!!!
I base my actions on my experience and
knowledge… but others sometimes do not
understand the background for my decisions.
When we see the big picture we are more likely
to understand….But without history I (we) can
only see part of reality. The part which we
experience first hand.
The question posed at the
beginning of this presentation
Is History Important?
YES

The only good histories are those that
have been written by the persons
themselves who commanded the affairs
whereof they write.
-
Michael de Montaigne

It takes a great deal of history to
produce a little literature.
-Hawthorne

In books lies the soul of the whole Past
Time: the articulate audible voice of the
past, when the body and material
substance of it has altogether vanished
like a dream.
"Happy are the
people whose annals are blank in history
books" Thomas Carlyle

People will not look forward to posterity
who never look backward to their
ancestors. -Edmund Burke

To understand a science it is necessary
to know its history.
-Auguste Isidore Comte

The progress of thought.
-Alfred North Whitehead

A people’s memory.
-Isaac Peretz