Capstone Research Project

Planning, concerning program planning, refers to the justification and elaboration of an acknowledged strategy instead of conceiving one (Campbell, 2010). Planning is essential in the human services realm such as vocational education, as it is the main means of acquiring resources. However, vocational training is affected by constrained planning because the state and local planning resources are dedicated to rationalizing programs that are minimally funded. Nonetheless, the planning theories (radical, trans-active, advocacy, synoptic, and incremental), provided by Hudson and Friedman, have provided some insight on how decisions can be made more rationally (O'Conner, Fauri, & Netting, 2008). This paper will mainly focus on synoptic planning and incremental planning theories.

Hudson states that the synoptic method of planning is a prevailing tradition and other approaches represent reactions or modifications to this theory (Leedy & Ormrod, 2016). He has provided four elements to synoptic planning, which includes setting goals, identifying alternative policies, assessing the means against the end, and implementing decisions. The current efforts in vocational education planning mainly focus on ‘empiricizing’ the theory – that is, using the labor demand and supply, student, and program data to forecast and improve extrapolations of needs for contraction or expansion of existing processes and programs. However, there are few efforts to incorporate formal planning methods in the goal-setting phase. Also, the consideration of alternative policies does not only function informally but also within the pre-created legislative and historical bounds.

Netting states that policy decisions are better comprehended and accomplished using incremental planning, as it utilizes the ‘push and tug’ of existing institutions in the bargaining practices (O'Conner, Fauri, & Netting, 2008). Incrementalists insinuate that synoptic planning is reductionist, it is insensitive to the existing capabilities of institutional performance, and it does not identify the public interests. However, the incremental approach is a fair estimate of how vocational educational planning occurs. The incremental theory needs little data collection, central control, and decision making. It does not only identify the political aspect of the process, but also recognize that the expectations, values, and goals are mostly the cradle of conflict.

In conclusion, the planning literature above indicates that the human services realm emphasizes certain methods of planning. The planning theorists have established approaches that can address the contemporary issues affecting vocational education. However, only the alternatives to these dominant methods of planning can enable a better link to planning and evaluation.

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