An emancipatory theory of vocational Bildung

After the horrors of the Second World War, developments in German educational theory included a more critical stance based on the critical theory of the Frankfurt School around Theodor W. Adorno and Max Horkheimer. These developments incorporated a critical pedagogy in opposition to Geisteswissenschaftliche Pädagogik , which was seen as compromised by or indifferent to the state. Herwig Blankertz developed a revised theory of vocational Bildung that took into account both the theoretical concepts of critical theory and the history of vocational Bildung . This chapter examines the possibilities for an emancipatory theory of vocational Bildung , drawing especially on the work of Blankertz, who we argue provided the most coherent theory sui generis of vocational Bildung . We examine how new possibilities for emancipatory educational practice, including vocational education informed by the possibilities of human development rather than the demands of employment practice, reached their highest point in the work of Herwig Blankertz.