Texts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Texts - Essay Example A development that has been emulated by the US, Australia, Europe, and New Zealand with a similar trend being noted in other emerging and developed economy countries. This is a sector growth that has seen an increase in enrollees and simultaneously, teachers, textbooks, journals, conferences, support systems and organizations for tourism education (Airey and Johnson, 1999). This is a growth that has worried the Council for Academic Awards (1993) who made known their unease at the rapid growth in the area. Citing Airey and Johnson, (1999) a lack of common agreement regarding the tourism program curriculum and the lack of basic definitions and parameters within which the course should be taught and developed made the organization worry about the teaching methodology used by the varying universities and educators. As of 1997, this has yet to be agreed upon (Tribe, 1997) due to the ability of the academics to develop its own concepts and approaches. According to Cooper, Scales, and Westlake (1992) this is because the course curriculum tends to take on the knowledge and ability of those teaching the courses involved. WhileKoh (1994) developed studies that indicated the individual influences of the educators had the ability to affect the biases of the professors depending upon their experiences within the tourism industry. Airey (1997) does not see any problem with this type of teaching as the curriculum is in its infancy stages and still has room for perspective and insight development. One of the biggest problems that this non-uniform definition creates is the confusion that it causes for the course applicants, students, and employers. As Koh (1994) explains: if tourism hopes to gain professional recognition, curriculum diversity cannot be allowed to continue because professionalism demands standardization. Jaspers (1997) supported this assumption by