The purpose of this paper is to clarify the development of work values in France in the 1880s-1910s, with a focus on "vocational guidance" (orientation professionnelle) offered in elementary schools. Initially, teachers provided vocational guidance through technical education subjects like "Handicraft" (Travail manuel), but this put too much emphasis on academic subjects like geometry to play the expected role. What served as vocational guidance, however, was learning about the industry, occupation, and labor in the subject "Reading" (Lecture). The author analyzed the textbook, The Tour of France by Two Children (Le Tour de la France par Deux Enfants) to elucidate the practice. It was revealed that the development of work values was attempted through four approaches: 1. professional understanding, 2. acquisition of the custom of working, 3. guidance of school attendance, and 4. development of patriotic and vocational ethics. This study indicates that these approaches seem very significant considering the period when the activities in the preparation for students' professional lives after graduation were not carried out anywhere else.
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