by Brian
Labor Day is here, and while it has come to represent the end of summer and the imminent beginning of school, we should remember that it constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions
workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.
I
went back to working with my hands this summer, and I thoroughly
enjoyed myself. I worked with one of my former students (he is 29
years old now), only our roles have been reversed. Sixteen years ago I
was his middle school math teacher. Now he is the master and I am the
apprentice. He started learning carpentry when he was about 14, and it
is amazing to watch him at work. It's not just the tricks of the
trade, although those are pretty cool. It's the way he approaches the
problems that always arise when you're building something. He can come
up with three solutions, weigh the pros and cons, and make a
decision in less time than it takes me to figure out that we have a
problem. And he's happy when he's working. He never went to college,
but he didn't get left behind.
I recently read an article by Matthew Crawford titled The Case for Working With Your Hands.
Crawford has a Ph.D. in political philosophy, and a small business
doing motorcycle repair on exotic European bikes. He has worked in
academia and as a "knowledge" worker, and as an electrician and a
mechanic, and it is his observation that in many ways it is working
with his hands that gives him the most pleasure. A lot of "knowledge"
jobs are pretty much the way they are depicted in "Dilbert" and on "The
Office": mind-numbing and dehumanizing. And a lot of blue-collar jobs demand a great deal of creativity and autonomy. Yet our society values and extols the virtues of the white
collar jobs over the blue. Crawford says if we want to get it right
we'll have to start valuing our shop classes as much as we do the
computer lab.
It seems more and more like the emphasis in
education reform is to prepare every student for college. Thomas
Friedman makes the case in The World is Flat
that we must prepare our students to compete in a world that has been
radically altered by the internet. Workers in India, China, and other
countries will be competing for jobs that a few years ago would not
have been available to them. But they won't really be competing for every job. You
can’t finish concrete, or pound a nail, or plumb a house over a wire.
It has to be done on site, and we need to give more value to the people
who can do those jobs.
So how can we do that? Maybe one way is
to quit thinking that allowing our students to prepare for the world of
work by taking shop classes instead of Algebra 2 is somehow leaving
them behind.
Bob mentioned a “track different from college prep”. Tracking is a term that has seemed to have negative connotations for as long as I can remember. In America we don’t do that, because anyone can grow up to be president. They do that in Europe, and we’re not French. So let’s not call it tracking. Let’s call it “Multiple Paths to a Productive Life”. But yes, let’s provide opportunities for our students to get an education that can be the foundation for many occupations that will not require a college degree.
Rena points out that our students may in fact have several careers. My path through college was not linear, and I think I benefitted greatly from my work experiences. We all have an anecdote about a ‘late bloomer’. One of my favorite posters says: “All children are gifted; some just open their presents later than others”.
And don’t get me started on the cost of a college education. I agree with Mark that many don’t make it through even their first year, let alone graduate with a degree. But the cash register in the registrar’s office is still going ka-ching every time a student enrolls. The Seattle Times recently had a story about a young man who is in debt $145,000 for a degree in computer programming.
Kristin, Great connection with the ADD ‘epidemic’ and making the child fit the school.
I think we in Washington need to take another look at Charter Schools.
Good point, Bob. I agree that the critical thinking angle is a good one. Surely, the skilled trades we are talking about demand critical thinking in a way different than other “academic” courses do.
Brian, this is a wonderful post on an important topic.
While my school has cut many of the vocational classes (there’s an LA class in the wood shop and a science class in the metal shop) the autoshop program has taken off, with all sorts of administrative and district support. Students who struggle everywhere else succeed in autoshop. They leave school and are immediately employable.
The ability of some students to focus for two hours at a time fiddling with a tricky engine part when they can’t sit still the rest of the day makes me wonder how much of the current ADD situation is caused because we insist on fitting the child to school, instead of vice versa. Instead of medicating kids so that they can sit still and be quiet in an LA class, we should be looking for whatever it it, and however it is done, that engages them and lets them shine. My guess is many students who struggle in academic classes could find a vocational class that challenges and interests them.
A case for classicism exists among those who propose that schooling should teach higher order “thinking” and problem solving skills, etc. As Linnea infers, has anyone formally propose these as reasons for contemporary trade programs in any of your districts, maybe in cooperation with a community college or trade school? It seems like a logical proposal for teachers to make, if teachers want to capture more mindshare among students. Yes?
Reading your blogs always make me think; the ultimate compliment. Your summer experience reminded me of Ray Barnhardt’s (University of Alaska-Fairbanks professor)comments after his sabbatical trip to New Zealand to study the Maori in relation to the indigenous people of Alaska. One of the aspects of NZ culture he appreciated and was impressed with was the attitude regarding the idea of “profession” or “professional”. It was his experience that the auto mechanic, farmer, carpenter, or teacher had equal status in the community to the doctor or lawyer; and often even higher based on their craftsmanship and quality of work. A person was respected, not for the car he or she drove but rather how well they maintained or took care of the vehicle they had; the owner of an older, well-maintained car deserved more respect than the owner of an expensive new one. What a concept: status in the community based on “quality”, “craftsmanship” and “stewardship”! Keep up the craftsmanship, Brian.
I watched in dismay as the voc ed classes disappeared toward the end of my teaching career. I watched as more and more of my math students became disenfranchised. I was having trouble with one particular young man who saw himself as a failure in math, school, and increasingly in life. My buddy, the wood shop teacher, hooked us up and had the young man tutor me in the drill press and in those hateful diagrams where you have to pretend to slice the object in a certain way, rotate it, and picture what you are now looking at. At first he thought my frustrations and ignorance were feigned. As he came to realize they were completely genuine, we began to have a meaningful conversation about strengths and weaknesses and how they don’t really define a person, but rather direct them to fields of endeavor where they see themselves as successful. We allowed as to how he would probably never choose to be a math teacher, and I would most likely never seek my living dealing with tools. Didn’t make either one of us more or less valuable in life….just in certain situations. And we both had found a friend we could go to for help with those situations.
A thoughtful post Brian. I too think we need to be more respectful of differences. Society needs people willing and educated in the trades. There is some evidence to suggest that students of today will have not just one career, but rather several careers. If they are interested and motivated to have the first career in a physical job, then that should be nurtured as well as honored. There needs to be a diversely educated group of young people entering the work force. Not all learners are interested or motivated towards college right out of High School.
I think the shift away from vocational or technical skills development reflects some of the classism that is present in some schools as well. I teach in a great community, am happy with much of what my school does, but am dismayed as each year the vocational and skill-based programming is cleared out to make room for more AP and more college-track. This is partly because we have convinced ourselves that all our kids go to college, and not just any college, great colleges.
Data is in the process of being collected, but its indicating that far fewer of our graduates than we originally though actually go to college. A tremendous number don’t make it through the first year. A shockingly small proportion of those who start end up actually graduating, despite the assumption (which I have carried as well) that “everyone” has a college degree these days.
What about the kids who are not college track for whatever reason (choice, perhaps?) and therefore have less, or arguably no, need for an AP lit class unless it is their personal interest? My school doesn’t even offer a woodshop or metal shop class. The closest we have now is “intro to technology,” where the teachers try really hard to cover as much as they can an offer as much as they can.
Our most “hands-on” classes right now are the lab sciences like chemistry, physics, etc. But, that won’t necessarily be a good place for every trade-school-bound kid.
I often point out to my students…especially those whose attitudes lead them to look down upon the electricians and plumbers of the world…that I have degrees from two institutions and both my plumber and my electrician drive nicer cars than I do and make more money than me (and they can fix their own plumbing and wiring!).
Wonderful post, Brian. Too often we assume that preparing kids for college and a lifetime spent in a chair is what’s best. On the other hand, a college education doesn’t rule out a career in the trades; it merely provides another set of options. Unfortunately, if your former student were to injure himself on the job to the point where he could no longer perform physical work, his lack of a college education would leave him with very few options.
Well said. Timely topic. Congrats for taking on the summer’s work. I find painting a house, landscaping, selling fencing, tuning up my TBird, etc. rehabilitating in summers, sometimes after an academic day :).
How do you suggest more hands-on activities fitting into curricula, besides exchanging Algebra 2 for shop? Setting up a track different from college prep?