Interesting Article Shop Class and the Decline of Craftsmanship

[rbattelle]

Link.



This is a long article, with a lot of big words for which a dictionary may be required (it was for me!). But I found it absolutely fascinating.



Ryan

 

[Dl5treez]

Sad but true. I personally know three BA earning 'professionals' who can't find a job, and are barely making ends meet living off credit cards and the state... . if only they could turn a wrench---as we're hurtin' for mechanics out here somethin' fierce---they could be making a nice living.



But then of course they'd have to get dirty, god forbid.

 

[Gary - K7GLD]

YUP - "throw-away society" and "dumbing down" pretty well describes our place in history - which is one reason I prefer to use lots of photos in my threads - first, I'm not ashamed of my work or efforts, and second, it might motivate and encourage someone else to try similar stuff themselves...

 

[MA2LA]

Wow thats a bit much to while recovering from a wild night out. But it hit on a very important issue that could eventualy bring this country to its knees. I grew up on a farm and learne from a very early age to fix things and do what it takes to get a job done, it also tough me that one of the greatest things in life to to beable to take pride in the work I have done and it drives me to puch myself to do the best work posible and never stop pushing to make it better. I now own my own company and the most frustrating part of it is man power, I spent 9 years with my former employer doing the best work that i could and training countless kids that either didn't care about thier quality of work or were just clueless of what to do with a tool in thier hand. After splitting way from my former employer this past year I wasn't sure what i would do. The buisness of comercial kitchen equipment left a bad bad taste in my mouth mostly because of the way I was treated my my former boss and the bs I was dealt. I had pushed hard to make the best product I could and when coorkers and the owner made countless mistakes that i would have to fix, and seeing the overall quality of product go down hill It ate at me and it finaly came to a bitter end. I have helped build the company from the ground up, but to the owner t didn't mater as much as how he could pay for his next toy. but back to the topic at hand, I have concidered at great lenghts to become a shop teacher. Ya it dosen't pay much but I belive i could help make a diffrence In someones life and show people just because you work with you hands it dosen't mean you don't use your brain. Like many of use that seem to be on fourms like this, we may not be Doctors and such but I bet that there aren't to many thing we can''t figure out. ok i'm off the soap box.

 

[CDyksman]

MA2LA, well said!

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

I believe this stuff starts at home. It amazes me the number of people that can't do anything with their hands (mechanically, etc). I started teaching my daughter to wrench on and build stuff when she was about 2. One of my proudest moments was when we were sitting on the floor putting together a shelving unit and she was 3 years old and had a socket wrench in her hands tightening up a nut and bolt. My wife told her that she thought she was tightening it the wrong way and Samantha said "No I'm not mommy, righty tighty lefty loosey". I was beaming! I've already talked with my wife and told her that the kids (both girls btw) will have the option when they are 13 (that I hope they take) for us to go out together and buy them a fixer upper car and we'll work together to rebuild it. If they do that I'll help them pay for it and they'll put in the sweat equity to fix them up. This way they learn to work on their vehicles, will appreciate them more, and even if down the line they go down a path that doesn't have them working on them they'll know what to look out for. My oldest (6 now) started riding motorcycles this year and after riding we work together to get the bike cleaned up, lubed, and checked out for the next ride - teaches her to take care of her stuff. She also loves getting wood kits from HF that you punch out the pieces and make carriages, motorcycles, dinosaurs, etc - they're cheap and we build them together. I truly believe that correcting this situation starts at home.



I'm also going to keep my eyes open for neighborhood kids that I can introduce to the hands on world as well. For you guys that don't have kids that's something that you can do to help as well. Help those local kids learn how to change flat tires on their bikes, etc. It's up to us to make a difference.

 

[GHarman]

Those of us who have a trade or common sense and hands on experience can teach our children what we know, especially if they have a natural curiosity in that area. There are some folks out there who have absolutely no clue about practical, in the mud, life skills, and have nothing like this to pass on to their progeny. About 16 years ago I was working on a thesis about community colleges involved in industrial education. One of my sources was the AMERICAN WELDING SOCIETY-WELDING JOURNAL. There was an article that expressed fear over the fact that community colleges were shutting down industrial training programs in favor of the academic track. Even local unions have severly curtailed new apprentices. This is nothing new, just getting worse. 20 years ago, while teaching welding in a local school district. I experienced the total lack of commitment toward training to a recognized industrial level. Training based on competency was kicked under the rug in favor of "No Fail" policies and if they showed up for class they were to receive the same credit and worse of all, the same DIPLOMA as those who demonstrated their competency. GregH

 

[JOdell]

Hey Steve I am trying to do the same thing with my Little Girl. She is now 18 months old. She helps me sweep out my truck and Mommy's Jeep every week. Here is a picture of her checking the air pressure in the Dodge's tire. She was 15months old at the time. -Jason

 

[2-ND TIME]

Decline of Craftmanship

Yes there are some very good and correct statments above. I see apprentices in my trade ( electrical) that are not interested in, or do take work brakes sometimes. One the other week said that I was unsafe at work ( I have been doing things for 40 years now that can kill me or maim me ) and the he writes lots of BBO's on me all the time. ( What barain washing companies can do). OH well.