not O.T. the death of shop class?

I guess no one ever earned a scholarship at a big school from something they built in shop class... so..

When I was in 7th grade everyone took shop - boys and girls both. We made birdhouses and things - basic woodworking and some metal bending skills, I think the tin tray for the bottom was spotwelded, too. In high school I had to duck around the assholes who'd failed and come back for year 5, had at least one notebook sawed in half because the one little old guy just had no control over anything. His daughter turned out to be a class-a slut, too, so it wasn't just in class. But I did learn to braze and started my first car project there.

 

I earned a $20,000 scholarship to UTI (which I passed on) through my shop class. Won state in Ford's student autoskills competition. got the UTI scholarship, a 5k wyotech scholarship, $750 worth of tools, and a trip to washington DC out of it. Oh, and Kennedy, all the recognition I got was that was a mention in the school news bullitin, and they had a congratulations message on the school sign in front of the school for about a day.

For what its worth, my school brough back autoshop while I was there. They had nixed it in the early 90's, built it all back up, new tools, new lifts, etc... unfortunatly my teacher retired after my senior year and last I heard the class was more or less complete chaos with tools being stolen and whatnot... I'm sure it will be shut down again soon.

 

I'm a furniture maker and there is a shortage of woodworkers because Woodshop is not taught in high school, and few votechs teach furniture making.

A freind manages a machine shop and they have trouble finding machinest same thing SHOP classes in the public schools are pretty much gone. And the young people are not exposed to the trades.

 

It definitely was different in our town, but I was in a small farm town (14K), so shop classes were a must. Used to be, anyway. I knew the teachers for all the shop classes pretty well because my dad was one of them. And yeah, believe it or not, even they would complain when they got stuck with a room full of "stones" as Dad called them. Dead weights that didn't give a rat's ass about learning anything at all.

They used to have a lot of cool classes when I was in school. Dad taught electronics, photography, power mechanics, and metal working. It was so cool to have a lathe, milling machine, and small sand foundry at my disposal. They also had a full blown wood shop, automotives, and even home building.

ALL of Dad's stuff was shut down when he retired. Woodshop will probably shut down when Neil retires. Automotives, I'm sure is also on the way out. I think they figure if people want to do that kind of thing, they can do it at Vo-tech school on their own dime.


Personally, I think it's a huge mistake. I think every damn kid in America ought to take home ec (focus on simple cheap meals so you can take care of yourself instead of how to make a bunch of stupid ass souffles), a home repair course, basic electronics, and an automotives course. We're breeding self-sufficiency right out of ourselves at a staggering rate. A society of dependents that won't ever have a clue how to fix a damn things themselves.


Sorry... I'll get off the soap box now.

 

There are several major obstacles to vo tech education.
The vo-tech programs are thrown back and forth between the high schools and the colleges who both look at these programs as a hinderance, a drain to their schools finances and a major problem area for an administrator wanting to get to the next level in the educational heirarchy.Originally the vo tech
schools were listed as a post secondary school. Which was a nice way of saying you dont belong. In the early and mid 80's I was part of a major effort to restart a auto vo tech program at the city of Chicagos only vocational school on the southwest side. The bullshit that we had to go through would make a pit bull give up. We actually had to get a major state legislator involved to get things started. Sadly these are systemic problems that plaque our educational system as a whole . The political hacks are loaded into the administration side of the public education system and the same issues that cause the difficulties in our government are also rampant in education. We have many dedicated teachers in our schools but they are in charge of their classrooms not the administration of the education system. It's these administrators that are the root cause to of much of this problem.
The guidance counselors are next . What qualifies someone to be a guidance counsellor. My guess is that its another of the patronage positions. If a person is working in this capacity continues to make the same errors over the years in our state you cant even get him removed because they are "tenured" . Ive seen many dedicated teachers fustrated over the bull shit of the administrators,counsellors and the ridiculous laws and quidelines that must be followed .Thank heavens that some of these guidance counselors dont work a side job as a fireman because they would be constantly drowning the people in the basement apartment while putting out the wastebasket fire on the back porch. Its this lack of attentiveness that creates the imbalances of the job markets 20 years later.
The way education is funded is also another major contribution to the dilema.
Funding laws that state all the monies given to your academic area which are not used must be returned and deducted from your next years budget. Create huge wastes of resources and result in careless spending of the current funds.
Apathy is probably the most relevant of the issues . The problems are so entrenched in our educational system that most give up .

Hopefully some of the new federal directives may make some positive changes to the system but I dont see any light on the horizon.

Larry

 

I've been searching the local community college course books, there is very little. I actually WANT to learn it, maybe even change careers.

 

I have mixed emotions about the death of shop. To me it was a complete and utter waste of time. I also graduated from Wyo-tech when it was actually a decent school and not a diploma factory. I learned nothing that i didn't already know before I went there. I realize them city folk don't have the oppurtunities and lessons that a rural living provides so maybe it benefits them more so.

I still remember my Pop showing me how to use a crosscut saw out on the sidewalk when I was like 7 years old. Like it was yesterday actually. He told me, "If you can't use this saw, how are you going to get anywhere" Maybe that sounds a bit harsh but you'd have to know Pop to get it. It was a very plain statement but it's pretty profound if you think about it.

You won't get anywhere if you don't absorb the knowledge that someone is trying to convey to you and use it to better yourself. That's how I took it anyway. Obviously not when I was 7 but I always remembered that statement and it eventually occured to me what he meant.

On a different note: What do you mean in 5 years there will be a shortage of skilled techs??? Shit there's been a shortage of good techs for about 15 years the way I see it. There ain't but 1 single solitary "garage" in my region that I would trust to do anything. Every implement dealer, lube place and garage shop I know of is filled with morons who wouldn't know a valve spring from a seat spring. The owners are no better either. They just own the place as a way to make a living. Same way with parts houses.... idiots 99% of the time.

It's DEAD fellas, face it. I'm sure there's exceptions but as a general rule true craftsmen and tradesmen in the general mechanics arena have pretty much died out. I'm not including the hotrod industry here...

 

The powers-that-be have two ideas:

1. Noone wants to get his hands dirty
2. "Little brown people" will do those jobs cheap. I.E., "jobs Americans won't do".

So why spend taxpayers money on shop classes when you could waste it on your own pet projects? We can just bring in an endless supply of cheap labor to do "those jobs".

Too many people look down on any form of manual labor. What a shame. FYI, I'm a computer/connectivity tech.

 

Hummmmm…. It’s kind of funny how I feel the same way about those who won’t get their hands dirty.

 

I wonder about the cause(s) for the extinction of the shop class. There may be a lack of interest...I don't know, but I wonder about the other factors...the cost of new technology in the mechanical trades-and a school's ability to bear that expense, as well as insurance/liability issues associated with having kids working around and on machinery. I suspect that might have a lot to do with their demise. As for the school shop classes being a waste of time-my own experience wasn't like that-it shaped my future in a positive way. My high school gave us college prep courses as well as vocation tech. We had a programs in machine, auto, printing, electronics, drafting, etc. I was interested in print...so I went there. Older journeymen and craftsmen taught the classes, and we worked on real equipment and turned out real commercial work. My senior year I didn't go to shop class...I went to a real shop and worked-that counted as my taking class. I followed this up with college and pursued printing as a profession. No, I do not run a printing press. I'm a production manager, so I'm not really a "Suit" but I work in an office-and I still spend a lot of time on the shop floor. It has provided a good living for me and my family-and I have that first shop class to thank.
In my field I come into contact with a lot of folks that have no real technical experience, and man are they a pain to deal with. I also have a very hard time when it's time to hire a new person. No one has any practical experience any more. I'm sure it's the same deal with most trades. I will never understand why hands-on craftsmen, "blue collar" workers, etc. are looked down upon. I respect them, and I consider myself one too. I sometimes get the feeling that some of my yuppie nieghbors feel that way about me...that is until they need something welded, the mower/car/leaf blower/etc. won't start, or they need to blow up the kid's pool with my shop air. Then they know where to go...

 

You got that right!
I worked for 2 weeks once on a family of tools and jigs, mostly steel plate and aluminum angles. Came time to assemble it, and the engineer specified that they all be welded together!
The dork didn't know steel & aluminum melted at different temps, and wouldn't have stayed together long thanks to the electrolytic effect of dissimilar metals. You should have seen his face when the welder made the attempt and melted the aluminum before the steel got hot!
Threw it all in the trash and had to start on another job while he "made some design changes".

 

like all of us here, I am proud to be a skilled craftsman (well, I would like to think so anyway ) and cannot freakin stand it that it is considered "low brow" to want to work with your hands...to want to make and create things...to build stuff. How can you know anything about yourself if you have never built something?

 

I'm a teacher that has been on both sides of the fence, as a student, and as a professional.

Tech classes are important. A recent article in our local newspaper reiterated the fact that tech classes are experiencing a resurgence. I went through nearly every shop class at our high-school and I cannot measure how helpful this was to me. Essential skills that every student should know.

As a side-note, I also played two sports in high-school. It also taught me a alot about myself and gave me confidence along with a bunch of other immeasurable skills. You'd almost have to experience both to see how they can benefit you. Like they say, "If you weren't there..."

As a professional teacher, we are placed in a difficult position. The government has placed standards on what we must acheive. States develop their own standards off of these federal standards that are even more stringent. We have core classes that must be taught. Electives get squeezed out. Interest dies down and schools have to make a decision on what to fund. Football? That generates dollars that go back into our schools. Shop class or any other elective? Nothing.

The majority of funding comes from the individual states. That money comes from you. Let your school board and state reps know what you want. Demand more funding for elective courses. I recognize the value of shop class and I teach one of those core classes. Education is expensive when the Federal Gov't tells you what to do but doesn't fund it.

 

It makes me sad how I'm constantly hearing reports of our local schools begging for funds and teachers are being laid off for lack thereof. In the meantime, the school gets a multizillion dollar football stadium. Everyone goes apeshit about a new stadium when the school is in crisis and the response is that it's ok ... no public funds were used, all private donations paid for the stadium. Wouldn't it be nice if people who can afford multi-million dollar donations like this could somehow give them to the school for educational purposes rather than a fuggin sports program? Too many kids are relying on the dream of pro sports for their future. Might as well have a lottery class in school where the kids sit around and play scratch-offs.

Fwiw, I had plenty of shop options when I was in school: wood, metal, graphic arts, electrical, drafting, and even a "singles living" class that taught all the basic things you needed to know after moving out. I consider myself lucky to have had that background. We as parents will surely need to make sure our kids have these skills since society continues to downplay the importance of "blue collar" skills.

 

Ok...im lucky in some way not in others, i had a full shop class through school in 92" which was good, the bad was the shop teacher was a F'ing Ass. but i learned how to do most the stuff through watching the class pets.... well since they decied all schools had to be equal here they shut my school down (which i consider to be a good thing in almost every way) but when they lumped my old school here togeather with one a town over and used a whole 350 kids as an excuse to passes a new tax to build a 3mil doller school....which 1 million went to a new gym and athletic facilities...im sorry athletics surve no purpose in a school whatsoever exept to distract exeryone from the attemp to get an education, which is getting harder and harder to get with connect the dot skill tests and teachers who eather cant teach period or are so handycapped by the rules they cant teach and are turned into babysitters and eventually quit teaching...ok i got off topic sorry but this is somthing that really gets me pissed we loose the things we need kids to learn and teach the things that will be of no use in real life at all like the old saying goes
"those who cant do teach and those who cant do or teach coach"

spelling and grammer intentionally buchered in protest to pices of shot english teacher may she rot in hell.......

 

I’m currently enrolled at the UW-Platteville in the Technology Education Program. I was greatly depressed when I looked at my class list that is required for my major, because there was no automotive shop courses. These universities expect us to take technical drafting and materials classes in college and turn around to teach an automotive course in a high school setting? But maybe that’s their big plan? By slowly eliminating automotive courses in college teachers are becoming lest qualified to teach students in high schools about the automotive industry. If there is no one there to teach it, then why have it? Whether this is their plan to slowly kill the auto shop courses or not, I believe I have learned a great deal in my past automotive courses. I have been able to integrate automotive details into my drafting courses (inventor 11 and CAD) and materials classes.

Because of my positive experiences in the high school automotive department (thanks bugman), I myself have decided to become a high school shop teacher. I hope to keep a traditional automotive shop course available to students. Although, they may be filled with all the “dumbest ass kids in the world who can’t take it in real classes,” who’s to say they don’t want to learn about cars? Or apply themselves in a different manner? Not everyone aspires to become a MD, some may just want to work on cars and live their lives.

One last comment, for the people who highly disagree with the “chasing a ball around” sports as part as a school’s curriculum. These sports can be learned off school ground as you said, but so can changing your oil and changing a flat. I know there is a list of more advanced and applied skills that can be acquired in a shops setting, but just keep an open mind.

 

we do some of the aforementioned stuff... STILL
I just dont tell them...

fwiw.. I am a shop teacher.. and we are feeling the pressure.. our district leadership wants us to teach "pre - engineering" because it looks good to outsiders..

yet (the individuals teaching the classes) know that some of our students are destined for more "hands on" careers.

the big problem is that the teachers who teach "shop" classes often DONT promote themselves... we're in an era where we (shop teachers) must self promote...if no one knows what your doing, they cant feel great about how awesome you are.

 

My grandson is taking a basic auto mechanics course as a freshman..I got involved with a scholarship fund raiser in an elite mountain ski town and made sure that for every dollar spent on academic scholarships that fifty cents went towards votech or apprenticeship programs. We need more auto techs, plumbers and electritians instead of lawyers!