Wednesday, March 26, 2014

In support of technical/vocational education

I was probably not your typical high school student. I took advanced math, science and English classes. I took four years of French. I blew up the chemistry lab, not on purpose. Shut up. I squeaked through calculus and trig. I fell in love with Greek mythology and the classics. And I was the President of the French Honor Society.  I also took woodshop and auto mechanics instead of Home Ec.

Now don't get me wrong, I've got nothing against Home Ec; but I had two grandmas and a mom who covered all that. I didn't need in-depth instruction in how to prepare a pot roast. I did have a dad who was a frustrated carpenter, and who insisted I know how to fix basic things before he'd give me the keys to my 1965 Mustang that I purchased with my own money. So I took woodshop and auto mechanics my Sophomore year. Two of my all-time favorite classes. Two classes that taught me skills that I've used consistently throughout my life. Did I plan on being a carpenter or a mechanic? No. But as a homeowner and  car owner, I've used the skills learned a hell of a lot more often than I've spoken French or solved for y.

Three years ago, my alma mater stopped offering all vocational education programs as part of their efforts to become a premier college prep school. But guess what? Not every kid is destined to go to college. Not every kid wants to go or should go. That's pounding square pegs into round holes. Within a year of the decision, the drop-out rates at this premier school skyrocketed, leaving some people scratching their heads. And others saw it as a positive result in that the standardized test scores and average SAT and ACT scores rose. But some kids were abandoned and left to find their own paths. And I think it's a travesty. A public school isn't there to indoctrinate or to "weed out the academically weak", it's there to provide educational paths for ALL students. And eliminating the vocational path is the height of short-sightedness and elitism.

And this is why Mike Rowe is one of my favorite heroes. Read the story of a group of vocational students fighting for their futures, the way the school punished them for their acts of protest and watch Mr. Rowe's video supporting their efforts.

STORY HERE




http://youtu.be/b50_bRcUi00

5 comments:

Jesse in DC said...

The skool system still operates under the misconception that being a "mechanic" is for the slow....The average new car has FAR more computing power than the Apollo program. Remember Apollo 13? They had a team of engineers working on their problem, with a ton of resources behind them. In the service bay, it is you versus the car...It takes a damn sight more knowledge to fix a "modern" car that almost any other profession except Doctors. And that is before you start accumulation the 100K plus collection of tools you need to do it. Very few people have any bloody idea how lucky they are they get their cars fixed at all. And they should count themselves lucky that are not paying 300 dollars an hour to get it done.

Corey said...

I didn't go to school on Fridays for 2 years. I got detention for proving my so called history teacher wrong. Got 1 week detention for refusing to apologize for something i can't remember. They got real mad when I stood up in english and said " Screw this I'm going fishing" Needless to say i didn't care for school.

Falcon said...

Jessie in DC--- Jessie, all you would have to do to prove your point is show people an entire electrical/mechanical/hydraulic schematic on some of these modern vehicles. I deal with these situations all day long on military vehicles as a journeyman. No way America can do away with ANY of the Trades. God Bless the men and women in the Trades who have gone through an apprenticeship.

Brock Townsend said...

Great post. Thanks.

Jesse in DC said...

Falcon, I have spent the last week or so fabricating an engine wiring harness for an XJS, V12 Jaguar. It covers 3 full sized fold out pages of diagrams...Something I hope to never do again. Mind you, this is just the engine harness. The entire cars diagrams take up a book.And compared to even an 03 car, it is childs play. Now we have "multiplexing" between 5 or 6 of the computers...Makes finding a drain a real delight.