The demise of shop classes

[911pcars]

Years ago, I used to teach auto technology at the high school level. Here's a status report of "shop classes" as it currently exists in CA and probably elsewhere:

The Death Of Shop Class And America's Skilled Workforce - Forbes

S

[Jim Richards]

IMO, high schools should offer both a college-prep and a vocational track for students to chose from. A lot of kids will never see a classroom after they leave high school, and they need to be prepared to enter the workforce at some basic vocational level of competence.

[NY65912]

I loved my shop classes in middle and high school! Back in the 60's and 70's we had to take these classes along with library, music and home economics. These classes produced a well rounded individual. Even if you did'nt go into a trade at least you learned how to hammer, cut wood, change a switch/receptacle etc, etc.

It's a damn shame that we, as a society, have let down our children in regard to a "whole" education.

There is a lot afterall, there is more to life other than math scores.

[onewhippedpuppy]

The article ends with this question: "What is America going to do without skilled workers who can build and fix things?"

The answer is to pay out the nose to the few remaining skilled tradesmen, based on simple supply and demand they will be able to charge a small fortune for their work.

This is an incredible failure of high schools to prepare students for life. It's also a byproduct of the snobbery and bias that educators put on education. To most teachers it's obvious that if you aren't going to college, you're going nowhere. I know a lot of college grads with mediocre jobs and $50k in debt. I know a lot of blue collar workers with great jobs, their pay easily surpasses that which an average college grad would obtain. Skilled trades can be a fantastic way to make a living, I just wish our educators weren't so ignorant. I really like this speech, and it's very relevant to this topic.

[Groesbeck Hurricane]

Why is a vocational track such a bad thing??? I thought schools were to help prepare students for life and a way to make a living. Basic education.

So, parents are not responsible for raising their own children, it is the school's and teacher's responsibility.

Schools and teachers are not qualified to teach our children anything.

We need to test in quality in our school systems even though all scientific evidence shows testing in quality has a higher reject rate and costs more money than working with the basic material correctly from the beginning. Simple engineering/supply chain 101.

Schools are babysitters.

Americans are too good to mow their own lawns or have their children working as electricians, plumbers, mechanics, woodworkers, farmers, etc.

Yep, complete decline of this country. I should not go further as then it will degrade into parfy substances.

[Baz]

Children need to learn how to create stuff.

It's a fundamental step in developing self-confidence and self-esteem.

Nothing wrong with obtaining a college degree but let's keep our options open.

There are good jobs waiting right now for skilled workers.

There are opportunities waiting right now for future business owners who do not need a college degree.

Our educational system has been undermined by the unions. We need to get it back in sync with reality....

[NY65912]

That's why I switched career paths as a young man and went into the family plumbing construction business instead of persuing psychology /social work. I figured it was better to deal with people's crap than to deal with people's crap.

[Jim Richards]

I get the impression that kids not seeking a 4-year college degree are somehow expected to go off to a community college to learn something? I guess we need dental technicians, police, and computer technicians (for Best Buy, et al) more than we need carpenters, electricians, plumbers, or welders. I suppose those jobs are only for the illegal immigrants to do.

[cashflyer]

Originally Posted by Jim Richards

IMO, high schools should offer both a college-prep and a vocational track for students to chose from.

The high school that I attended still does.
It's a rural area, and they recognize that only a portion of the kids will go on to college. Many kids expect (and are expected) to go into the workforce. Families in that area do not have the income to send their kids to college.

The high school offers college prep courses, which they call "advanced placement" classes. They also offer shop, drafting, and "home economics". And for those kids who really are going down the workforce path, juniors and seniors only attend half days - spending the other half at a "vocational school".

[bmcuscgr94]

Originally Posted by cashflyer

The high school that I attended still does.
It's a rural area, and they recognize that only a portion of the kids will go on to college. Many kids expect (and are expected) to go into the workforce. Families in that area do not have the income to send their kids to college.

The high school offers college prep courses, which they call "advanced placement" classes. They also offer shop, drafting, and "home economics". And for those kids who really are going down the workforce path, juniors and seniors only attend half days - spending the other half at a "vocational school".

Our local high school still has the vo-ed classes. But it seems every year those are the programs that seem to be on the chopping block. School admin seems to think everyone student needs to go to four year college.

Two of my kids took auto shop classes and decided that was their career. They both went into programs that gave them the training they needed after high school. One is a Toyota auto tech the other a diesel tech for our local Cat dealer.

[5String43]

It's gonna get worse. Here in California, as school budgets continue to shrink, everything that doesn't pertain to Readin', Ritin' and 'Rithmatic is being slashed. No shop, no music, no art, no adult ed at the colleges, no nuttin'.

Bottom line, who you gonna call when you need your refrigerator fixed? Nobody.

[Zeke]

There is no reason to teach shop classes in high school any longer. That's what the community college is for. Our community college has 2 campuses, one being called Business and Technology. There they teach everything from professional cooking to sheet metal fabrication. They have 2 large auto shops, one for mechanics and the other for body. I think one can study fashion design there including sewing.

The shop classes I had in high school were just a taste of about 3 basic fields, wood, metal and automotive. There wasn't enough instruction to go out and get a job at anything more than a shop broom jockey. It did, however, give some insight to working with your hands. That's the only purpose I can see in retrospect.

At the time, it was just a place to not have to read as much and get a fairly easy grade.

Add to that it carries a high liability and cost both of which are better borne by a more dedicated facility.

Agree that the music classes in all forms are also a traditional part of K-12 education. Much easier to manage instruments than welding torches. Sorry to see any "experience" go, but to take a serious path of teaching a skill takes an extended level of schooling. I vote this is beyond grade 12.

BTW, Long Beach also has private technology schools. The newest one I'm not even familiar with. WyoTech Long Beach - What You Should Know
They seem to have everything from race car chassis and hot rod building to construction trades. We had a complete design school that taught fashion to interior decorating and commercial art, but they shut down in the recession.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Milt, the point is to plant a seed. I totally agree that the next step is a technical school, but how do kids know that they are interested in a trade if they never experience one? How many inner city kids experience welding or auto repair in their life outside of school? It's about giving the non-college bound kids another potential path towards being a productive member of society.

[Head416]

I agree. Kids these days seem to receive a message that college is the only way to a better life, college is the only was to succeed, college is for everybody. It's not. It's important for them to know the other options. I wish I had! Then maybe I wouldn't be sitting in a cubicle as I type this.

[Head416]

This book has been brought up on PPOT before, I enjoyed it: Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work

[KaptKaos]

I have a friend that is the auto shop teacher at a high school. He knows this issue very well. We were discussing this last night.

He said that the school districts are run by people that haven't worked in a trade, so they have no clue about the value of the trades. The administrators think that everyone should go to college, which just isn't the case, nor should it be.

That's from the front lines, and its sad that its happening.

[asphaltgambler]

I'll chime in here as a middle-aged journeyman-level skilled tradesman. I actually agree with the decision to eliminate shop classes for young people at the high school level. I believe that there are so many, better career choices and paths in todays global economy that it would be almost a diservice to not replace those with classes with training for this modern era.

I can tell you as an extremely motivated young guy in high school in the late 1970's that shop class was integral part of my career path. I grew up in a rural area and skilled tradesman were looked up to and valued. Their expert opinion and skilled hands were at utmost respected and financially rewarded. They had real, solid careers and retirement. But that was then.

We, as Americas labor force today, are faced with an ever rapidly changing supply vs demand in career paths and skill sets in the new (current) global economy. We should be preparing our kids for a solid future not sending them down a path circa 1950's industrialized America.

I just left the auto business after over 30 difficult years. I personaly know many other highly skilled tradesmen my age or near it in HVAC, construction, engineering, electrical and plumbing. They all are in the same boat as me. Tired, disgusted, no respect, no future, no money and for sure......no future.

There are a vast number of very skilled people in this nation who are under-employed or not employed in the industries where their skills apply. Time to re-evaluate. As some here know I was a Euro Technician. My new career is a network analyst for a large county government.

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

Milt, the point is to plant a seed. I totally agree that the next step is a technical school, but how do kids know that they are interested in a trade if they never experience one? How many inner city kids experience welding or auto repair in their life outside of school? It's about giving the non-college bound kids another potential path towards being a productive member of society.

And that's my point. That it takes more than some sawdust and metal filings to get that seed planted. What could be done is to offer a broad spectrum of informational classes with a minimum of hands on, but possibly some field trips to illustrate what happens on a major construction site or in a factory. I didn't mention that because I don't know what is available along those lines today.

Of course that's real work and might scare the students back to the books.

When I went to welding school it wasn't all lab time. We watched a lot of videos. Some were very general in nature. Kinda set the scene for what a weldor does and who the sanctioning organization is (AWS).

In fact, exposing young students of all kinds to hands on work would be a good idea. I see a lot of people who don't understand the simple systems employed in their own homes. I mean if the sprinkler timer breaks, they have to call someone.

Ridiculous.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by KaptKaos

I have a friend that is the auto shop teacher at a high school. He knows this issue very well. We were discussing this last night.

He said that the school districts are run by people that haven't worked in a trade, so they have no clue about the value of the trades. The administrators think that everyone should go to college, which just isn't the case, nor should it be.

That's from the front lines, and its sad that its happening.

Yup. There's certainly an "educated elite" attitude that many teachers have, and your future is college or nothing.

Originally Posted by asphaltgambler

I'll chime in here as a middle-aged journeyman-level skilled tradesman. I actually agree with the decision to eliminate shop classes for young people at the high school level. I believe that there are so many, better career choices and paths in todays global economy that it would be almost a diservice to not replace those with classes with training for this modern era.

I can tell you as an extremely motivated young guy in high school in the late 1970's that shop class was integral part of my career path. I grew up in a rural area and skilled tradesman were looked up to and valued. Their expert opinion and skilled hands were at utmost respected and financially rewarded. They had real, solid careers and retirement. But that was then.

We, as Americas labor force today, are faced with an ever rapidly changing supply vs demand in career paths and skill sets in the new (current) global economy. We should be preparing our kids for a solid future not sending them down a path circa 1950's industrialized America.

I just left the auto business after over 30 difficult years. I personaly know many other highly skilled tradesmen my age or near it in HVAC, construction, engineering, electrical and plumbing. They all are in the same boat as me. Tired, disgusted, no respect, no future, no money and for sure......no future.

There are a vast number of very skilled people in this nation who are under-employed or not employed in the industries where their skills apply. Time to re-evaluate. As some here know I was a Euro Technician. My new career is a network analyst for a large county government.

While I respect your experience, I can assure you that college is also not a guaranteed ticket to "the good life". I know a good many individuals that received generic college degrees that are toiling through life at mediocre jobs that they hate. My wife's cousin got a Business Management degree and ended up as an assistant manager at Target, working alongside cashiers that had been promoted into management based on performance. Is it worth $50k+ worth of college debt for that? I also know a good many working in SKILLED trades (not basic roofing or carpentry) that are making very good livings.

There are many jobs in our society that can't be outsourced and can't be performed by illegal labor. People will always need plumbers, electricians, auto techs, etc. Because college is being pushed so hard to high school students the need for these jobs will only increase as the current workforce retires.

[Seahawk]

Maybe it is because this is a fairly rural area, but the county really puts a focus on VOTEC.

The link is to the really well run HS program and facilities right next to the local High School: Programs | Dr. James A. Forrest Career and Technology Center