Dave asked the question do we really want high schools
to teach a job that could be obsolete or in decline in
a shorter time than in the wood shop era? He answered
in the negative by saying it smacked of centralized
industrial planning (government figuring out what the
right job is, and training people for it).
I think most people would hope that schools teach
students how to learn, how to think. In doing so they
also teach a number of facts, data and basic
information that society feels is an important common
ground for all of us to have. I think one problem is
in a lot of schools the pressure is to show high SAT
and ACT scores, count how many merit scholars they
have, and broadcast the amount of exclusive schools
their graduates attend. That's how we grade schools.
If you're a parent who wants the best for your child,
it is easy to look at such information and assume that
if your child, who we all know to be intelligent and
special, is at such a school they will excel as well
and get into the best college, the hottest career.
How excited would most parents you know feel if their
special child came home at age 14 and said I want to
be a carpenter. "Oh honey, that's great you want to
build things? Maybe you should look into being an
architect?" Our budding carpenter is then sent to the
counselor who lays out a schedule to get them into the
best college to prepare them for their career in
architecture. The parent, and counselor in this case,
our doing what they think is best. Allowing the child
to have the potential for the highest possible use of
their skills.
They have also given the message that being a
carpenter is not as important as being an architect.
Next time your looking at a building go up, count how
many architects are actually building anything. Ask a
good architect how much value they place on a talented
and skilled carpenter. They know what they are worth.
An architect can draw a beautiful vision on paper, a
craftsman can make it real. Try to figure out if one
is really more valuable to the building process than
the other.
Which jobs will be soon obsolete, or less in demand?
Who knows. I would bet that someone in the study of
genome research would be highly in demand right now,
and will probably be so for some time. Eventually I
would assume the demand will level off to a lower
level as the bulk of the new work is completed. I
would hate to pick up a PHD with that as my speciatly,
just when demands starts to slow. Makes you wonder
where these specialists will work and live. Who will
build their offices, build and remodel their homes?
I've read of a carpenter from 2000 years ago that made
a name for himself, I suspect carpenters will be
around 2000 years from now as well.
In this case it is parents and counselors who were in
charge of "central planning" for a students career. At
least there was a plan. Does anyone know how students
in MPS get tracked to where they belong? How many kids
have a bad teacher experience (or just tough personal
time), do a poor job on a test one day, and get
dropped from the advanced track. Now they are with the
"regular" kids. Teachers know that, kids know that,
and regular is the effort they all to often give. What
if the school continued to make high expectations, of
all those "regular" kids. Pushing all of them to excel
to their highest level. Maybe back to the advanced
track, just maybe towards a career such as carpentry.
To train a carpenter do you actually believe you just
send them to wood shop? Not even close. Teach them the
math they will need to know, teach them architectural
drawing so they can read plans, teach them basic wood
working skills, teach them architectural history to
appreciate the buildings they will be working on,
teach them to use computers for CAD and general
business, teach them english so they can read
specification and communicate with homeowners and
architects. Teach them to respect what they have
chosen for a career.
I have a friend who graduated summa cum laude from one
of our fine local colleges. He was destined for
pre-med but was distracted. He realized that he liked
to be outdoors. Fishing and building were more
comfortable to him. He worked for me as a carpenter
over twenty years ago. He couldn't seem to settle down
and drifted up north. I just saw him a few months ago
and when I asked what he was up to he said "I'm a
carpenter. I finally admitted to myself that is what I
am." Why did so many people miss seeing who and what
he was? Why did he have to fight a public perception
about his career that twenty years later he is just
acknowledging it now?
We need to place high value on education, high value
on all jobs that society needs filled. High school
should be more than college prep, it should be life
prep.
Bob Gustafson
13th
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