Thanks

Hello again Tommy, I hope I can get this across correctly. Our educational system, in my eyes has many tiers, it is comprised of academics, life skills, history and current affairs, vocations, and any number of other areas. Everyone who is teaching in a specific area has a belief for why it is of importance. Public education has two basic areas, academics and vocations, here is where I see the rub. Typically all of the main positions who have influence in governing these institutions are of the academic background, I know this is not always the case and if you happen to be working in an area that has the benefit of administrators who have come from a vocational background your world is a different place than most. We have all seen the decline of the trades with regard to public education, the biggest reason has to do with funding. When the pot of money is only so large those who decide upon it's uses start circling the wagons and hunkering down. I have said this many times before and I believe it won't changed. Academic types of course work require less monetary backing to put on for students than vocational training of any sort. Thus more students can be "served" than could with vocational programs. Bean counters and administrators have state legislators to answer to and those legislators and other government officials have their constituents to make happy and of course they want their bottom lines to look good. I believe we all know that when one group or interest is receiving help, that group is certainly happy and life is good to them, at the same time someone else's needs are being put on the back burner and so they are upset and feel deserted. This simple characteristic of all of us has a lot to do with the uphill battle that I and others like me, who have a passion for the trades, feel letdown over. To me this is a grassroots issue, until the general public wakes up and starts showing interest to the point where elected officials will take notice, you will not see any real shifts in education toward addressing vocational teaching and training. Even industry has to take a more active and visible role in all of this, I do see that happening more so than it has in the past and I'm sure in some areas of the country there are businesses and companies who have gotten very involved in doing something about this. Unfortunately there is still a long way to go.
     Tommy, one of your comments is what I would refer to as a "sneaker", you had mentioned having frustration over a specific challenge while working on something, you had said that another experienced individual had come along and shown you a little "trick" for taking care of the issue. I believe you also stated that that type of information isn't in a book and likely isn't covered in a classroom. I would TOTALLY agree with you! At this moment, we in the trades, are probably no more than 10 years from losing the individuals that you speak of regarding those hands on, show me how, types of training. Unfortunately there aren't many who are listening or understanding how much of an impact this scenario could bring to our country's future. I might also include that as an individual goes through their career they are exposed to any number of these little tricks. The types of things and how they are used are sometimes industry wide and other times very industry specific. The do's and don'ts of the aerospace industry for example might not be the same as those for the pipelining industry and so on and so forth. So a particular individual may never be exposed to many of these different little shortcuts and helps. Handing down and passing on skills is of paramount importance so that we don't re-invent the wheel so to speak, I'm sure for many that is exactly what they have experienced in their careers.  
     I am going to make a statement here that could be taken as a knock, but for those who would take offense I will try to qualify my statements as well. I teach at a community college in the welding technology area, I have been associated with the welding trade for roughly 35 years, I have taught full-time for the past 17 years, during my full-time teaching years I have logged up to anywhere from 1100 to 1500hrs. of yearly off-site work experience , partly to stay on top of my skills while teaching and partly to help with my "bottom line". There are many individuals who also teach at facilities such as mine, there are also many others who teach at vocational skills centers, vocational/technical colleges, union apprenticeship training facilities, private welding schools, etc. I feel pretty confident in saying that a great number of these individuals do the same types of keeping-current things that I have done. I would say the majority of training facilities and options that I have mentioned above are designed for individuals who have already completed their education through high school, this means that they have likely already been hammered over going to 4 year schooling and not been given equal exposure to vocational options. Here's where I might get hammered. Since our youth receive much of their initial life learning from their years in K-12 they may well have already decided on something other than vocational options. If they are fortunate enough to have had some form of vocational training many of these individuals doing the teaching in these areas have not been tradespeople, so I would state that their passion for their subject might not be on par with other folks. There I said it, I'll be suiting up in my armor now. Now for qualifying statements, I really am not saying that those who are teaching shop classes in the K-12 system don't know what they are doing, my first interest in the trades came from two places, my dad and some of my shop teachers. I will say this though, most teachers have gone through K-12, onto 4 year school, and then on to receive other teaching degrees and credentials through additional schooling. For many that means that their shop teaching experience amounts to what they learned while doing schooling to earn their degrees and teaching credentials. So unless they happen to be the types of individuals who see value and importance in furthering their own knowledge in what they are teaching with regard to the trades, the kids that they interact with might not receive the kind of impression from shop class that could be possible. I apologize for offending anyone who is teaching in the K-12 system that this doesn't apply to, for starters I wouldn't have the patience to deal with the population of students that many of you have to deal with on a daily basis. I also am aware of the facilities that many in K-12 are expected to work with and the no-money budgets. I really should say that the "SYSTEM" is responsible for these types of conditions and not the teachers. I got windy again Tommy, if you made it to the end of this post without falling asleep Kudos to you. Best regards, Allan