Where has all the vocational training gone?
Years ago, teaching in the Bronx in a building that was built in the middle of last century, the school needed more classroom space. There was a large room available on the first floor. The only catch was that the available room was a shop room, complete with tools and kilns. Fast forward a few months and all shop equipment had been ripped out and it had become a standard classroom (in more recent years I think it has been turned into 2 classrooms). My current building is new and was built with an art room. No kilns, but work stations with vices and cabinets specialized for tools. It is being used as an english classroom. I would love to teach the science of cooking but there are no ovens anywhere in the building and no space or funding for them. There are absolutely no shop rooms in the building. In NYC, it seems shop class is dead and vocational schools are few and far between.
For many years, the push in NYC schools and in much of the country has been to get students "college ready". We offer college level classes, advanced courses in math, english, science and social studies, and in New York State, Regents exams. We teach them to write research papers and lab reports. We take them on tours of colleges and give endless workshops on applications and financial aid. But what about the kids that don't want to go to college? Or that cant afford college? I've had students that knew they didn't want to pursue a post-secondary education. They knew exactly what they wanted to do upon high school graduation. They often wondered why they had to become "college ready". I've had students flat-out tell me they weren't going to college so why did they have to sit through all of this? Who was preparing them for the career path they wanted to pursue? And I had no good answer for those kids.
Years ago I taught a student that struggled mightily with content. Across the board his grades were low and his behavior was not the best. Over time I was able to establish a relationship with this student and his performance gradually started to improve. Then, about two thirds of the way through the school year, he transferred to a school that offered an automotive program. About a month later his friends told me that he as thriving. He loved his new program and looked forward to his career as a mechanic.
How many students like these pass through our halls? How many struggle through academic courses knowing this is not the path they want to be on? What are we doing for these kids? As school budgets are cut and all the shop, art, music and vocational training are eliminated from schools, how are we meeting the needs of our students that aren't going college? And when did we decide that all students needed to go to college?
I went to college, grad school and have 30 credits over my masters and many mechanics, tradesmen and women, construction workers make waaay more than I do. At what point did we decide that students don't need this training from us in schools and, for god's sake, WHY? Becoming a carpenter is just as valid a career path as becoming a doctor and students should know that. Somewhere along the way we decided that it is more important for kids to know how to use the quadratic formula or how to identify a sedimentary rock that it is for them to know how to build or fix something. This can't and shouldn't be the case.
Bring back vocational training. Bring back shop classes. Bring back Home Ec and teach kids how to cook a meal, hang a picture and hem a pair of pants. These are skills they will ALL need. Let's starting getting all of our students college AND career ready again.
Years ago, teaching in the Bronx in a building that was built in the middle of last century, the school needed more classroom space. There was a large room available on the first floor. The only catch was that the available room was a shop room, complete with tools and kilns. Fast forward a few months and all shop equipment had been ripped out and it had become a standard classroom (in more recent years I think it has been turned into 2 classrooms). My current building is new and was built with an art room. No kilns, but work stations with vices and cabinets specialized for tools. It is being used as an english classroom. I would love to teach the science of cooking but there are no ovens anywhere in the building and no space or funding for them. There are absolutely no shop rooms in the building. In NYC, it seems shop class is dead and vocational schools are few and far between.
For many years, the push in NYC schools and in much of the country has been to get students "college ready". We offer college level classes, advanced courses in math, english, science and social studies, and in New York State, Regents exams. We teach them to write research papers and lab reports. We take them on tours of colleges and give endless workshops on applications and financial aid. But what about the kids that don't want to go to college? Or that cant afford college? I've had students that knew they didn't want to pursue a post-secondary education. They knew exactly what they wanted to do upon high school graduation. They often wondered why they had to become "college ready". I've had students flat-out tell me they weren't going to college so why did they have to sit through all of this? Who was preparing them for the career path they wanted to pursue? And I had no good answer for those kids.
Years ago I taught a student that struggled mightily with content. Across the board his grades were low and his behavior was not the best. Over time I was able to establish a relationship with this student and his performance gradually started to improve. Then, about two thirds of the way through the school year, he transferred to a school that offered an automotive program. About a month later his friends told me that he as thriving. He loved his new program and looked forward to his career as a mechanic.
How many students like these pass through our halls? How many struggle through academic courses knowing this is not the path they want to be on? What are we doing for these kids? As school budgets are cut and all the shop, art, music and vocational training are eliminated from schools, how are we meeting the needs of our students that aren't going college? And when did we decide that all students needed to go to college?
I went to college, grad school and have 30 credits over my masters and many mechanics, tradesmen and women, construction workers make waaay more than I do. At what point did we decide that students don't need this training from us in schools and, for god's sake, WHY? Becoming a carpenter is just as valid a career path as becoming a doctor and students should know that. Somewhere along the way we decided that it is more important for kids to know how to use the quadratic formula or how to identify a sedimentary rock that it is for them to know how to build or fix something. This can't and shouldn't be the case.
Bring back vocational training. Bring back shop classes. Bring back Home Ec and teach kids how to cook a meal, hang a picture and hem a pair of pants. These are skills they will ALL need. Let's starting getting all of our students college AND career ready again.
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