[TheForge] Industrial arts (long and boring response)

[Demon Buddha]

I used to be an IA teacher.  It is an archaic term, comparatively
speaking.  Perhaps you're a youngin', because the term used to be
all over the place.  Then in the late 1970s and early to mid 1980s
the many states of the Union embarked upon a campaign to obliterate
IA from the face of America.  On the whole, they succeeded far
better than anyone could have envisioned.  I know this because I
was part of the effort to destroy IA in the state of New York.  I
sat on a board called the "Futuring Committee".  It was a panel of
"experts" in the world of education of the state of NY convened to
determine the future of Industrial/Practical Arts in the state.  I was
the student representative and sat among many seasoned professionals.

At one point the term "Industrial Arts" was on the floor for debate as
to its propriety in the immediate post-Star Wars world.  The pro-
destruction contingent were so very keen to change the name to
"technology
education" because industrial arts was SO passe.  We argued against the
change but were out voted, and so industrial arts became technology
education.  By the time the great shakers and movers were finished with
their hack job, industrial arts education in the state of New York had
been reduced to a pathetic bookworm program in precisely the same way
as mathematics is, only it lacked the utility of math.  

One of the big movers of the NYS Futuring movement was a man named Bob
Barden, an electrical engineer and CEO of Broadband Systems, out on 
Long Island.  He was the great rush to adopt the "systems" approach
to practical arts.  Now, to illustrate just how screwed up
communications
can get between people, when Bob first put forth the concept of teaching
children about closed feedback loop systems, I completely misunderstood
his intent.  I thought that he was suggesting an explicitly defined
closed
loop system for teachers and administrators for adjusting their content
delivery such that students would ultimately receive the best education
possible.  Made sense to me, especially given the deplorable state of
public education in the City of New York at that time.  He was, however,
speaking of technical concepts for the students.  This isn't anything
new; kids have been taught this, albeit a bit more implicitly, since the
days of the Industrial Revolution.

Anyhow, IA has been gutted nationwide and it is not only a shame upon
this
nation, it is a crime against our children.  It was the one program
where
students were able to PHYSICALLY integrate their knowledge into their
being
and to gain practical problem solving skills.  The well meaning but
terribly
misguided "experts" managed to wipe that out in a time when it was
needed
more than ever.  When I was a mechanical engineering student at USC and
UCD
the programs there, considered some of the finest on the planet, were
almost
wholly lacking in hands-on learning.  I can tell you that there is no
greater
block to profound understanding of many concepts than to deny the
student
practical experience with it.  Learning how to graph the behavior of a
shock
absorber (damped wave) without working with a bit of the material
reality
is not only boring as hell (I never found doing masses of problems in
integration to be so terribly joy inspiring, but turning a wrench sure
would
have helped boost my focus and understanding), but guts much of the
learning
value.

Anyhoo, it is to my eternal regret that I did not know how to do more to
discourage the dismantling of IA in NY.  Years ago I felt some measure
of
shame about my involvement and my ineffectual presence.  In my old age I
have managed to realize that there was nothing that I could have done to
stop it.  Teachers and administrators were ashamed of IA and wanted to
rid themselves of the stigma of IA as the "dummies" classes.  That is
so far from the truth I cannot find the words to impress you.  I will
state 
with absolute confidence that practical arts was the single most
valuable
educational program that this nation has ever embraced.  That we
abandoned
it in favor of this limp, lame, and lifeless thing we call "technology
education" is a great shame and a pity.  In my opinion, these programs
should be reinstated immediately, but I do not see this happening any
time
in our lifetime.  

The empire is indeed crumbling.


	-Andy
Shannell wrote:
> 
> If someone says they studied or teach "industrial arts" is that a new fancy
> name for wood and metalwork at primary and high schools or is there more to
> it, Ive seen the term a couple of times lately and wondered what it means
> exactly?
> 
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--
	-Andy V.
	 Eventide Forge
	 Mad Science Inc.
	 Scottsdale, AZ

	Death smiles at us all.
	All we can do is smile back.

	Then a man, appearing like a mirage on the sand...
	In his hand, a moving picture of the crumbling land.