[TheForge] Industrial arts (long and boring response)

Sun Jan 27 09:26:09 2002

   It's called the "dumbing down of America".. the empty headed
politicians of the late 60's realized that an  informed public was a
problem to deal with and made immediate moves to stop any meaningful
education.  They made sure schools stopped teaching anything that
could make a person realize that politicians are our employees, not
our rulers.  They also realized that personally skilled people didn't
need to have everything hired out to some "professional". To correct
that they allowed people who's educational background had no useful
daily application to make all school policies.

   By allowing ignorant people to run the schools, the politicians got
the best of both worlds.  They could claim no responsibility for the
failure of the system and could blame someone else.

   I know personally, many college grads of the last 10 years, most
don't know English well enough to write a letter that is at least
readable and free of spelling errors.  When I quiz them about common
knowledge kind of things, they have no clue.  They have been taught
that it's ok to be ignorant by choice, they just say, "that's not my
area of expertise".  Translation:  I'm ignorant and it's ok".

   Jeff   ><>
----- Original Message -----
From: "Demon Buddha" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, January 26, 2002 12:06 PM
Subject: Re: [TheForge] Industrial arts (long and boring response)

> 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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> 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.
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