[TheForge] Industrial arts (long and boring response)

Sun Jan 27 11:08:11 2002

I agree.  When I demonstrate or am interviewed I try to encourage
students who want to work with their hands. I have made a nice living
for 32 years as a craftsman, and feel my job is more secure than many
technology careers. Bob
----- Original Message -----
From: "Demon Buddha" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, January 26, 2002 11:06 AM
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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> --
> -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.
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