The Value of School Woodworking Classes

[Steve Kirincich]

http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/family/articles/2011/01/04/why_some_educators_are_putting_a_new_emphasis_on_w oodworking_class/

[Jim Rimmer]

Great article. I always questioned the wisdom of shuttering the shop classes. It's not just a place to put the problem kids. They learn math (measuring & fractions, ratios, proportion), intro to engineering (how joints work, fastening techniques), improve their eye/hand coordination, get off their duff and work a little each day, critical thinking, planning and linear thinking (what do I have to first and next), creative thinking and design. I always remember the student that was sent to me when I was teaching introductory electronics because he couldn't pass basic math. I welcomed him in as we discussed capacitve reactance, Ohm's law, phase shifts, oscillating circuits,etc. Basic math a problem - just send him to a vocational class where they are using algebra and trig. If counselors and administrators only realized the value of woodworking, drafting, electronics and all the other "manual trades" classes and how thye use the practical application of the so-called college prep classes. Auto mechanics students certainly understand how to add feeler gages together to get the gap they need, machine shop teaches .... Oh, well, RANT OFF. :rolleyes:

[Bryan Morgan]

I had woodworking, auto shop, and metalworking at school. I am totally amazed to hear about kids growing up now, and even my younger siblings tell me how they didn't even have the classes when they went to school. The closest they had was "technology" class where some "state certified" turd would lecture you about 10-20 year old "technology". How is this country supposed to compete with the world with education like that? My day job is computers... programming routers, building servers, etc... I apply things I learned in shop class every day. Most is the mentality you get being able to work in 3d (the world, whatever environment around you), the different types of calculating and problem solving you don't learn from a book. It has to be experienced to be understood. I've always carried with me a saying I picked up in physics class or somewhere "Don't memorize, understand". If you don't understand the basics of how the world works all the memorizing of formulas isn't going to do you one bit of good. An important lesson is also the value of labor. You have to spend quite a bit of time to make a small box or napkin holder. When you wind up at Walmart you have a little more appreciation about how to spend your money, what it took to get those products on the shelf. You learn an appreciation for quality vs labor. You learn self pride for spending time, overcoming frustrations, and having something tangible and cool to show for it. Having something neat to give to people for xmas or whatever is just a secondary and far less important byproduct of shop class. :) So many younger people I come across these days seem to lack an understanding of just about anything and everything. Sure, they can tell you the latest buzzwords the kids are saying or whats on TV, but really there is nothing to their lives. Almost the human equivalent of pack mules. Just kind of existing.

So, uh, yeah... shop class.... very important. :)

[george wilson]

I taught shop for 6 years. Here's how bad it is: I spent the first 2 weeks teaching students to read a ruler. Many of them could not read below 1/2" graduations.

A friend who worked in the Newport News Shipyard,where they build the big carriers,told me that the guy in charge of cutting steel plates refused to take measurements except in WHOLE INCHES. He couldn't read a rule either. I guess the welders were supposed to fill in the gaps after they installed his plates.

[ken gibbs]

Hands-on shop classes went away due to school boards listening to lawyers. School system administrators are notorious for not understanding which end of a screwdriver to put in the slot. No wonder our children are sent to classrooms which are staffed with idiots. This will not change until we get rid of the lawyers.

[Tony Bilello]

There are lots of arguements for and against shop classes, home ec classes etc. The reality is that something has to be cut. When I went to school, we went from 8AM till 3 PM. That was 7 hours a day - 5 days a week. It was always the kids a year behind me that started split shifts with less hours. I have no idea how long the average school day is these days, but I am sure it is not 7 hours.
It would be nice if we could keep this thread non-political because I can easily see how it could turn.

[Tony Bilello]

I taught shop for 6 years. Here's how bad it is: I spent the first 2 weeks teaching students to read a ruler. Many of them could not read below 1/2" graduations.

A friend who worked in the Newport News Shipyard,where they build the big carriers,told me that the guy in charge of cutting steel plates refused to take measurements except in WHOLE INCHES. He couldn't read a rule either. I guess the welders were supposed to fill in the gaps after they installed his plates.

Be careful George. In addition to running my woodshop, I am also an Inspector offshore on oil and gas structures. If it weren't for these incompetent people, I wouldn't have a job.

[Bob Riefer]

I recently started reading Shop Class as Soul Craft (a book that was mentioned on page two of the article) - from the couple of chapters that I've read, it's a very interesting book. In a nutshell, the basic premise is that people have an innate need to create, and that totally wiping that out from the population isn't necessarily a good thing.

The reason this interests me so much, is that I was basically groomed from an early age to be a corporate worker. But my interests lie in creating things, and so here I am in my mid-30's building a barn and learning to woodwork. While we had minimal access to woodshop and auto and art, the real push was science, math, english, history... Interestingly, I feel that it's actually easier to learn those subjects on your own than it is to learn a craft on your own.

Another value I find in learning to use your hands... Think of all the people out there that would never consider repairing the deck on their house, or tackling a small plumbing job, or even hanging a picture on the wall. Wow. I've saved (literally) over $100,000 in 10 years of home ownership by doing work myself. Using my hands.

My children are small, 3 year old daughter and 5 year old son, and I can tell you one thing right now. Despite that they're blessed to be very smart little kids that will be able to all the advanced maths and englishes... They part of their education that I'm already planning for is how to teach them to use their hands to create. Involvement with habitat for humanity, summer jobs, vocational course work, time in the shop with me. I'd love to walk into my daughter's home someday and see her installing a chair rail herself and teaching her husband how to do it.

sorry to babble on

[Jim Rimmer]

I recently started reading Shop Class as Soul Craft (a book that was mentioned on page two of the article) - from the couple of chapters that I've read, it's a very interesting book. In a nutshell, the basic premise is that people have an innate need to create, and that totally wiping that out from the population isn't necessarily a good thing.

The reason this interests me so much, is that I was basically groomed from an early age to be a corporate worker. But my interests lie in creating things, and so here I am in my mid-30's building a barn and learning to woodwork. While we had minimal access to woodshop and auto and art, the real push was science, math, english, history... Interestingly, I feel that it's actually easier to learn those subjects on your own than it is to learn a craft on your own.

Another value I find in learning to use your hands... Think of all the people out there that would never consider repairing the deck on their house, or tackling a small plumbing job, or even hanging a picture on the wall. Wow. I've saved (literally) over $100,000 in 10 years of home ownership by doing work myself. Using my hands.

My children are small, 3 year old daughter and 5 year old son, and I can tell you one thing right now. Despite that they're blessed to be very smart little kids that will be able to all the advanced maths and englishes... They part of their education that I'm already planning for is how to teach them to use their hands to create. Involvement with habitat for humanity, summer jobs, vocational course work, time in the shop with me. I'd love to walk into my daughter's home someday and see her installing a chair rail herself and teaching her husband how to do it.

sorry to babble on

I read Shop Class as Soul Craft about a year ago. Great book and I would recommend it to everyone that is a regular at SMC. Not exactly a promo for shop classes in schools but a great understanding of creativeness and working with your hands for satisfaction deep in your soul.

[Greg Portland]

One aspect that hasn't been discussed yet is that shop & auto class are often scheduled in such a way that they only attract non college bound students. For example, I could have taken woodshop in high school but I would have had to give up AP History (taking basic history). Since I received far more credits for the AP class there was zero incentive to actively pursue woodshop since it would have directly impacted my chances at college scholarships & admissions (higher class ranking with more credits, etc.) . Art and Music had their acts together offering "Advanced" versions of their classes thus attracting the more advanced students. Woodshop and auto class need to address this problem if they want the classes to be academically attractive to all the students @ a school.