The Death of Shop Class
October 24, 2006 11:18 AM Subscribe
The Death of Shop Class
It appears shop class is becoming a thing of the past, as educators prepare students to become “knowledge workers." .. Much of the “jobs of the future” rhetoric surrounding the eagerness to end shop class and get every warm body into college, thence into a cubicle, implicitly assumes that we are heading to a “post-industrial” economy in which everyone will deal only in abstractions. Advice? Learn a manual trade. You’re likely to be less damaged, and quite possibly better paid, as an independent tradesman than as a cubicle-dwelling tender of information systems. To heed such advice would require a certain contrarian streak, as it entails rejecting a life course mapped out by others as obligatory and inevitable.
This post was deleted for the following reason: previously
BTW I do hope folks read the article (even though it's very long) it really is very good and has it has a lot more ideas than just the few presented in the FPP.
posted by stbalbach at 11:30 AM on October 24, 2006
posted by stbalbach at 11:30 AM on October 24, 2006
As someone who took six years of shop (including junior high) I find this loss disheartening. Most of my classes were serious college prep stuff and having one class of zen-like concentration very much evened out the day. Watching a piece of furninture come to life in your hands over the course of a semester (or two) is very satisfying. Too bad for today's youths.
posted by caddis at 11:34 AM on October 24, 2006
posted by caddis at 11:34 AM on October 24, 2006
This is why I am currently learning the arts of glassblowing and blacksmithery. Often, as I marver my gather and lengthen the neck of yet another tumbler with my jacks, I smile in the assurance that my skills - in the future economy - will be priceless and desired assets; mysterious as witchcraft to the business class, the slow processes by which dishware and nails are created through human hands will be as politically revolutionary an act as all of history itself.
posted by billysumday at 11:35 AM on October 24, 2006
posted by billysumday at 11:35 AM on October 24, 2006
It's odd how people think that the 'information age' has somehow ended the industrial one. Now that we have computers, do we no longer need furniture? The two things obviously aren't linked. People are quick to assume that everything we need can be obtained from some huge factory in China, but I think there'll always be a place for people to make stuff on a smaller scale.
posted by reklaw at 11:43 AM on October 24, 2006
posted by reklaw at 11:43 AM on October 24, 2006
Man, I've thought exactly that ever since I got my degree 3 years ago. Will now read the rest of the article...
posted by sciurus at 11:45 AM on October 24, 2006
posted by sciurus at 11:45 AM on October 24, 2006
I can sincerely say that I wish I had become a tradesman
You and me both.
I often (half)joke with my wife that I'm going to ecourage our 4-year old to become a plumber. Even if the economy tanks and there is blood in the streets, people will continue to shit; and chances are they'll prefer to do it indoors. Which means a good plumber will always be welcome wherever he goes.
posted by Chrischris at 11:46 AM on October 24, 2006
You and me both.
I often (half)joke with my wife that I'm going to ecourage our 4-year old to become a plumber. Even if the economy tanks and there is blood in the streets, people will continue to shit; and chances are they'll prefer to do it indoors. Which means a good plumber will always be welcome wherever he goes.
posted by Chrischris at 11:46 AM on October 24, 2006
At the high school I went to, at least, the death of shop class came not because of any "jobs of the future" rhetoric, but because of a desire for more focus on music and other liberal arts programs (I seem to recall that this came as part of a statewide thing, but I can't find anything in a quick Google search). This happened after I'd graduated, but from younger siblings I heard that despite having the necessary space and equipment, the auto shop classes has been cancelled; I don't remember if wood shop and metal shop suffered the same fate.
I didn't really take advantage of any of these classes (I was focused more on Honors and AP academic classes), but I know that there were a good number of people that did, and knowing how to diagnose and fix some stuff on your car is going to be a lot more useful to most people than knowing how to calculate a derivative function, or knowing about oxidation/reduction (none of which I've ever used since then, except again in college-level calculus classes).
I suppose that some of this is driven by the way that things are made these days; stuff is just made with virtually no user-servicable parts. For computers and most other electronics, it seems that the idea is to simply discard it when it stops working, and buy a new one. Cars have become the same way; so much of the operation of the engine is controlled by computers that there is hardly anything an average guy can do to a car in his garage.
posted by Godbert at 11:47 AM on October 24, 2006
I didn't really take advantage of any of these classes (I was focused more on Honors and AP academic classes), but I know that there were a good number of people that did, and knowing how to diagnose and fix some stuff on your car is going to be a lot more useful to most people than knowing how to calculate a derivative function, or knowing about oxidation/reduction (none of which I've ever used since then, except again in college-level calculus classes).
I suppose that some of this is driven by the way that things are made these days; stuff is just made with virtually no user-servicable parts. For computers and most other electronics, it seems that the idea is to simply discard it when it stops working, and buy a new one. Cars have become the same way; so much of the operation of the engine is controlled by computers that there is hardly anything an average guy can do to a car in his garage.
posted by Godbert at 11:47 AM on October 24, 2006
Maybe someone can link to a youtube video of my favorite shop class movie, the one where the board shoots out of the planer and impales the haplesss student.
When I saw this FPP, my first thought also was of that film we saw in wood shop class featuring the worker named "Lucky", who wasn't.
posted by Fat Guy at 11:47 AM on October 24, 2006
When I saw this FPP, my first thought also was of that film we saw in wood shop class featuring the worker named "Lucky", who wasn't.
posted by Fat Guy at 11:47 AM on October 24, 2006
If it's a choice between shop and a computer/typing/software class (or if it's replaced by a video or image-editing class, etc), it's ok. Most of us will end up in some kind of cube farm, or working virtually if we even have jobs at all.
They used to have 2-track high schools everywhere--vocational and regular--those relegated many people exclusively to manual trades.
posted by amberglow at 11:51 AM on October 24, 2006
They used to have 2-track high schools everywhere--vocational and regular--those relegated many people exclusively to manual trades.
posted by amberglow at 11:51 AM on October 24, 2006
Right on. Folks are recognizing the pleasures of shop work and working with their hands, at least as a hobby. Look at the popularity of, e.g., Make Magazine. The manual arts probably make for more satisfying vocations, as well.
posted by exogenous at 11:52 AM on October 24, 2006
posted by exogenous at 11:52 AM on October 24, 2006
The craftsman is proud of what he has made, and cherishes it, while the consumer discards things that are perfectly serviceable in his restless pursuit of the new. The craftsman is then more possessive, more tied to what is present, the dead incarnation of past labor; the consumer is more free, more imaginative, and so more valorous according to those who would sell us things.
The lamp I made in metal shop in 1973 is still on my bureau. Everytime I turn it on I see the hole I mis-drilled. There is no other way to learn the lesson of "measure twice, cut once" than by doing it wrong.
Being able to think materially about material goods, hence critically, gives one some independence from the manipulations of marketing, which typically divert attention from what a thing is to a back-story intimated through associations, the point of which is to exaggerate minor differences between brands. Knowing the production narrative, or at least being able to plausibly imagine it, renders the social narrative of the advertisement less potent. The tradesman has an impoverished fantasy life compared to the ideal consumer; he is more utilitarian and less given to soaring hopes. But he is also more autonomous.
An impoverished fantasy life... I suppose that's true.
Certainly anyone who has made something in wood or metal shop is "less given to soaring hopes." Nothing I ever made has turned out as beautifully, or as easily, as I hoped.
Nice find stbalbach.
posted by three blind mice at 11:53 AM on October 24, 2006
The lamp I made in metal shop in 1973 is still on my bureau. Everytime I turn it on I see the hole I mis-drilled. There is no other way to learn the lesson of "measure twice, cut once" than by doing it wrong.
Being able to think materially about material goods, hence critically, gives one some independence from the manipulations of marketing, which typically divert attention from what a thing is to a back-story intimated through associations, the point of which is to exaggerate minor differences between brands. Knowing the production narrative, or at least being able to plausibly imagine it, renders the social narrative of the advertisement less potent. The tradesman has an impoverished fantasy life compared to the ideal consumer; he is more utilitarian and less given to soaring hopes. But he is also more autonomous.
An impoverished fantasy life... I suppose that's true.
Certainly anyone who has made something in wood or metal shop is "less given to soaring hopes." Nothing I ever made has turned out as beautifully, or as easily, as I hoped.
Nice find stbalbach.
posted by three blind mice at 11:53 AM on October 24, 2006
This is evident even in my industrial-agricultural home town, which has a GM plant and numerous specialized small employers in everything from plastics to sintered metals. The county did undertake an heroic and successful push to get the University of Wisconsin to offer an electrical engineering program through the local two-year community college. The local technical college has more and more students that it has to spend more and more time teaching the basics.
I think that fundamentally the parents who are in these skilled jobs, and once felt they provided lifetime employment, have lost that trust. They want "better" for their kids, and better means making your own economic security in the white-collar world, getting a million-dollar house and surviving job insecurity on your second mortgage.
posted by dhartung at 11:54 AM on October 24, 2006
I think that fundamentally the parents who are in these skilled jobs, and once felt they provided lifetime employment, have lost that trust. They want "better" for their kids, and better means making your own economic security in the white-collar world, getting a million-dollar house and surviving job insecurity on your second mortgage.
posted by dhartung at 11:54 AM on October 24, 2006
You could be a little more clear about this being a double, Kwanstar.
Still, damn good article.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 12:02 PM on October 24, 2006
Still, damn good article.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 12:02 PM on October 24, 2006
I know a guy who owned several furniture factories in the US. He was losing business to foriegn companies that were using modern robotic construction techniques. He tried to upgrade his shop but his employees were unable to adapt, and he wasnt able to hire enough skilled labor to run his factories in America. Workers were actually hostile to change. So he fired them all and offshored his business to china. The labor was vastly cheaper and even though the chinese didnt even speak his language and didnt have higher educations they eagerly soaked up the skills to run the factory. The effort was a huge success, he now produces more higher quality furniture for a fraction of the cost.
Hand made items are an anachronism.
posted by Osmanthus at 12:10 PM on October 24, 2006
Hand made items are an anachronism.
posted by Osmanthus at 12:10 PM on October 24, 2006
Don't most regions have trade schools?
I don't think trade schools are going anywhere, and this fact kind of trivializes this essay. Very few of my classmates didn't go on to college, but lots of kids in my grade went to trade school instead of my high school. It was a pretty decent percentage.
posted by shownomercy at 12:12 PM on October 24, 2006
I don't think trade schools are going anywhere, and this fact kind of trivializes this essay. Very few of my classmates didn't go on to college, but lots of kids in my grade went to trade school instead of my high school. It was a pretty decent percentage.
posted by shownomercy at 12:12 PM on October 24, 2006
The only shop class I took was in 7th grade, when I was 12. Since my dad wasn't particularly handy, I don't know where I would've learned to wire a light switch or cut a dado otherwise. Similar to three blind mice, I still have the small bookshelf I made in 1978 (!) sitting in my living room.
posted by MrMoonPie at 12:15 PM on October 24, 2006
posted by MrMoonPie at 12:15 PM on October 24, 2006
Nice piece, good read.
"stuff is just made with virtually no user-servicable parts."
Yeah, that drives me insane. I've followed many a process of learning and discovery only to discover that the damned thing can't be fixed because you need some sort or other industry exclusive machine to fix it.
posted by Smedleyman at 12:15 PM on October 24, 2006
"stuff is just made with virtually no user-servicable parts."
Yeah, that drives me insane. I've followed many a process of learning and discovery only to discover that the damned thing can't be fixed because you need some sort or other industry exclusive machine to fix it.
posted by Smedleyman at 12:15 PM on October 24, 2006
Hand made items are an anachronism.
Someone still has to assemble the CNC, and troubleshoot it when it fails.
What a great article. Didn't catch it earlier.
posted by prostyle at 12:16 PM on October 24, 2006
Someone still has to assemble the CNC, and troubleshoot it when it fails.
What a great article. Didn't catch it earlier.
posted by prostyle at 12:16 PM on October 24, 2006
I have a couple of college-educated friends who became master carpenters. They were able to buy a run-down house and turn it into a beautiful home for far less than I'd have been able (I'm fairly handy, but no master carpenter).
So yes, the trades are still important and viable career choices.
posted by Mister_A at 12:19 PM on October 24, 2006
So yes, the trades are still important and viable career choices.
posted by Mister_A at 12:19 PM on October 24, 2006
How odd that no one has mentioned the death of unions in relation to this. My father was an electrician, and by the time he died in '91, could hardly find a union job anywhere (he died young, his age was not a factor in finding work).
Now you can find non-union work or work for yourself, but manual labor is risky, and if your insurance isn't good, you can end up crippled and screwed and without a pension. I think that has a lot more to do with why parents don't encourage their kids to take it up. Computers don't eat as many fingers as bandsaws.
My dad's arms were covered in scars from high-voltage burns, and he used to work on high rise office towers one misstep from ugly death. I can kind of see why he didn't want that for us.
posted by emjaybee at 12:46 PM on October 24, 2006
Now you can find non-union work or work for yourself, but manual labor is risky, and if your insurance isn't good, you can end up crippled and screwed and without a pension. I think that has a lot more to do with why parents don't encourage their kids to take it up. Computers don't eat as many fingers as bandsaws.
My dad's arms were covered in scars from high-voltage burns, and he used to work on high rise office towers one misstep from ugly death. I can kind of see why he didn't want that for us.
posted by emjaybee at 12:46 PM on October 24, 2006
Well, since school boards are already eliminating dodgeball, tag, phys-ed and recess, it's a wonder that shop class has lasted so long on safety/skittish grounds alone.
Litigiousness + political correctness = lameness.
(And fat lazy kids.)
posted by j-dub at 12:48 PM on October 24, 2006
Litigiousness + political correctness = lameness.
(And fat lazy kids.)
posted by j-dub at 12:48 PM on October 24, 2006
Well, since school boards are already eliminating dodgeball, tag, phys-ed and recess, it's a wonder that shop class has lasted so long on safety/skittish grounds alone.
Litigiousness + political correctness = lameness.
(And fat lazy kids.)
posted by j-dub at 12:48 PM on October 24, 2006
Litigiousness + political correctness = lameness.
(And fat lazy kids.)
posted by j-dub at 12:48 PM on October 24, 2006
Much of this has to do with the definition of "success". If "success" means a BMW and a 4000sq ft home, you're probably not going to get that being a tradesman.
That, of course, is not important to everyone. But, aggregate earning potential for those college educated far outstrips aggregate potential for those not.
To my eye, there seem two real options for being financially successful as a tradesman:
1. Become an artisan, creating work that is more decorative than functional
2. Create your own company with employed tradesmen under you.
1 has the disadvantage of first being extremely difficult and second being extremely limited in the number of people that can be supported doing thus. In other words, not every woodworker can make a living doing just decorative bowls.
2 has the ironic outcome of the tradesman doing less work with his hands, and more work with his head, and finding out what may have been more helpful at this stage of his life is a business degree.
posted by Ynoxas at 12:49 PM on October 24, 2006
That, of course, is not important to everyone. But, aggregate earning potential for those college educated far outstrips aggregate potential for those not.
To my eye, there seem two real options for being financially successful as a tradesman:
1. Become an artisan, creating work that is more decorative than functional
2. Create your own company with employed tradesmen under you.
1 has the disadvantage of first being extremely difficult and second being extremely limited in the number of people that can be supported doing thus. In other words, not every woodworker can make a living doing just decorative bowls.
2 has the ironic outcome of the tradesman doing less work with his hands, and more work with his head, and finding out what may have been more helpful at this stage of his life is a business degree.
posted by Ynoxas at 12:49 PM on October 24, 2006
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Maybe someone can link to a youtube video of my favorite shop class movie, the one where the board shoots out of the planer and impales the haplesss student.
posted by fixedgear at 11:25 AM on October 24, 2006