Quote:
Originally Posted by mulligan
IMHO, Ms. G, probably 95% of students, if they made an honest effort, could find a way to succeed in college ( to at least the Associates level) That being said, I believe that a very large percentage could find greater success if they attended a technical school, or entered an apprenticeship program. There are far too few young people learning trades, and us old folks are bailing out at an ever increasing rate.
|
This is so true.
The vast majority could succeed……if they
wanted to. Too many students lose motivation about "school" in general in middle school and high school, because the emphasis from the federal and state level and teacher education/credentialing programs aim only at a liberal-arts core, college-prep curriculum, and they make "vocational-technical" education a dirty word.
They speak the very words "vocational-technical" and "trades" with utter disdain, gagging and spitting.
And few on the academia side will admit that the free-flowing college financial aid and especially the abundance of student LOANS adds to the
allure and "prestige" the state and federal Executive, Legislative and Judicial politicians give themselves.
But some of the happiest and financially secure people we know here in The Villages and beyond are current or former tradesmen. Their jobs/careers might seem "boring" or "not cerebral enough" for the politicians groomed and coddled in the ivory tower of academia, but it shows just how bone-headed they are to ignore the fact that without machinists, draftsmen, administrative assistants-secretaries, policemen, firemen, web designers-graphic artists, hairdressers, meat cutters, dental assistants, dental-lab technicians, x-ray technicians, welders, etc. etc. etc…….this country would be like Haiti.
Personally, I believe high school can and should encourage BOTH some vocational-technical education and college-prep, as I had, and went on to attain a bachelor's degree in education which I loved. But when I could not get jobs when we moved with my husband's education and training in his profession, I fully relied on my office-clerical skills to work for food and rent--literally--in the early years, and it was there that I got in on the ground floor of personal computer software application and training and later, teaching. I had
both v-technical and college prep HS curricula, and never even knew there were divisions in those sectors in other states into which we moved.
No 7th-, 8th-, or 9th-grader should be tracked only into vocational-technical or only into college prep at that age, with no coursework experience in the other type, and
especially with no benchmark experience in either track.
Here is an excellent article on the subject:
Some college graduates turn to tech school for job training
.