Monday, September 05, 2005

EVEN VOCATIONAL JOBS NEED ACADEMIC SKILLS

A basic element of the problem is the "schooling" that has passed for education in the decades since the mid '60s that has resulted in a lack of thinking and reasoning ability. A problem that parallels the infamous "Great society" of the "Johnsonomics" era that created the growing dependence on government for everything. It is analogous to succeeding generations of farm cats, as I know from experience growing up on a farm in Minnesota; when table scraps are thrown out the back door, that is seens as sustenance to the point that cats would become dependent on it to the extent of losing their natural proclivity for hunting as a means of independently providing for themselves. If the table scraps are not forthcoming, and the cats become hungry, they began howling at the door and many would not know what to do if mice were scurrying around.

As part of my education reform efforts, I have developed the following phrase that illustrates my point regarding the lack of thinking and reasoning ability and an academic data base required:

The mind cannot function with out a strong academic base. The human mind is basically an organic computer of potentially infinite capacity. Unless it is loaded with quality academic "software" to create an "operating system" for thinking and reasoning ability, and establish an academic data base of facts and knowledge on which to draw when arriving at a conclusion based on data input from the senses, it cannot function any better than an electronic computer lacking proper software. If academic information is not downloaded, and installed via drilling in the facts and knowledge, it cannot be effectively applied. The computer industry axiom GIGO (garbage in=garbage out) applies. This is true whether the individual is attending college, a vocational school, technical school, entering the workforce, or just getting along in life after high school graduation.



As a former high school Industrial Education teacher ('66-'72), I tried to teach the concepts of industry as a prevocational and exploration program rather than a "shop" class to placate the malconents and "dummies" in a high school daycare situation. The objective was the introduction of students to potential career options other than college that required the identical academic high school education regarded as needed only by students in college preparation programs. A vocational and technical education to gain the requisite skills and knowledge, applied in the workforce, has always required an academic high school education. That was true of becoming a machinist in the manually operated machine tool days of manufacturing, and is of even greater importance since the early '70s when computer "high tech" was applied to operate machine tools via a computer operating electronic devices replacing manual controls of the past.

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Report Cards that no Longer Mean Anything

This report is from New Zealand but it could be from lots of places. Schools now often try not to tell parents how well their kids are doing at school because it will hurt the self-esteem of those who don't do well, or some such. So end of term and end of year reports tell parents that every kid is "satisfactory" or some such. That lazy kids need their self-esteem hurt a bit is not admitted. It has got to the point where parents have no idea what a report card means any more. But the conservatives in New Zealand have had enough. They are pledging to bring back report cards that mean something. Excerpt:

"National Party Leader Don Brash today announced that National will introduce 'Plain English Reporting' in schools so that parents know how well their children are doing in the classroom and can get help if necessary. ''Parents have the right to know if their child is reading, writing and using numbers at the expected standard or if they are falling behind. But too often they are served up with politically correct reports that give them no clear idea of their child's progress," says Dr Brash.

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For greatest efficiency, lowest cost and maximum choice, ALL schools should be privately owned and run -- with government-paid vouchers for the poor and minimal regulation.

The NEA and similar unions worldwide believe that children should be thoroughly indoctrinated with Green/Left, feminist/homosexual ideology but the "3 R's" are something that kids should just be allowed to "discover"


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