Skills gap

[Tennessee Whiskey]

I'll post a link to an interview that Keith Fenner posted in one of his videos. I have been preaching this for sometime to any elected officials that would listen. Let's see if I can get an amen from anyone here.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6iU31YgXZU" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6iU31YgXZU</a>

Cletus

[10KPete]

Boy howdy, amen and hallaluya!!!  Give that man a bigger megaphone and a channel directly into the mind of anyone involved with raising kids.

Somebody has to wash the windows....

I've worked with too many overeducated idiots.....

In my opinion, honest labor is to be valued more than anything else.

Go Mike!!

Pete

[steamer]

I have got to agree here.     


Amen!

[scc]

This message has needed to be heard for years..........At last a voice of sense!     AMEN to it                        Terry

[Dave Otto]

 

[Jo]

Universities complain that the kids coming to do a 3 year degree do not have the necessary skills to be able to start one... Three years of building up debt turn into four. Now it seems you need a degree to do hairdressing  

... I never got a degree or did full time education after the age of 16.

Jo

[wagnmkr]

Finally ... someone that gets the picture.

[b.lindsey]

Same thing here Jo, I see it daily...terribly ill-prepared for college...as one colleague puts it...it's the only "industry" where consumers aren't complaining about paying more and more for less and less.....go figure??

Bill

[Flyboy Jim]

Amen for sure!  I've felt the way for years. We need to have more programs to train more "do-ers" (sp).

I went to a 2 year college (Oregon Technical Institute) and got an Associates Degree in Electronics Engineering Technology. Got a great job at Tektronix Inc. when I graduated (1966). Now it's called Oregon Institute of Technology and is a full on Engineering school. Don't know if they even have any 2 year programs anymore. Hugh Currin might know.......he taught there. I'm not sure where a person would go to learn a trade anymore.

Jim

[zeeprogrammer]

An underlying message in the video is that non-degree jobs have less value.
He mentioned it as 'higher' education vs 'alternative' education.
A clear signal to kids that non-degree jobs are less desirable.

But worse, much worse, is the culture this country has developed that even the people doing those non-degree jobs are less important and meaningful.
And the less professional the less they are thought of.
Fast food, waitresses, plumbers, electricians, doctors...all doing real work.

And most importantly...hopefully trying to improve their lives rather than getting by.

It's not the kids' fault. We did this.

I don't buy this 'pull yourself up' idea. To some extent yes. But first help with the tools they need to pull themselves up.
They don't even know what tools are available much less how to use.

And pay our teachers! It's unbelievable we give this much responsibility to people that care for our children and then pay dirt.
You pay dirt...you get dirt.

I have conversations with some...even at work...who complain about paying school taxes when they don't have children.
They don't get the idea that it's not the kid you're paying for. It's current AND future services you will need.
Not just medical stuff. You want security? You want to drive on good roads? You want to visit parks?

Ah...you got me going. I'd better get out and shovel some more.
Snow.

[steamer]

My Brother is an Electrician.   Has been for 40 years   Has his own business.

Walked into the Chevy dealership on a Saturday, picked out the Corvette Z06 he wanted....and wrote a check.....in full!...

Said   "I'll be back Monday to pick it up"   


Supply and demand ....what pays is what people want.     It's not all with a piece of paper.....

Dave

[sshire]

After 30 years at one of the largest community colleges in the country, I've seen what he's saying over and over. Kids come in (not just two year colleges but four year as well) unprepared for life. The majority of the students are high school grads who have difficulty reading and writing. The English Dept was running over 500 sections of remedial English. These are not ESL (English as a Second Language) students. These are people who were born and raised in this country.
From the time I started teaching (Photography, Digital Imaging, videography), there was an underlying fear that we would be closed down because "you're too expensive."
One of our closest friends, taught Home Ec. for her entire career at a large suburban high school. The day after she retired, they began dismantling a very new and expensive kitchen and converting the space into classrooms and science labs. So no more cooking, how to manage a home, etc.
I tried to take a night course in machining. No more machine shop or wood shop classes in most of the area high schools. A combination of what Mike Rowe said and exorbitant liability insurance rates.
A few months ago, I was hanging out at a local machine shop. The owner said that since the classes have virtually disappeared, he has a hard time filling jobs. He occasionally gets a kid who thinks he might want to be an apprentice but has trouble with basic math, let alone trig.
End of rant

[zeeprogrammer]

I myself don't know.

Do the high schools even provide any courses of basic life skills?

How to save?
How to use a bank?
How to find medical help?
First aid?
How to fix simple things around the house?
How to maintain a home?

I'd like to see a course on how to learn. A lot of truth in teaching someone how to fish rather than providing the fish.

The root cause of all our problems is lack of education.
The only real solution to anything is education.
And education means a responsibility to provide the resources and mentoring.

[mklotz]

Ever notice how, when a thread involving some mathematics appears, several people who have nothing whatsoever to contribute to the thread will chime in to advertise how ignorant they are of anything mathematical?

There's your problem!  Many people today are proud of their ignorance - math, language, history, geography, computer skills, etc. - and are ready, indeed eager, to advertise the fact.  It's literally more important to be thought "one of the guys" than to have the wherewithal to get through life.

Denigrating folks with college degrees isn't the answer.  Start by eliminating the ignorance that seems to result from a high-school education.

[Gas_mantle]

I think comedian George Carlin spoke a lot of truth when he said the ruling classes don't want the masses to be well educated as they will start thinking properly then realise how they are being lied to and duped.