Why we should bring back vocational training

[AthenaAwakened]

All students are losing out from a lack of non-academic classes in high schools.

Bringing back vocational programs for everyone would allow academically oriented kids to find new hobbies or new ways to solve problems, and would also destigmatize the jobs that they're connected to — which are necessary, interesting and challenging. There's more than one path to success: Electricians, plumbers, car mechanics and the like make far more money than writers do, after all.

http://www.mnn.com/green-tech/resea.../why-we-should-bring-back-vocational-training

 

[Trausti]

Absolutely support that. College isn't for everyone. The social, peer, and parental pressure to attend college is a waste of time and money for many people. My experience is that those who chose the vocational path are happier, relatively, to those who chose the college route. Your earnings expectation may not be as high as if you had a four-year degree, but you'd likely have little to no college debt. I used to envy those people. Still kinda do.

 

[AthenaAwakened]

Absolutely support that. College isn't for everyone. The social, peer, and parental pressure to attend college is a waste of time and money for many people. My experience is that those who chose the vocational path are happier, relatively, to those who chose the college route. Your earnings expectation may not be as high as if you had a four-year degree, but you'd likely have little to no college debt. I used to envy those people. Still kinda do.

Don't think tradesmen don't make big money.

One Sunday Morning I found I had no water, I called the plumber, and he arrived wearing a River Landing Member shirt.

This is River Landing

 

[Tom Sawyer]

Wow. Did he steal clothes from your house too when he fixed your plumbing problems?

 

[JonA]

Absolutely support that. College isn't for everyone. The social, peer, and parental pressure to attend college is a waste of time and money for many people. My experience is that those who chose the vocational path are happier, relatively, to those who chose the college route. Your earnings expectation may not be as high as if you had a four-year degree, but you'd likely have little to no college debt. I used to envy those people. Still kinda do.

 

[coloradoatheist]

Wow. Did he steal clothes from your house too when he fixed your plumbing problems?

Nope, the golf shop gave him the shirt to cover up his crack while fixing the ball washer.

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But on a serious note, we don't agree often but htis is one of them. However I have been told on this board that education isn't there for teaching anything useful.

 

[ronburgundy]

Completely agree with such courses in high school and with creating more vo-tech tracks at public colleges (especially 2 year community colleges) that award vocational degrees that are distinct from the more liberal arts focus of current associates degrees. Going into $80,000 of debt to attend places like ITT and Devry shouldn't be the only option.

In fact, I don't support "free college", unless "college" also includes such vocational tracks and unless objective measures of aptitude are used to determine which types of educational program each student gets a "free" ride to attend.

 

[Nice Squirrel]

We don't have vocational training anymore?

 

[laughing dog]

But on a serious note, we don't agree often but htis is one of them. However I have been told on this board that education isn't there for teaching anything useful.

Really?

 

[coloradoatheist]

But on a serious note, we don't agree often but htis is one of them. However I have been told on this board that education isn't there for teaching anything useful.

Really?

Yes. On the thread about paying for higher education, the purpose of secondary education of HS or college was not for preparing the children for the future or careers it was there just for general knowledge whether or not it was useful.

 

[James Brown]

Aren't shop classes and such more expensive to provide compared to classrooms dedicated to teaching literature and mathematics?

 

[AthenaAwakened]

Wow. Did he steal clothes from your house too when he fixed your plumbing problems?

He left with a check for over $500 for an hour and a half's work (and he cut me a deal). Stealing clothes ain't his shtick.

 

[AthenaAwakened]

We don't have vocational training anymore?

in quite a few places, I'm sad to say we don't.

 

[AthenaAwakened]

Aren't shop classes and such more expensive to provide compared to classrooms dedicated to teaching literature and mathematics?

That has been an excuse given for cutting Voc.Ed., but that's only if you look at the short term. An employable and employed workforce always pays for itself in the long run.

 

[RavenSky]

However I have been told on this board that education isn't there for teaching anything useful.

post the direct quotes with links to their source

Aren't shop classes and such more expensive to provide compared to classrooms dedicated to teaching literature and mathematics?

That has been an excuse given for cutting Voc.Ed., but that's only if you look at the short term. An employable and employed workforce always pays for itself in the long run.

^^^ that

 

[Elixir]

Aren't shop classes and such more expensive to provide compared to classrooms dedicated to teaching literature and mathematics?

That has been an excuse given for cutting Voc.Ed., but that's only if you look at the short term. An employable and employed workforce always pays for itself in the long run.

Vo-tech grads tend to make more, faster than college grads. My brother became a doctor. At age 28 he was broke and in debt, just out of med school and interning something like a million hours a week... Some of my school friends who went straight into trades were buying second homes at age 26-8. Yes, my brother makes a lot more than they do now, but he's not getting those years back spent in pre-med, med school, internship etc.

The vo-tech grads were contributing to the tax base and becoming consumers in their own right, for 8 or so years that my brother was borrowing from parasitic lenders, barely spending except for necessities, and of course paying no taxes.

 

[coloradoatheist]

post the direct quotes with links to their source

Aren't shop classes and such more expensive to provide compared to classrooms dedicated to teaching literature and mathematics?

That has been an excuse given for cutting Voc.Ed., but that's only if you look at the short term. An employable and employed workforce always pays for itself in the long run.

^^^ that

Here was the thread. Page 4 for example. I asked where do we draw the line and ppl said no line.

http://talkfreethought.org/showthre...Plan/page4&highlight=higher+education+classes

 

[laughing dog]

post the direct quotes with links to their source

Aren't shop classes and such more expensive to provide compared to classrooms dedicated to teaching literature and mathematics?

That has been an excuse given for cutting Voc.Ed., but that's only if you look at the short term. An employable and employed workforce always pays for itself in the long run.

^^^ that

Here was the thread. Page 4 for example. I asked where do we draw the line and ppl said no line.

http://talkfreethought.org/showthre...Plan/page4&highlight=higher+education+classes

So by "useful" you mean a job that is directly attributable to the education?

 

[RavenSky]

However I have been told on this board that education isn't there for teaching anything useful.

post the direct quotes with links to their source

Here was the thread. Page 4 for example. I asked where do we draw the line and ppl said no line.

http://talkfreethought.org/showthre...Plan/page4&highlight=higher+education+classes

Still don't see anyone on this board telling you that "education isn't there for teaching anything useful" or anything similar

 

[Trausti]

post the direct quotes with links to their source

Aren't shop classes and such more expensive to provide compared to classrooms dedicated to teaching literature and mathematics?

That has been an excuse given for cutting Voc.Ed., but that's only if you look at the short term. An employable and employed workforce always pays for itself in the long run.

^^^ that

Here was the thread. Page 4 for example. I asked where do we draw the line and ppl said no line.

http://talkfreethought.org/showthre...Plan/page4&highlight=higher+education+classes

How is this not "useful"?