FHS Industrial Technology

If you were looking for the perfect learning environment in today’s school, you would most likely venture to the lower levels, the back of the building or perhaps a building sitting off by itself; it would be worth the trip.  There you would find students busily involved in education.  They might not realize it, but they would be learning math, science, physics, geometry, chemistry, communication skills, reading and writing skills, environmental biology and even some foreign language. These and other skills would be taught in a variety of methods: hands on; lectures; demonstrations; presentations; guest speakers; reading from textbooks, manuals and plans; writing of procedures, research papers; drawing and sketching; sharing of ideas; and other methods.

What is utopia within our schools?  It has had many names, manual training, manual arts, industrial arts, industrial technology, technology education and others, or you may think of it as “shop”.  The instructors may appear similar to instructors in other areas but their knowledge goes far beyond their years of structured education.  Yes, they have 4 plus years of college, but they have also experienced what they teach.  They know firsthand what is theory and what actually works.  They love what they teach. In leisure hours, you will find them honing their skills, reading the latest technical manuals or building something to enhance the learning environment in their classroom.  Be careful however when asking for advice.  They may go into an explanation and give you more information than you really wanted.  Ask them for the time, they may explain how to build a clock, an analog, and digital.

Many of them are “old timers” who grew up with tools in their hands and the love of building, creating, fixing, and just taking things apart.  A curiosity of the nature of things, what makes them work and how can they be improved.  They work hard to pass on their knowledge and skill to the younger generation, that they in turn would pass on that knowledge and skill to the generations.  The young college graduates are often lured from the path of education by business and industry with promises of high pay and better benefits.  Something the elders have learned to live without.

No, perhaps it is not the perfect environment, but these “shop” teachers strive to make it so.  There is no other branch of education more complete.  They are a quiet bunch however and have been pushed around in the process, often giving up space and resources to band, athletics, or anyone else who is deemed more important.  In reality, only one tenth of one percent of our population makes a living in the entertainment industry, which includes music, athletics, art, and stage.  Even our own “Project Lead the Way” drains precious resources from our other programs.  As Dan Hull stated at the conference last month, for every engineer designing something, we need five technicians who know how to build.

To all Tech Ed teachers across Iowa, I would say, “Keep up the fight to keep your programs going.”  Get involved in IITEA or other organizations.  Make yourself heard.  You are key to solving many of the problems of industry in trying to compete in a global economy.  You are also important to the future of the students you serve in your “near” perfect learning environment.

Lynn Christiansen
Immediate Past President
IITEA