Originally Posted by TRaffic Jammer
Remember when the shop kids were looked down on? I've taken wood, stamp making, metal work all in Jr. High. In my high school we had an amazing auto area, teachers were constantly getting their cars done there. Apprenticing, trades-work, only from a carpenter can an artisan grow. All outdated ideas it seems, working for someone and learning from them. To turn our backs on the trades is to set your society up for a vacuum, say in construction where, oh , a newly elected conservative gov't can deport an entire industry we can't do ourselves.
I'm up for getting a degree or a layman's understanding in Electrical engineering.
agreed. as for the deportations, well, it stinks. i wish they would have immigrated legally, then we wouldn't have a problem but people always take the path of least resistance and it was proably easier for them to just show up and work. if the government can fast track strippers through the immigration process, there's no reason why they can't do the same thing for skilled tradesmen. i've got to say that the one thing McGuinty (sp) has done right has made an effort to sustain training in skilled trades. my wife teaches grade 7 and they recently took a field trip to a trades fair where students can meet carpenters, welders, etc and find out more about the jobs. hopefully they will take advantage of the education initiatives that are now in place. if we create sustainable workforce private companies will just outsource these jobs to other countries (ie. call centres now routes through india). and yes, i remember taking shop in grade 9, but not as well as i remember taking home ec, which is why i ended up training as a chef. rant mode off.