The Return of Craftmanship – Education Is Horked, Part 4
This is Part 4 in my continuing series, Education Is Horked. Previously I wrote about my thesis on the state of US education, The Myth Of The Career, and Questioning Everything. It is my hope to get people thinking about the tectonic shift happening under our feet and what part education plays in our ability to embrace the new world we find ourselves in.
When I was growing up, I remember taking field trips to re-created colonial villages. There would be the inevitable boring talks about life in the particular period where things were so much more difficult than it is today. Everyone’s eyes would glaze over as someone dressed up like a pilgrim droned on. At some point, however, things would get interesting. You would visit the blacksmith shop, or the glass blower or the weaver. Watching these people make something useful from raw materials was simply fascinating to me. There was no factory, no machines. Just a craftsman at work, bending metal or sculpting glass or making beautiful clothing with their hands and a few tools. These people were not generalists, they were specialists. And the economy of the day was dependent upon there being the right specialists in each town.
These craftsmen almost always had apprentices. Whether it was their son or daughter, or a young person from the community desiring to learn the craft, the craftsman would teach the next generation everything they knew in the hopes of leaving a legacy.
We are in a new era, in my opinion, of craftsmanship in the best possible meaning of the word. After 100 years of assembly-line jobs and careers, we can again start training the next generation for the new craftsmanship. Whether its web design, architecture, or even glass blowing and hand woven garments, there is an incredible opportunity to re-create the old world village of craftsmen. The difference is that today, the entire globe is your village. If you make incredible hand-blown glass, you no longer have to rely on some store to sell your goods. You can sell them directly. If you write music, you can create your own audience. The possibilities are limitless.
I was in Zurich this past week and stumbled upon an amazing chocolatier in one of the back streets of the old section of the city. Not only did I buy some chocolate to bring home, but I can buy that same chocolate over the web any time I want. This was impossible just 15 years ago. A Swiss chocolatier can continue with their craft, and I can benefit from the U.S.
If this is true, how does it change the way we educate? It seems to me that there is a tremendous opportunity to radically change the way we think about what constitutes an education. If a child shows an interest or aptitude for working with their hands, having them apprentice with a builder would be a way to introduce them to the profession very early on. Or, if a child is a computer wizard, getting them into a software apprenticeship would give them an opportunity to see how the professionals use their talents to create software to sell. The same things principles to music or any other industry.
I am not suggesting at all that we should abandon traditional subjects. Teaching math, reading, writing and science are as important as ever. However, I think it would be an interesting exercise to devote perhaps a half a day to traditional school work, and the second half of the day to apprenticeships. This would require the participation of businesses and organizations in the vicinity of a school ( ideally ), and a commitment to teach the next generation what it takes to succeed. I could see the apprenticeships being just as much a part of the grading scale as the three Rs.
Imagine a sixth or seventh grade student spending two hours a day in an architecture office or a music studio. Or a ninth or tenth grader working at a startup software company, even if all they are doing is getting lunch and maybe testing software. The experience would be unlike anything they would ever get working at McDonalds, that is for sure. Yes, it would be distracting at times. But, just like the blacksmith or glass blower, the skills you possess are unique, and they should not die with you.
Instead of focusing on cranking out another generation of factory workers, I think the focus belongs on a return to craftsmanship.
Do you think you have a craft, and if so, how are you teaching the next generation? What do you think about the idea of apprenticeships in primary and secondary school?
