Sunday, May 15, 2011

The Work We Value, The Intelligence We Ignore: Is the Work that Made America Great Valued Any Longer?


Mike Rowe comments on Manual Labor and the widening skills gap in our country. He is the host of the Discovery Channel's show Diry Jobs founded as a tribute to his grandfather. We have "shovel ready" projects but no one who knows how or wants to use a shovel!
"It occurred to me that I had become disconnected from a lot of things that used to fascinate me. I no longer thought about where my food came from, or how my electricity worked, or who fixed my pipes, or who made my clothes. There was no reason to. I had become less interested in how things got made, and more interested in how things got bought." Link to short video clip and essay here:
http://tinyurl.com/6druxce

1 comment:

Kristen said...

An excellent point, and this makes me think of the MHHS homebuilding program that's "on hold" for the upcoming school year. I feel like we're eliminating other pathways to success in favor of a very narrow view of what students should aspire to...