Last night, we went and saw Mike Rowe (the Dirty Jobs guy) talking about the skills gap in Idaho. He didn't have all the answers but he did a great job in getting the discussion started. What are we going to do now to ensure that we have qualified people to do all the jobs - dirty and otherwise - that need to be done in order for our lives to continue to run smoothly.
Someone asked Mike what 21st Century skills we needed to be focusing on in order to "fill the gap". Rather than identify these skills, Mike suggested that rather than focusing on gaining proficiency in a particular skill, we instead focus on 19th Century ethics.
Talent.
Risk.
Teamwork.
Being mindful of others.
Being connected to others.
In our ever-increasing, technologically "connected" world, he suggested that we are in fact becoming LESS connected. We rely on so many people - farmers, laborers, electricians, plumbers, construction workers, road workers - and yet how many of us know the name of the guy or gal who came to service our fridge, clean our gutters, fix our plumbing, or deliver our packages?
The thing I took away from last night:
- as teachers our job should be to raise awareness of all types of jobs - dirty and otherwise
- being educated in a trade is not an 'alternative' education - it's an education and it is just as valid as a four year degree education
- work is hard AND smart - we should work harder AND smarter
- getting dirty is good - dirt washes off but the memory of physically accomplishing something will last a long time
There's a saying that Sonya and I use. "Someone has to do every job". If it has to be done someone has to do it. Some jobs might be more fun than others and some of us might be lazier than others but no one is "too good" to do it.
Posted by: Johnterborg | 01/25/2012 at 11:24 AM