SHARING THOUGHTS ABOUT THE IMAGE OF WELDING

By Randy Hoffman
Welding Instructor
Massachusetts Maritime Academy

I read with great interest in the magazine about the Image of Welding.  I would like to reflect on some of the issues from my own observation.  I noticed the biggest problem in this area when I began teaching in high school.  Students that elected Metal Fabrication and Welding came into this class with no previous experience or background.  Some students were not even sure that this was what they wanted to do in life.  After talking to guidance counselors and further investigation, I came to some conclusions that may affect what the Image of Welding represents to some young people.  Who they talk to, what they observe, how they learn, how they are taught, and who teaches them are key factors in presenting a positive image of a craft. 

What is the appropriate age to teach a trade to a young person?  In some countries, a student must complete twelve years of academic study before they can elect a technical education.  That says something about having a strong academic background before the pursuit of technical training.  When technical training is completed, a minimum of six years in the occupation is required for mastery of skills. 

If you take a close look at high school programs in welding, they resemble a crash course in “skill and drill,” which was originally taught ON THE JOB.  You will also observe that the shop time in high school has been seriously cut to allow for more academic classroom time… a good indicator of where we may have gone wrong in our system.  A national standard for academic achievement that has been mandated by most states also indicates a need for rethinking our goals and strategies.  The image of our future craftsmen should be knowledgeable and skillful.  Work smart equals smart work!

Now is the time to ask the hard questions about our image to us and make it work for us and not against us.  I learned my trade after completion of high school and can honestly say I was better prepared for technical training.  I would not have become a teacher had I done it the other way around.  Working in Continuing Education has given me a lot of opportunity to evaluate students’ knowledge and skill in welding.  I still see a need for the academic study that was missed while the students were involved in welding training.  My philosophy in learning is: knowledge first and applied knowledge second.  If you think hard about it, if you learned something new in school and later tried to remember how to do the task and couldn’t remember, then maybe you have never learned it in the first place. 

Keep up the great work at Hobart and you have my full support on this issue of the Image of Welding.