Driving off the dock. why we need Applied education.
A Disaster by the Ocean
High School was an interesting time for me. In my final year, I was relocated to a remote wooded area on the far west coast of Vancouver Island. Surrounded by some of the most beautiful scenery in the world at the terminal point of one of the most treacherous gravel roads I've ever been on. Situated at the end of a historic inlet there were thousands of years of history - and two sawmills.
While my days were spent at school, my weekend job was working in those sawmills - a common part-time job for many of the kids old enough to work.
One day, I received a call to come into the main yard for the sawmill for some special training. This was highly unusual. My normal shift was overnight maintenance with the welding crew and training was normally done one-on-one and on the job.
As I arrived for this special call-in training, I saw everyone I worked with had also been called in. In the background, next to the ocean at the edge of the dock was a large crane. A massive chain huge from the crane over the ocean, SCUBA gear sat on the dock, and hanging from the chain was a soaking wet forklift.
Someone had driven a forklift off the dock.
Everyone was safe - but the forklift
Fortunately, nobody was hurt. They driver had jumped off the forklift in time and avoided following it into the water. The forklift was intact, but saltwater and diesel engines are not really a good match. The forklift would now need to be completely taken apart, each part cleaned, and rebuilt. Time and money would be involved. As someone that drove one of these forklifts to move metal and power generators around - I had received some basic training - and was glad it wasn't me that drove it off the dock. I can't say that I hadn't had some close calls! (it was a different time).
What does this have to do with training?
This isn't about the training that needed to take place AFTER the incident. It was pretty obvious that this accident was caused by someone driving a forklift that hadn't been trained or had been trained poorly.
This incident highlights a problem that I've often experienced in my career - avoiding the costs of training until disaster strikes. Due to the improper forklift training, the sawmill now:
Lost productivity while the entire operation was shutdown during the retrieval process. You cannot send SCUBA divers into the water when a giant conveyer belt and blade is pulling and cutting thousands of pounds of lumber.
Had a forklift rebuilding expense (not cheap)
Had an incident investigation expense and safety record violation.
... and, most likely even more direct costs related to the incident.
Not only that, but the training on how to drive a forklift still had to take place and that is why everyone was called in to do so. Often as an additional last-minute shift at an extended rate of pay.
why we need training both on the job and before the job
Between formal training (school) and on the job training (performance training) there is the possibility that a gap may exist. The transition to a specific workplace and how to work within that workplace is an area that I do believe requires some attention.
For many people completing their school-based training, they may find themselves starting a new job and asking themselves "what do I do now?"
Here is a somewhat simplistic overview of this process.
Isn't the Transition from School to Work just... Orientation?
Sort of.
However, at the pace that the workplace needs skills to be used towards productive output - I'm wondering how often or how structured this transition is?
There are several factors that I think contribute to potential failures in this transition:
Cost - which through my forklift scenario always has the potential to be delayed rather than avoided
Time - how much time are companies willing to invest in transitioning staff that they needed yesterday to be productive tomorrow? Immediate results are desired.
Risk - if you expense time and money to make a new grad productive - will they stay long enough for that investment to have been worth it?
More than one possible solution
I think that enlightened, learning organizations that have strong plans to transition new hires into their company are the ideal solution to these issues.
Except - that may be naive and/or only part of the solution.
I think the answer lies in the middle. We do need companies to recognize the need for a supportive transition period, but we should not forget the other side of the diagram: the Education System.
Education isn't about information - its about application of skills to solve realistic problems.
Or, at least I think it should be.
When we think of 21st Century Skills and the Educational Systems to support their development, it's important to give strong consideration on how we allow those skills to be applied. The term "Applied Education" is used, but it is understood?
Harvard Business Case methodologies always come to mind when I think of this in practice, but what about areas outside of business? Surprise! - it's ALL about business! - or, at least organizations.
No matter what we teach, I believe all activities surrounding the learning must be contextualized. We need to not only "cross "t"'s and dot "i"'s - but ask the "Why's".
Any moderately well-designed prompt for ChatGPT (or the AI of choice) can yield a course outline for a typical subject area. See below for an example of a prompt that could be used to create a pretty good course outline very quickly. Copy and paste it into any AI tool to see the results for yourself.
sample ChatGPT Prompt to create a course on SQL Server:
I would like your help to design an outline for a 90-hour course on Database Management. The course will focus on Microsoft SQL Server and Relational Databases. I want students to learn not only the concepts of database design, but also management of Microsoft SQL Server and the use of T-SQL as a language to query the databases. I would also like to have some modules on how data can be used to make business decisions. This course outline should be 15 modules in length with one to three objectives for each module and 5-8 outcomes that support each objective. Is this something you can do?
Away from school as "information exchange" and into "applied learning"
There is a case to be made for some simple courses and what I would call "awareness" learning - building the soil for the real growth ahead - but I think schools cannot ignore their role in preparing learners for the transition between School and Work.
This means, to my mind, that all information presented to students, and all activities demonstrating their knowledge, must have a component of application in a simulated environment - or, even more ideally as part of an actual partnered workplace.
Watch out for the end of the dock!
If more attention had been given to preparing people at the sawmill to learn to drive forklifts prior to driving one - maybe the cost, expense, and risks would have been mitigated.
Schools and workplaces must partner to move beyond information exchange (what is a forklift? what are the parts of a forklift?) towards the practical application of using the information to execute workplace tasks (how to drive the forklift in advance). More opportunities in School and during the transition into work will be key to success of any organization. I do believe this is possible through design and application - not just information exchange and task management.
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