CHANGING CURRICULUMS: FROM MANUAL ARTS TO INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY; 'SHOP' CLASS COMES FULL CIRCLE (LAST OF FOUR PARTS)

A self-contained Tick Tack Toe block was one of the shop projects students made at R. O. Hawkins Junior High School.

JACKSON -- Industrial technology teacher David Willer uses the same table saw, jointer and drill press to teach students at R.O. Hawkins Junior High he used in the school as a student more than 20 years ago.

While some of the equipment may have remained the same, the course has seen an array of changes over the years. Students continue to make the lamps, benches and other building projects made by students decades ago. However, today's students also can choose to study such technologically advanced classes as flight training, robotics, animation and laser application.

"There's been some thinking that technology would replace traditional industrial arts programs, but it's starting to swing back this way," Willer said. "Things are changing very quickly."

Industrial technology classes also have undergone numerous name changes over the years. The first program, called manual arts, was developed in the late 1800s at Washington University in St. Louis. It became the national model for the curriculum, which developed at the same time as the nation became industrialized.

Later, the program became known as industrial arts, and currently is referred to as industrial technology. In some regions, the term "industrial" is completely left out and the curriculum is called technological education.

Willer said the name changes are reflective of the changes in curriculum.

"What needs to be taught is changing so fast that what we need to teach is being reviewed yearly," he said.

Willer teaches from a modular curriculum that incorporates 10 different subjects, blending traditional courses with new areas. The modular approach to teaching keeps equipment and textbook costs down while enabling students to have a broad range of study.

"It's like having 10 different classrooms in one," Willer said. "It's an attempt to teach everything we need to teach with the resources we have."

The type of students who enroll in industrial technology classes depends on their age and level of interest. Willer's junior high school student handbook mandated "boys take shop, girls take home economics," but nowadays, girls are just as likely to gain industrial skills as boys.

"I like this kind of stuff. Home Ec. is a girlie class," said Alexsa Clinton, an eighth-grader.

Classmate Rachael Rice agreed.

"I was a tomboy growing up and didn't want to learn that kind of stuff," she said of home economics coursework. "I like to do this."

Ashley Alexander has taken both home economics and industrial technology courses. She enjoyed both experiences and said she enrolled in them just to figure out what she likes.

Willer said Alexander's attitude is typical of junior high school students.

"In junior high we have a good cross section of students," he said. "By the time they're in high school, those students who take it usually have a strong interest in the area."