Eric --
Thanks for elaborating; I think I understand better now.
At the end of my paper there is a table, Appendix 2, that lists
individual applicants to apprenticeship programs and what had happened
to them since they graduated from the Building Bridges math class. The
information is rally brief: for example,
Carpentry Was in apprenticeship
school dropped out
missed over 24 hours -
was let go for poor
attendance. "Once you
start school it's 12
weeks without pay. It's
gotta be someone that
don't need no income."
It is brief for two reasons. ONe, it is really hard to catch up with
these guys by phone. The people who were doing the actual interviews
were two interns (they're listed on the title page) from the Interfaith
Committee and a lot of their time was spent just trying to make the
connection. Second, when they did finally connect with one of the
graduates, they were asking "What happened?" and "What were the
problems?" (I should go get the actual list of questions from my office
-- I don't have them here at home, and I guess they should be part of
the paper, shouldn't they?) Anyway, the focus was on what the obstacles
were, not on what the choices or resources were that led to succcess.
I think you're asking what the actions were that someone took that would
have led to positive change -- what could an individual do, in other
words, to get over or around some of these obstacles?
This is a good point. I'll try to figure out how to work it into the
next phase. For this phase, we wanted a snapshot of what had happened to
these people (graduates of the first two cycles of BB) in the months
immediately after they graduated. We wanted to be able to do a reality
check and say, "Yes, there ARE some serious obstacles to success that
aren't just the fault of the individual -- if you set up an application
system that invovles x, y and z, you've got to expect that a lot of
people will fall by the wayside." We can use this information for
teaching future classes, for showing apprenticeship programs something
about the people who never make it, and for funders who are turning us
down because of our low placement rates. But you're right, we also need
to know what kinds of things an individual can do to get over these
obstacles.
The apprenticeship application process can take months or even years. If
the construction industry slows down (which is what is happening) then
journeymen get laid off and can't find work, and the apprenticeship
programs slow down their acceptances or even stop putting on classes.
Unlike other kinds of training, they don't just produce skilled workers
if there are no jobs downstream. This means that the "pipeline" is going
to be out there for a whie. So our snapshot in April 2002 is just one in
what I hope is a series, as we try to follow these people. In our next
set of interviews, I will also ask "What worked?" or "How did you try
to get around that one?" when someone tells me what an obstacle looked
like.
Did I catch your meaning here?
Thanks -- Helena
MnFamilyMan@aol.com wrote:
> Helena;
>
> Humor me please as I try to explain how I am thinking about this topic
> of assumptions and explanatory processes. At the systemic level it is
> possible to 'group' people together into economical patterns, or
> ethnic patterns, or size of feet patterns. Yet, when numbers are
> counted the assumptions from this grouping may differ from assumptions
> we make when we view an individual's case. I agree that analyzing
> things on a systemic level is necessary but when discussion turn to
> individual successes these same assumptions cannot be claimed.
>
> Pointing out how systems interact is extremely important for
> explaining the need for and poosible paths of future collaborative
> efforts among the systems involved. However, when pointing to the
> number of participants who entered into apprenticeship programs it
> would be very helpful for me to know precisely what an individual
> actively participated in that lead to success. For example did a
> successful participant allow someone to give them rides to class or
> call them for reminders of dates and times? For example, when I read
> about the work being done in fifth dimension activities I appreciate
> the precise dialogue that occurs so that I may grasp how an individual
> came to exhibit novel behavior. In the long run it is this novel
> behavior [becoming an apprentice] that this project is promoting,
> correct?
>
> So in closing, I believe it is extremely important to provide the
> system study but as a practitioner I need an analysis of specific
> behaviors in order to assist me in replicating success.
>
> make sense,
> eric
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