Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Randy Macey on September 20, 2007 at 4:22pm

That was good, like that very much.... I was a kid and was watching my father who was a TV repair man.
This college kid came in and said he was looking for a job and just finished Electronics. My father said ok,
well here is a tv and it's not working. Can you tell me what's wrong with it? Well the college guy looked at the
tv and then looked up at the shelf where the manuals are for the tv's. As he was reaching for the manual, my father put his hand on the college kid's shoulder and stated that not all answers are in the book. Next time
try looking at the tv, it was unplugged and my dad had already fixed it.

But I do agree that one needs education, as well as experience. As a Trainer, I see those who have taken the pre-service college course and feel that they know it all. Where as experience you know what works and what does not work. Some of the Fire Departments have found when hiring College or University level that they are very book smart. But do not have problem solving skills if they have not learned it out of a book.

But by far your comments I will not forget... That was great... Thanks....

Permalink Reply by Randy Macey on September 22, 2007 at 8:11am

Agree, your right.... And it all depends who your trainer is... Class room can feel like a life time if not kept interesting. As well there are a lot of boaring subjects that must be completed in class room. Most people I find learn more on hands-on than to sit through either a power point or reading a book.

Permalink Reply by Rob Young on August 5, 2008 at 9:49am

Everyone learns differently. But I agree that a combination of education and experience are important, especially when we are talking about safety. You need to be educated about safety first, it's not really something you want to learn from scratch out in the field.

I think all training should involve a combination, and there are few subjects that don't lend themselves well to some sort of interactive exercise whether it's in the field, or table top scenarios.