Attention Opticians: Please stop blaming organizations for our failings.

[Wes]

I have said the following in another thread:

"the problem is NOT the ABO, it is the general ability of opticians. The ABO as a Certifying Agency must meet the standards of the National Commission for Certifying Agencies. The exams must be professionally rendered, and evaluated based on the skillset and knowledge of the profession. If too many people fail, the test is called into question. However, I call opticians' poor educational background into question and blame that for the continual "dumbing down" of the test. Honestly, by calling the organization into question, you demonstrate that you do not understand how professional testing is done and evaluated.'
AND
"The test is weak, and that's a reflection on those taking it, not the organization. As a certifying body, they must make the certifying exam reflect the general competency level of those in the profession. When I/we say the NOCE is a "Mickey mouse" exam, we have to realize that's because we are populated with "Mickey mouse" opticians.
If the NOCE had a pass rate of 5% like the Advanced NOCE (which is a much better benchmark for what an optician should be), the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA) would be all over the ABO. The ABO is not the problem. Opticians are."
-to have it completely ignored and the "Blame the organizations" start right back up.

Let me clarify. When I say "opticians" or "we" or "you", I mean as a collective. The handful of exceptions are not enough to have made a difference, obviously.

Optometrists (and the other EDUCATED professions) realized the value of a comprehensive education. There was a large financial incentive in it. A comprehensive education across a field gives that profession the ability to regulate itself.
Opticianry has no such education. We think we know and understand things we do not. We don't know what we dont know, and when a couple who do come along and try to inform us, we poo-poo them away, saying "they're so arrogant, they think they know better than us". THEY DO. Opticians do not understand statistics or psychometrics. Opticians are not broadly educated enough to successfully regulate their own profession. This should be obvious to anyone working as an optician.

Look at Americans today. Ignorant, lazy, and entitled. Uneducated, uninformed, unskilled and unemployed. We're hemmoraging jobs because we are ignorant and easily taken advantage of by those smarter and more educated. We are not comfortable with these truths about ourselves, and we will brook no politician who tells the truth. We want to be mollycoddled, and told we are all winners. When we were attacked in 1941, FDR asked everyone to commit to the war effort. When we were attacked in 2001, Bush asked us to go shopping. Opticians have much in common with the average American, while the educated professionals do not. The OMDs The ODs, and the retailers have been smarter and more educated, and they have taken advantage. Do you blame them? We were an easy mark.

Do NOT blame the ABO, who necessarily MUST create a standard exam that reflects you, optician. Do NOT blame the OAA, who you will not join or support when it calls for you to do so. If you wish to blame anyone, look in the mirror. Blame yourself, optician, for being too uneducated to understand how a profession must be managed. Blame yourself, optician, for wanting the easy route of apprenticeship, and allowing it for others. Blame yourself, optician, for allowing your leadership to get away with the "go shopping" equivalent for your profession, instead of demanding "contribute to the war effort".

I offered to pay for the Advanced exam for anyone in my workplace who could pass it. Why? Arogance? No. Because I felt that anyone who learned enough to pass would inherently be an ally, because they would have elevated themselves out of ignorance. I can not communicate "optics" with those who are ignorant of the basics and unwilling to learn. In the same way, Warren McDonald and Roy Ferguson have been unable to communicate the need for a professional education to people who don't have or want one. We can't run this profesion, because we don't have a common understanding of what it takes to do so. We think we do. We are wrong.

I suspect most of the following commentary will prove me right, yet the commenters themselves will not realize how well they prove my points. Let the flaming begin...