Wooden Boatbuilding In Education

Wooden boats and their construction are undoubtedly favorite subjects in school, especially in primary education. Yet a youth looking into his professional prospects does not have the option to study wooden boatbuilding and perhaps choose it as a professional career. Greece is one of the few maritime countries in Europe that does not yet offer this opportunity to its young people.

The art of wooden boatbuilding can be integrated into educational processes for all age groups from the first school grades to the adult education.

Photos of children’s paintings of "boats" from Marathokampos, Samos.

The primary goal for the survival and promotion of wooden boatbuilding is to train young people, especially those who are interested and appreciate the preservation of the craft. That, however, presupposes the re-establishment of the economic and social status of wooden boatbuilding. There need to be permanent and institutionalized forms of apprenticeship, or extended training with valid professional prospects.

Apprenticeship of young people in shipyards of Kalymnos.
Photo: K. Damianidis, 1999