“The logic of the school-mind is that it is better to leave school with a toolkit of superficial jargon derived from economics, sociology, natural science, and so on than with one genuine enthusiasm. But quality education entails learning about something in depth. Confusion is thrust upon kids by too many strange adults, each working alone with only the thinnest relationship with each other, pretending, for the most part, to an expertise they do not posses.
Meaning, not disconnected facts, is what sane human beings seek, and education is a set of codes for processing raw data into meaning” (pg 3).
I was recommended this book by a mother of one of my students. I’m glad I read it, but mainly because I found myself disagreeing with it - vehemently. Which, at times, I like.
I will, however, have to buy her a new book. I forgot it wasn’t mine and wrote too many curse words in the margins.
Here’s a few examples why:
"Good students wait for a teacher to tell them what to do . . . this power to control what children will think lets me separate successful students from failures very easily (pg 7), but bad teachers require this, foster this, and do little about it when it happens. F U John Taylor Gatto.
“Don’t be too quick to vote for radical school reform if you want to continue getting a paycheck” (pg 9), and don’t expect to change the world if your chief concern is getting a paycheck. F U John Taylor Gatto.
“School is a twelve-year jail sentence where bad habits are the only curriculum truly learned. I teach school and win awards doing it. I should know” (pg 19). F U John Taylor Gatto. The fact that you “win awards” and think this way IS the problem - YOU are the problem. F U.
“The truth is schools don’t really teach anything except how to obey orders” (pg 21). F U John Taylor Gatto.
“At the core of this elite system of education is the belief that self-knowledge is the only basis of true knowledge” and that is why it fails. Why anything fails, if it believe self to be the one, true determiner of truth and happiness and purpose. F U John Taylor Gatto.
“I’m confident that as they gain self-knowledge they’ll also become self-teachers - and only self-teaching has any lasting value” (pg 31). Nope. Ever been inspired by someone? Their words? Their life? Their teachings? Nope, never? Interesting.
“I can honestly say I have never once heard an extended conversation about children or about teaching theory in any teachers’ room I’ve been in” (pg 40). The problem isn’t them. It’s you. Because I can honestly say that I have never NOT been in an extended conversation about children or about teaching theory because THAT’S WHAT GOOD TEACHERS DO!!!! F U John Taylor Gatto.
“The United States has become a nation of institutions, whereas it used to be a nation of communities” (pg 56). Seems a bit unfair, and largely untrue. Salem anyone? How was that for a community?
“Parent, for the most part, are lied to or told half-truths, as they are usually considered adversaries. At least that’s been true in every school I ever worked in” (pg 64). Again, the issue is you.
“Perhaps it is time to try something different. ‘Good fences make good neighbors,’ said Robert Frost. The natural solution to learning to live together in a community is first to learn to live apart as individuals and as families. Only when you feel good about yourself can you feel good about others” (pg 71). This IS the problem of education - and our culture at large. IT ISN’T ABOUT YOU!!! We find our purpose and “feel good” not by serving ourselves AND THEN others, but by serving others! Then we find ourselves. F U John Taylor Gatto.
Here are some good ones:
“Sometimes the problem is the problem of mastering solitude” (pg 30). That’s pretty good.
“Aristotle saw, a long time ago, that fully participating in a complex range of human affairs was the only way to become fully human” (pg 47). Good on you, Aristotle. Good on you.
“What’s gotten in the way of education in the United States is a theory of social engineering that says there is one right way to proceed with growing up” (pg 68). Agreed. Whole heartedly. This, to me, points to purpose rather than a system. Change the purpose, change the system. But yes, Mr. Gatto, I agree.
A quote from Christopher Lasch: “The people who think globally do so by abstractly and statistically reducing the globe to quantities . . . If you want to do good and preserving acts you must think and act locally” (pg 80). Perhaps, Mr. Gatto, you should stick to quoting others.
To help compensate, I suggest reading:
End of Education, by Neil Postman
There Are No Short Cuts, by Rafe Esquith
Walking on Water, by Derick Jensen
Teacher Man, by Frank McCourt
These are my kind of teachers.
For more one . . .