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V**R
What an awesome book!
My mom bought this book for me a couple years ago. I finally pulled it out of a box and remembered I had it! If only I had read it sooner! Then I would have known sooner that I'm NOT crazy! While it is true that Gatto spends some time speaking of His credentials and those of His colleagues, I believe that is one thing that helps give this book a better standing. He has seen it from inside the "zoo." I can also see how some of what He says may also apply to private schools as well as public. I grew up going to a private school and although it was not a bad school, it certainly had it's share of bullies and poor teachers. I remember ONE teacher that really made a POSITIVE difference to me. My first teacher was lousy. I can remember her lying to my parents about how well I was doing in math. I still struggle with math since I did not have a good foundation. Now, fast forward several years and I'm grown up. My husband and I have two children. I am on the school board of that same private school and my kids went to it for one year. Although it is much larger now. I believe the quality of the school and the teachers at this time are great. Although, the year that my kids were in it really frustrated me. My son was on the honor roll for much of that time. My daughter wanted to spend her time socializing INSTEAD of working. My sons teacher at the time stated that He was struggling with math and it was suggested that I put Him in a "special" math class this year. My son had been getting almost all A's! Don't get me wrong-I really love the people at the school and it is true they all have Masters degrees and credentials. I only have a GED and a few college credits. Many of their arguments to get me to keep the kids in- helped cement the plan to keep them out. Our kids don't need to be in school for 7 hours and another 2 hours doing homework. Now, I am homeschooling our children again. Our son and daughter are doing very well. They can get more work done at home in the morning then they did all day at school. WE get to pick and choose their curriculum AND extracurricular activities. We choose the hours they work best. Busy boy and girl can take bathroom breaks when they need to and low blood sugar isn't a problem with the kitchen close by. Both of our children socialize several times a week at their art, sewing and gymnastic classes and on the weekend they enjoy church and enjoy church socials. All of these keep them plenty busy. Math and English etc they do well in. Reading? They read books that many high schoolers have a hard time reading! We skipped preschool. It wasn't necessary. Many people have told me how they enjoy being around them-our kids have not suffered. They are excelling! So if anyone else out there chooses to homeschool and is concerned you can do it- YES YOU CAN! Schools are NOT necessary for a good education. Credentials or not, you can do it! Allow your children to have an education AND a childhood! Love this book!
S**C
Embrace that which defines you!
Thirty years of John Taylor Gatto's life has been spent inside the corrupted school system and in his experiences, he has shown a new light on how society and education really impact a child. "Dumbing Us Down" gives a perspective through the eyes of an educator and his experience in the system. Gatto introduces the reader to seven different lessons, that are pertinent to the everyday schoolteacher. He discusses: confusion, class position, indifference, emotional dependency, intellectual dependency, provisional self-esteem, and one can't hide.One of the most important aspects of educating a child is creating meaning, Gatto points out how students seem to be trained in a specific way, in order to move forward to the next step. "Meaning, not disconnected facts, is what sane human beings seek, and education is a set of codes for processing raw date into meaning" (Gatto, 2002, p.3). Gatto discusses the idea of creating, not necessarily a complete understanding for purpose, but rather establishing an acceptance of the confusion and meaning behind the school curriculum. He believes that in order to create purpose and meaning, students must accept their confusion. "I teach the un-relating of everything, an infinite fragmentation the opposite of cohesion; what I do is more related to television programming than to making a scheme of order" (Gatto, 2002, p.4). He points out that school curriculum encourages structure and regimentation, which places students in a pre-determined role within society. Gatto promotes his ideals of teaching, which follows the responsibility of all educators of establishing a connection between emotional and intellectual dependency.Gatto discusses that school curriculum has no valuable objectives or purposes, but to press forward. He believes there is little purpose behind the "content" which is taught to students. "Originality and variety were common currency; our freedom from regimentation made us the miracle of the world; social-class boundaries were relatively easy to cross; our citizenry was marvelously confident, incentive, and able to much for themselves independently, and to think for themselves" (Gatto, 2002, p. 11). Gatto discusses the idea of free-thought for students in school. The school system has become an orderly and specified regimented organization for students to absorb information, relay on a test and move forward to the next level. Gatto believes there is little independency or individualism. The students are not given an opportunity to be different, to embrace that which defines them, instead they are told one way to think and how to arrive at that thought, in their way. According to Gatto, "School, as it was built, is an essential support system for a model of social engineering that condemns most people to be subordinate stones in a pyramid that narrows as it ascends to a terminal of control" (2002, p. 13). Gatto compares the school system to a pyramid and the students are expected to work together in a specified system to be up this pyramid, also known as the economy and to live by societal expectations. Interestingly enough Gatto has agreeable ideals of the school system, as what seems to be a "factory." Students do not seek purpose or value behind their education because they are following a certain curriculum which doesn't allow a lot of flexibility. Students are not given opportunities to embrace and interact with the world around them within the school system. It is essential that schools incorporate past connections in order to create an educational environment for which students can learn from the past and make an effort to avoid the same conflicts and work towards a progressive future.So where do we go from here? How can we change the education system? Gatto believes that the system is based on a lot of corrupted ideals which consist of socioeconomic progression and conformity into society. He discusses progressing through the school system as a "talk show," "We are a land of talkers; we pay talkers the most and admire talkers the most and so our children talk constantly, following the public models of television and schoolteachers. It is very difficult to teach the "basics" anymore because they really aren't basics to the society we've made" (Gatto, 2002, p.24). Gatto makes a point has become a competition on talking. Teachers grade students based on social skills rather than other aspects. Teachers make an assumption: the less you talk, the less you know, this is not true. Intelligence and value in a classroom is based on the outspoken, rather than what can be said on paper. In a factory line, if just go along and never make a sound, you will not be noticed, regardless of your skills, but if you make a lot of noise and draw attention to yourself, you will be favored. Gatto reveals to the reader, the "psychopathic school," with which students are just pushed forward through grades, beyond their individual abilities and strengths. Students are no longer individuals. They are indifferent, rather than curious; they have a poor sense of the future and treat each other harshly. Students have very little opinion, according to Gatto, he taught classrooms full of what to be passive drones.Gatto believes that the modern student lacks value and purpose; the student is not encouraged to be different. Gatto proposes that students are provided with a unique environment to grow and become progressive individuals. He discusses targeting the government and educational system; he believes that teachers and parents should embrace individuality. According to Gatto, "Lives can be controlled by machine education, but they will always fight back with weapons of social pathology: drugs, violence, self-destruction, indifference, and the symptoms I see in the children I teach" (2002, p.30). Regardless of societal standards, human beings are still unique individuals and no school curriculum can subdue that originality.
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