Articles like this never come as a surprise to a Gatto fan: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Taylor_Gatto https://archive.org/details/WeaponsOfMassInstruction https://archive.org/details/DumbingUsDown-TheHiddenAgendaOfC...
But is there any evidence that such ideas are actually influential in today's schools? I'll bet that most teachers, if shown your quote, would retch. I assume you have read John Taylor Gatto's works before. In particular, you might be interested in his most recent: Weapons of Mass Instruction. I don't know how exactly you would gauge their influence. It's certainly much more prevalent in certain countries (the USA and the major Western European forces, where the idea of modern compulsory schooling originated in the first place: Prussia), compared to say, Eastern European countries. The…
In one of John Taylor Gatto's books he brings up that Ivy League schools base part of their admissions process on the attractiveness of the applicant because they want to project a certain image. I'm not sure if this is true or not, and I can't find a citation, but it was in Weapons of Mass Instruction [1] I believe, but possibly Dumbing Us Down [2]. It was in his letter to his niece at the end of Weapons, if I recall correctly. I have also been told by a friend that is going to graduate school to an Ivy that it was part of the admissions process, though I'm not sure how she knew this (I…
John Taylor Gatto talks about this particular phenomena in his book "Weapons of Mass Instruction". Just looking at the way our school systems treats teens is enough to come to a full understanding of why teens develop so slowly. Most teens have no responsibility or any need for a real worry in their lives (beyond just living up to some societal expectations). Without actually being challenged as a complete human being (rather than just mentally in some small part of your brain), why would the brain need to develop? I believe the most detrimental part is the fact that teens themselves…
"I already read The Underground History of American Education. Is it worth reading Weapons of Mass Instruction too?" No. Weapons of Mass Instruction is basically just excerpts from Underground History. I think there are a few new things, but mostly what happened is that the publisher for Underground History backed out once they read the book, which left Gatto allowed to self publish it himself but unable to find another publishing deal. So Weapons of Mass instruction was basically just him going out and repackaging Underground History and publishing the best of it.
If you ever get the chance to read Weapons of Mass Instruction by John Taylor Gatto I highly suggest it, it's very eye opening as to the origins and reasons for mandatory schooling. Also when reading John Taylor Gatto, please ensure you do not conflate schooling with education. You'll not like him very much if you conflate the two. Unless you really are against education, in that case please reply :)
I already read The Underground History of American Education. Is it worth reading Weapons of Mass Instruction too? Not that it greatly matters, of course, since there is absolutely nothing I can do about it as I have already decided not to have kids.
It does not blow my mind. Not one bit. I've posted various comments before where I detailed the fallacies and fundamental issues (some deliberately implanted from the beginning, others mutating later on) with the compulsory schooling system and how the classroom model is ineffectual. Remember: education != schooling. Never forget that. This is one of the most common misconceptions of our time. What does blows my mind is just how thoroughly the masses have accepted public school curricula as the only true and legitimate form of education. People like you blow my mind. I don't mean to be…
For more detail on the background of factory education and the reason for it, and a bit more details on alternatives, check out John Taylor Gatto's works. He's a former NY state educator of the year who came to realize that school as we know it is bad for people. Transcript of one interview: http://www.ttfuture.org/files/2/pdf/gotto_interview.pdf mp3 of another interview: http://jari.podbean.com/mf/web/ja8dm2/LivingHero19--JohnGatt... He also has a couple books in particular "Dumbing Us Down" and "Weapons of Mass Instruction".
Interesting. Would you say that this book argues similar things that John Taylor Gatto's books do (ie. Weapons of Mass Instruction, Dumbing Us Down)?