When it comes to the traditional education, John Taylor Gatto’s “Against School” questions whether we really need the nine month, drawn out, traditional curriculum. Gatto goes on to name several successful people through history that were not products of a contemporary school system. When I think of Gatto’s theory of forced schooling, a friend of mine named John Smith who goes by the alias of Viper comes to mind. Viper is in his late 20’s, lives in South Philadelphia, and has worked as a Roofer for the past 10 years.…
The article I will be discussing about in this this analysis is one from John Taylor Gatto titled “Against School”. In this analysis, I will be talking about many of the different aspects seen in this piece of writing. I will be mentioning how Mr. Gatto has experienced the “modern day” school system, how he views the system and finally how he comes to thought with what he has experienced. John T. Gatto had an occupation of working as a school teacher. He mentions how he worked, he described it as working in “some of the worst schools in Manhattan, and some of the best”.…
The author of “Against School” John Taylor Gatto believes that during his long career in public schools he didn’t realise that schools are playing any major role in modification of “raw” children except making them childish adults. And the key problem behind the outcome is boredom, it occurs because scholars feel confined in 12 years of “imprisonment”. Gatto thinks that schools can increase the chances of success for their students if they let them make own decisions and take risks when necessary.…
Fake and gay. Most people would have the same sentiment about the primary and secondary school systems in America. While the argument against the public school system is often presented to the masses in segmented bits and pieces, John Taylor Gatto attacks the meat of the issue in his essay, “Against School.” A retired teacher of thirty years, he engages readers in a conversational dialogue and outlines the ways the educational system fails to address the age-old question: how do I reach these kids? It turns out that the solution is not to try to reach these kids, but to make these kids reach for the knowledge themselves. By differentiating between the definitions of…
In the essay, Against School, John Taylor Gatto, expresses his strong belief in middle diction of how students in the typical public schooling system are conformed to low-standard education in order to benefit the society much more than the student themselves; causing schooling to be unnecessary as opposed to education . He believes that children and teachers are caught in extreme boredom as a result of repeated material. This boredom also causes a lack of maturity and independence in the students. Gatto wrote this essay in 2003 which appeared in Harper’s magazine. He gathered these observations during his 30 years of teaching in the best and worst schools of New York City. In 1991, he was named the New York City Teacher of the Year and later on New York State Teacher of the Year. He has written many publications on his experience with being an educator including Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling (1992) and The Underground History of American Education (2001). This essay was most likely written to inform any American reader (student, parent, and teacher) of the reality of our modern schooling, based on Gatto’s use of modes of development and formal diction.…
In the essay “Against School” the author John Taylor, Gatto claims boredom has made a big impact in schooling systems all around the United States not only in Manhattan, New York. Gatto believes that boredom affects the capability of ones education and also states that boredom is a common condition not only in students but also in schoolteachers. Gatto is against schools all together, saying that our school system is to blame, a school system not designed by the United States but adapted from the Prussian culture.…
In the story “Against school: How public education cripples our kids, and why” the author, John Taylor Gatto, establishes the idea of how public education can lead to a negative impact on students. School train kids, “[to become] employees and consumers…” (Gatto 231) instead of teaching kids how to deal with certain situations that my come across in life. The story was directed to parents with kids in elementary school.…
These functions make up the fundation of John Gatto’s argument against compulsory education. Gatto is of the opinion that “genius is as common as dirt,” but our schools stifle that genius until it slowly fades…
Many people of all ages have different views on education. In the following essay I will compare two authors’ ideas on the educational system in America. I will share my thoughts from the essays titled “Against School” by John Gatto and “I Just Wanna Be Average” by Mike Rose and how they relate to my experiences and schools today.…
As a teacher of 30 years, John Gatto had a first hand experience with the cruelty of standardized testing and the curriculum derived around it. What Gatto found was that teachers and students agreed on being bored, but blamed one another for the boredom. Students claimed the teachers were not interested in the subject nor knew much about the subject. Teachers claimed the students to be rude and uninterested. Both sides are a products of the 12 year school program’s conditioning creating an endless factory of childishness. Gatto states instead of creating a prison-like environment for students and teachers alike, we should encourage the best qualities of being young by being more [flexible] with time and tests. Thus creating more competent adults.…
John Gatto’s “Against School” is a persuasive essay arguing both the ineffectiveness and negative outcomes of today’s public school system. Not only does Gatto provide credibility with his experience as a teacher, but he also presents historical evidence that suggests that the public school system is an outdated structure, originally meant to dumb down students as well as program them to be obedient pawns in society. Fact and authority alone do not supplement his argument. Gatto also uses emotional appeals, such as fear and doubt, to tear down the reader’s trust in the schooling system. Although it may seem to be so, Gatto’s argument is not one sided. He also offers suggestions to make the educational system more efficient at the hands of positive reinforcement and the employment of more motivated teachers. Through the effective application of ethos, logos, and pathos, John Gatto provides a well-rounded argument against the public school system that would cause any reader to question the goals of modern schooling.…
The biggest addiction that is forced upon the youth is school. In the article “Against School” by John Taylor Gatto, states the unimportance of schools and that school should be avoided. As Gatto talks about his personal experience and the concept of schooling is an absolute boredom persuades me to agree on this fact. The idea that students have to attend school without having interest to the students makes it really boring. Students learning in schools must be interested in the subjects.…
Gatto emphasizes his view on why students and teachers are bored in school. He says they are bored because students are being taught the information they already know, while the teachers are bored and disappointed because the students only want just good grades and not learn anything.Everything that the teachers and students did, he felt it was repetitive. For example, if you are a student, you have to go to lunch at the same time every day and recite the same information over and over again, it can be boring. The teachers had to go over the same ideas and concepts every year. Plus some teachers were not interested in the student well being. For a student to be engage in class, the teacher must show some kind of interest in the class. My own…
Is his article “Against School” John Taylor Gatto argues that the current education system is turning people not only into servants and consumers but also childish empty beings who learn to accept things blindly, he states that the idea of compulsory schooling must be forgotten and students should be able to learn things on their own. And while many may disagree with his claims, saying that they are the childish rants of a man who knows nothing of the modern education systems, and that children do not possess the ability to “manage themselves” due to the many distractions of the modern world, it does not make his claims ring any less true, because while compulsory education is ,in some cases, the only education a child can receive, it…
School is a place where the youth of America goes to become educated to achieve their potential, and to further their knowledge of life. People often criticize our school system by saying it’s a place where kids learn to be “book smart” and not “street smart.” Others say that students need to spend more time outside of the classroom to gain further knowledge about the world. These two ideas about education are the main ideas that that authors John Gatto, and Dave Eggers have. John Gatto, a teacher in the Manhattan school system for thirty years wrote, “Against School: How Public Education Cripples Our Kids, and Why.” Gatto claims to have taught in some of the worst conditions, and some of the best. Teacher of the year in New York for multiple years, Gatto claims to have seen it all. Just like Gatto, Eggers sees that the school system should be run in a different way. Eggers, the author of, “Serve or fail” developed a successful nonprofit organization that helps teach kids necessary writing skills. He sees that volunteer work plays an important role in growing up. He argues that it should be mandatory to do volunteer work while in college and that it will make students become better people. Both authors have their own different view on how they think the school systems should work. Both have strong views about why the school systems need to change. From students having too much spare time on their hands to boring classrooms, it’s the way we incorporate different learning environments that will make us be successful in our everyday life.…