Read Gatto, “Against School,” pp. 141-149 in Rereading America. Turn in a summary of the reading (Journal #1)…
Gatto raises an important question “do we really need school?” and he reveales that answer is no. To support his view he differentiates between being uneducated and being unschooled that a person who hasn’t been in school cannot be identified as…
Cited: John Taylor Gatto. “Against School.” Copyright 2003 by Harper’s magazine. All rights reserved. Reproduced from the September issue by special permission.…
He even states, “…I had more than enough reason to think of our schools – with their long-term, cell-block-styles, forced confinement of both students and teachers – as virtual factories of childishness.” (pg. 115). I happen to agree with Gatto. The way most of America’s public schools are even architecturally built, look like prisons! I believe that if schools are built to be perceived as confining, that they pre-establish in students minds that they are meant to think and do exactly as they are told. This diminishes students’ imagination and creative side, conforming our society. Gatto says mass schooling only has three purposes, to make good people, citizens, and each person their personal best to what the school and government seem fit. I strongly agree with Gatto when he professes, “We could encourage the best qualities of youthfulness – curiosity, adventure, resilience, the capacity for surprising insight – simply by being more flexible…” (pg.…
John Gatto is the last one would expect to be a retired school teacher, as he preaches the flawed ways of the public school system to anyone who will listen. In his 2003 essay, Against School, Gatto interprets six ideas from Alexander Inglis’s Principles of Secondary Education. These concepts were founded on the basis that with a large Prussian influence in American culture, an educational system was founded with the goal of rendering citizens less capable. Gatto witnesses this in the first of Ingis's purposes, titled “the adjustive/adaptive function.” The adjustive function describes how schools are designed to teach students to properly…
The essay by John Gatto is a writing explaining why the author is against the American educational system and he points out its numerous flaws. Gatto’s essay explains that schools are “boring” for both students and teachers because the routine never changes. The schools force the same education down students throats no matter if they will become a nuclear physicist or work in a mobile home factory. The schools attempt to bring the students together by making them alike. The students take these mandatory classes that have nothing to do with what they want to do as they grow older, so the students “get bored”. I must say I tend to agree with Gatto’s thinking in his essay. I do believe that the educational system has its flaws, however, I do believe those flaws are greater in secondary education more than post-secondary education.…
In the article named “Report of the Massachusetts Board of Education” by Horace Mann, the author explains that school is an integral step to prepare for students to be aware of the responsibilities of becoming good citizens. On the other hand, the text “Against Schools” by John Taylor Gatto emphasizes that the role of the school system is not necessary in society since it forces students to go to school and sit around in classes for a certain amount of hours for twelve years, but many students feel useless and bored with the school curriculum. Although Mann makes a good point when he says school is important for student’s future, I must disagree with Mann and agree with Gatto because of my own educational…
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.…
P2: Outline the arrangements for providing quality care for looked after children and young people…
We live in a society that uses grades as a reflection of learning. Grades are supposed to show how well you know a subject, but is that what they really show? In our society it has become more about getting the grade than actually learning the subject. What impact do grades even have on learning? Jerry Farber, a professor at the University of California wrote an article, titled “A Young Person’s Guide,” that discussed grades and the impact, or lack thereof, they have on learning. Farber is correct in saying that our school grading systems are terrible because grades are not an accurate representation of someone's knowledge.…
All throughout my educational career I had never taken the time to reflect on what school really meant to me and if school was made optional would I still attend? After reading the essay “Against School,” by John Taylor Gatto a series of questions began to arise in my head. Is school really that necessary? Is it really the only way for a person to be successful in life? According to John Taylor Gatto schools are nothing but merely “laboratories of experimentation on young minds, drill centers for the habits and attitudes that corporate society demands (38).” After reading Gatto’s essay I must say I agree. The educational school system in the U.S…
In the article “Against School,” Gatto, compares school to the concept of boredom. Of course, almost anyone who has gone to school would obviously agree with that statement; boredom is the common condition to everyone who spends time in school. Gatto also, breaks down the purposes in placing Inglis’ “six basic functions” of school by trying to overemphasize the reason for public education. Yet the truth is that we all go to school to better our selves and our family. We all want one thing in life and that is to live the “dream life.” Just like how Mabry stated in, “living in two worlds” said not to feel guilty because success drives us away from those who we want to help by getting an education. Even though education is power, our social class…
“Against school” is argumentative that tell us about how the public education system in capacitates, Gatto claims that the public education system causes children to become bored with themselves, to conform to the way of the school and it’s teachers, and it causes them to lack the ability to deal with issues that go on the real world, outside of school. Gatto’s explanation for this is that it is partially the teachers fault. The students become bored because the teacher is actually bored with teaching the subject. Students would be adamant to learn if they were given and education and not schooling. They need to be encouraged to have the qualities to succeed in life instead of sitting in a prison style that he believes that the student should be able to manage themselves.…
Growing up I never really liked school, I did okay in all the subjects, but it wasn't my favorite part of the day. All throughout my k-12 education I always questioned why I had to go to school all year except summer, and especially why it had to be so early in the mornings.…
In the article, The Case against Grades, Alfie Kohn talks about how the grading system is deflecting the actual purpose of why students are interested in classes. He speaks on how grades tend to diminish students and create a preference for what a student has to aim for in his or hers course. I myself have experienced this in my academic life.…