Education Essay

In his article “Against School”, John Taylor Gatto criticizes America’s system of schooling children, arguing that the whole system is bad and unfixable. In the majority of the essay Gatto relies on personal anecdotes, historical examples that do not correspond with modern day society, and bold unsubstantiated claims. Due to this, instead of convincing parents to take their children out of school and rethink our societies schooling structure, he just leaves the reader confused over what the problems he’s criticizing truly are.

To prove his point he cites an example with regard to the upbringing of a child at home by the parents and the educational assistance that a child gets from the school. In order to mould a child into a good and responsible citizen the schools teach discipline, respect

Education reformers sought to expand equality by increasing educated people. Not only were poor children able to attend school instead of working in factories, but the deaf, mute, and blind could now be taught. Men such as Thomas Gallaudet and Dr. Howe sought to create new methods for the disabled to read and write. Education for everyone greatly increased the sense of equality among lower class citizens. Document E gives an example of a little boy who is content with what he has since he works hard and goes to school. He doesn’t feel disadvantaged by being poor. Equality improved the moral of many Americans.

In Michael Moore’s “Idiot Nation”, he argues that there is a lack of proper education in the nation, but this high level of “functional illiterates” has nothing to do with awful teachers (although some may be) or lack of motivation from students, but from a dysfunctional education system. Moore claims that the American education system has been neglected by political leaders and corrupted by corporations that schools turn to for aid. This claim may not sit well with many and may even be misinterpreted as rude or an attack, but, after reading his personal anecdotes, the many statistics he brings to light, and how corporations have changed the public school system, his claim is more understandable. With an active tone and the emotion of his own personal anecdotes, Moore’s emotions towards the thesis are emphasized in the passage. Applying the

When people learn that an education can give oneself freedom, power, and knowledge oneself can conquer any problem that comes its way. It is oneself responsibility to take advantage of its free education that I and everyone is given here in the United States. It seems people that are restricted from receiving an education are the ones that are determined to do whatever it takes to get an education so oneself can improve one’s life.

They expect their children to study history and literature, science and mathematics, the arts and foreign languages. They would never tolerate a school that did not have dramatics, art, music, and science laboratories (107), but this type of education is not available for everyone. An education with that kind of curriculum would cost schools in America hundreds of thousands of dollars. In “Class of America”, Mantsios touches on the statistics of the economic spectrum of America from the Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2010, “More than 15 percent of the American population lives below the official poverty line” (380). If 15 percent of the American population is stuck under the poverty line, how will schools from that particular neighborhood go to afford a diverse curriculum or materials for subjective tests?

He talks about how George Washington and Benjamin Franklin accomplish things without the need of education in a school. His point of view in this essay is that he doesn’t think that schools are the best way to educate students. (114-22) Sorting students into levels, groups and roles is a good idea for students as well as for teachers but why do students of a different economic background get a very different type of education? After reading John Taylor Gatto’s essay a series of questions begin to rise in my head.

Reforming education began as a movement during this time to promote a well educated populace. New schools were built and the curriculum was modified with the belief that an educated populace would protect democracy. The quality of education varied from state to state. Limited funding of the education system was apparent in various regions of the US. In the western regions the populace was sparsely spread a part with few urban cities and thus access to schools was limited at best. In the south whites had more access to private schooling,

In the article entitled “Against School,” Joe Ghatto puts up a very convincing argument against the current US education system. Ghatto argues that the system used to administer public education poses more disadvantages rather than advantages to children. Due to its rigidness, children often complain of boredom within the classroom. The majority of the students think that they learn unnecessary things, which they are already aware of. Ghatto also states that the notion that success in life is dependent on schooling is very misguided. A look at the history of the United States reveals that some of the most successful individuals did not undergo a rigid education system. For example, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin

American core values of individualism and equality both have a stake in the education of Americans. This is individualism as in the right to seek out “personal initiative and self-sufficiency,” which is often referred to as our desire to gain economic independence, and for the other, equality, it is stated as “the notion that all individuals are equal in their moral worth and thereby entitled to equal treatment under the law,” (Patterson, 2013, p. 10). This can stand for the equal treatment and opportunities that students should be given in public schools, which would require equal coursework and examinations (Patterson, 2013, p.

The statement stated here is definitely a weak statement as it says that the curriculum for the students of the entire nation should be same until they enter college. Being judged on similar grounds will not be beneficial as stated by the author and my response strongly is against the statement.

The education of the youth is, without much dispute, a highly important issue within the U.S. This nation was founded on equality and opportunity, two beliefs that have seamlessly transitioned into American education, or so it seemed. In these articles by Gregory Mantsios, Jonathan Kozol, and Jean Anyon, the same education Americans claim to hold so high comes under question. These authors provide excellent insight on the negative relationship between social class and education. However, they fail to address an important element that ultimate responsibility falls on the individual for his or her own education, regardless of social class.

should have the right to decide what they learn. The author uses arguments such as, if school is an obligation for

The idea of educational reform is not a new concept in America. In the years following World War Two, the citizens of the United States were not strangers to poverty and low-levels of education as well as gender and racial discrimination in schools. One of the main focuses of the US legislative branch was to provide federal aid to resolve these major issues. In response to these concerns, the US government decided to pass several laws to begin to equalize educational opportunities for all students no matter what their background was. (Office of Education (DHEW),1969).

(p.2), One other purpose of the education reform is the ideology just like what some American educational theorists have done using schooling to construct citizens and the whole country to be God’s country. Ironically, the way used to reform American education was repeated in and again. Once an economic or social problem had discovered, it labeled and tough in a course hopefully to address that problem. For example, sex education, computer literacy, and vocational training.