John Gatto Against School

America used to thrive on its education system and that is why it became one of the greatest nations in the world. Education is the backbone of our country, and we must give high priority to improve its current condition. Unfortunately, in the past couple of decades, the education system has been regressing. It has been on the decline and not as effective. The quality of education in a country has an influence on GDP growth, social cohesion and social well being in general. In order to improve the quality of education in the U.S., the following must be taken into consideration: the structure of our education system must be reanalyzed, we must compare and contrast our education system to systems of other countries with higher rankings, and finally, there must be a solution.

When the definition of education is looked up in the dictionary it comes out as “a degree, level, or kind of schooling”. While attending a university or obtaining a degree is largely viewed as being educated, there are many other ways to become educated rather than a degree with your name on it. Gerald Graff, and Mike Rose show their personal experience of being educated without a degree. Being educated is different for everybody, and regardless it’s the person’s personal experiences and lessons that lead them to thrive for an education in their own unique fashion. Mike Rose, professor at the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, comes from a family of blue-collar workers.

In the article “Against School” by John Taylor Gatto, the author uses multiple rhetorical strategies in order to persuade the reader to agree that there is a serious problem with the public schooling system. Throughout the article he is able to appeal to the reader through his own personal stories and experiences that he had during his 30 years of teaching in schools throughout New York City. He points out major flaws in the public education, including how the purpose is not to educate; but instead make obedient citizens and to make all students equal. Gatto’s personal experiences and seemingly expert knowledge on the school system sets up the reader to be susceptible to his rhetorical strategies.

In John Taylor Gatto’s “Against School”, the core purpose of modern public schooling is examined and criticized. Gatto exclaims that the mandatory schooling of children for twelve years of their youth promotes strict obedience to authority and encourages social conformity. I do agree that schooling in general holds obedience as an essential principle, but in today’s public schools, there is a push for uniqueness, individuality, and creativity. The individualistic aspect can be seen in the encouragement of extracurricular activities, sports, the arts and much more. Gatto’s essay is somewhat dated, being published in 2001 in Harper’s magazine, where social and financial success was almost entirely submerged in academia.

The American education system has, since its inception, been subject to ridicule and disdain on the parts of many. Despite the fact that many scholars believe that the system has flaws, there has been no consensus as to what needs to be changed. Sam Chaltain, the previous National Director of the Forum for Education and Democracy and now an active participant in educational reform debates, argues that the system should shift its focus on standardization away from students and instead to teachers and schools. Nikhil Goyal, author of Schools on Trial: How Freedom and Creativity Can Fix Our Educational Malpractice, holds that we should do away with standardization altogether, giving children the opportunity to accomplish what they want with their education and allow them to flourish in a less stifling environment. Peter Gow, the author of a multitude of books about potential changes in school policy, focuses on fourth grade specifically, suggesting that a year in elementary school focused solely on cultivating reading skills would greatly benefit students in the future. Although this is a radical stance, Gow’s point remains valid; teaching

Education is one thing that everyone in life receives one way or another, whether it be formally or informally. In Tara Westover’s Educated, the topic of education has a huge influence on the life of Tara and her family. Education is the process of enlightening a person on a certain subject. Tara specifically had been educated informally and formally during different points of her life. In our society today, formal education is widely practiced and given the spotlight, while informal education is given a cold shoulder.

Every year in the United States there are many high schools students that do not graduate and receive a degree. The United States curriculum for students in public education has slowly declined, and continues to do so. Students are required to learn information that is confusing, useless, and boring. They are also learning how to be accepted into society, independence, and stepping beyond only thinking about themselves. John Taylor Gatto is a speaker, consultant, writer, and a retired teacher of twenty-six years who studies and analyzes students and their learning abilities and learning environment. One of Gatto’s more popular essay on these issues is “Against School”. During his twenty-six years as an educator, Gatto watched and witnessed the decline of a public school education and the issues that caused it. This brought him to write informative and argumentative essays about public schools and the level of education. Gatto uses rhetoric in his essay “Against School” to give the audience a visual idea of the struggles students and educators face. Gatto uses his writing to question the public school education and to demand a change from students, educators, and public school officials. Gatto proposes that anyone can make a difference in the way in which public school education is being taught and the responsibilities that come from and fall on the students and educators. In “Against

Let’s do away with the school system. In “Against school, John Taylor Gatto says, “They said the work was stupid, that it made no sense, that they already knew it. They said that they wanted to be doing something real, not just sitting around” (Gatto 608). Gatto uses his article “Against School” to talk about how the school system is not necessary. He uses certain rhetorical strategies and personal experiences to do so. In “Against School”, John Taylor Gatto uses his personal experience in his thirty years of working in the school system and some rhetorical strategies to convince people who have children in the public-school system that kids do not need to be put in the system to have an education.

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

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.

In the attempt to persuade his readers in “Against School: How public education cripples our kids, and why”, John Gatto relied on his passion for education to express his thoughts. Having a bad experience as a teacher in our current school system, he believes that our system isn’t what it should be. He believes that our kids aren’t being educated. With the use of frequent rhetorical questions, personal experiences, and an appeal to ethos using other respectable men’s work, Gatto clarified his points about our schools in the America.

What does education really mean? Experts believe that education is “the process of receiving or giving systematic instruction, especially at a school or university.” In other words, this is saying that education is when you receive information only from a fixed plan and this has a higher chance of getting received from a public school or university. I do not believe this is a great way to define the word education. I believe education is not a “fixed plan” because I know family members who did not graduate from high school or even go to elementary school, and they still know many things, such as math, because of the experiences they have gone through. I also believe that education is not brought up in a school

John Taylor Gatto fiercely defends his beliefs on the corruption of compulsory education in his book Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling. He holds true that the institutionalization of education has taken away the individual exploration of learning; that education has essentially become “schooling” (Gatto 28). Compulsory education’s major flaw is its existence as a “network” whose sole purpose is to churn out citizens who will fit into the American workforce (Gatto 53). An alternative to compulsory education is homeschooling, and if Gatto were to decide, all children would be homeschooled within their individual community. Yet, in what John Dewey would call today’s “progressive society,” an increased expectation of global participation requires children’s education to expand beyond their home (35). Parents cannot expect to provide their children with the ever-expanding breadth of knowledge in the world, making compulsory education a necessary, although revisable, institution.

member. We are not educated to seek out what our interests are . We are

Education is an essential means to a meaningful life. It’s what separates humans from animals. Is it even possible to imagine a life without any type of education? Where would humans be if there weren’t any education to help develop one’s brain? Equally important is the type of education a person receives throughout that person’s impressionable life. Most people have experienced different types of education during a person’s life, from their parents, to their teachers, to their friends, and through self-education. Everyone remembers the quality education that was presented in a way that had him or her buy into the material being taught. Obviously the same is true for the polar opposite of that fact.