Summary Of Against School By John Taylor Gatto

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 furthermore explain his reasoning, he rhetorically questioned his own hypothesis of there being a problem in our system. “What if there is no "problem" with our schools? What if they are the way they are, so expensively flying in the face of common sense and long experience in how children learn things, not because they are doing something wrong but because they are doing something right? Is it possible that George W. Bush accidentally spoke the truth when he said we would "leave no child behind"? Could it be that our schools are designed to make sure not one of them ever really grows up” (Gatto 5). “Do we really need school” is the question he asks the reader. By doing this he made the reader rethink about the compulsory schooling students have to go through to be “successful” in life. Gatto questions why we have to go to school, “six classes a day, five days a week, nine months a year, for twelve

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his experience as a teacher, but he also presents historical evidence that suggests that the public school system is an outdated structure, originally meant to dumb down students as well as program them to be obedient pawns in society.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

Mandatory, enforced schooling is common all over the world, and is generally seen as a public good, and a privilege of first world countries. However, author and teacher John Gatto argues that mandatory schooling destroys your ability to be free thinkers and therefore should not exist, in his piece “Against School”. Despite his effective use of ethos, Gatto’s argument fails to be convincing due to logical fallacies, and a lack of evidence or first hand experience.

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.

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

The essay ‘Against the school’ by John Taylor Gatto draws our attention on to all the cons of attending twelve years of high-school. Gatto has experience in teaching profession for twenty-six years in schools of Manhattan, he shares from his experience that he majored in boredom and could see that everywhere around him. He also points out the initial reason why schools came into existence and what the purpose it fulfils now. He also educates us on the fact that all the great discoverers never attended school and were self-educated.The main idea Gatto addresses in his article are that public schooling is doing the youth an injustice.He implies that the purpose of schooling, now is to turn children into good employes and someone who follows orders.

In today’s society students aren’t pushed in high school to pursue their full potential, which makes students think they don’t need to put hard work into school making them lazy. The outcome of this is bad grades and upset parents making them believe they aren’t smart and that is why they are getting the grades they are receiving. In actuality these students aren’t being pushed and the teachers aren’t tapping into their talents to show them the full academic potential they have.

In “Against School” by John Taylor Gatto states that, “Boredom is a common condition for teachers and students.” The text questions if we really need forced schooling as a necessary part of our society. The text reads that schools are confining, restricted and do not promote a real education. A problem I have observed in the public schools, is the fact that all children do not learn in the same manner or at the same pace. There is no cookie cutter mold concerning education that all individuals can incorporate into. Standardized tests and curriculum in a one size fits all method is not an effective way for children to learn.

In Gerry Garibaldi’s essay, “How the Schools Shortchange the Boys,” he argues that the feministic learning of the public-school systems detrimentally affects males’ learning because boys are often identified as special ed and leave the classroom with only the resiliency of survival. However, Garibaldi’s arguments are biased, misguided, and fail to see how the application of the male nature can be successful in a “feministic” learning style, so we should not agree with his claims.

Why would anybody want to be homeschooled? In Schooled, by Gordon Korman, the main character Capricorn Anderson goes through a lot in the story but on and on in the story it gets better. Capricorn Anderson grew up with his Grandmother Rain on Garland Farms, which is an alternative farm commune. Capricorn Anderson is a 13 year old hippie who has been arrested for the first time because he was driving without a license. He was driving because his grandmother, Rain, fell out of a plum tree and had to go to the hospital. She broke her hip. Now since Rain is in the hospital, Cap has to go into foster care because there is no one to live with him. Capricorn Anderson was homeschooled because in the book on page 5 it says, “no school bus could ever make it up the rutted, snaking dirt road that led to Garland.” Also they wanted to avoid the low standards and cultural poison of a world that had lost its way. Now Capricorn has to go to Claverage Middle School and he doesn’t really know how it works and about the real world.

In Harper’s Magazine, John Taylor Gatto wrote an article titled, “Against Schools” where he expresses why teachers and students think that the public education system is boring and childish to them. He starts by giving a definition to the word boredom and why they feel this way. He says, “Boredom is the common condition of schoolteachers, and anyone who has spent time in a teacher’s lounge can vouch for the low energy, the whining, the dispirited attitudes, to be found there. When asked why they feel bored, the teachers tend to blame their kids,” According to Gatto, by his definition, boredom is a part of being a school teacher because of their kids who are rude and don’t care for their education. He then continues to explain an encounter he had with his grandfather, where he was hit on the back of his head for saying he was bored. In contrast to Gatto, his grandfather claims that if someone is bored, it is their own fault. “The obligation to amuse and instruct myself was entirely my own, and people who didn’t know that were childish people.” In other words, people who blame others for their own boredom, are childish. This is why Gatto thinks that school is boring and childish. He explains through this article that teachers blame their weariness on the children they teach, and the children are blaming their boredom on their teachers along with their method of teaching. Everyone is blaming everyone for their own boredom, they forget they avoid the fact that they are in control of being amused. Gatto also implies that school is “boring and childish” by the way children are being taught, which is to only focus on their grades. Gatto also states, “Divide children by subject, by age-grading, by constant ranking on tests, and by many other more subtle means, and it was unlikely that the ignorant mass of mankind, separated in childhood, would ever reintegrate into a dangerous whole.” If a child is constantly being ranked based on their education, they will do what they can to remain in the ranked position they were put in. They will stay in the mentality of their ranked, taking away the potential that they have but never show therefore controlling children not just in school, but also in communities they identify

It’s twelve at night. Tons of papers and a cup of coffee on the desk prepared for pulling an all-nighter. Studying for the exam tomorrow, cramming tons of class-notes and materials. Students are fighting for an A. However, what do we expect them to learn from it? Is it even beneficial to them? After all, most students forget almost everything as soon as they finish the exam. Apparently, there are some fundamental problems in our current educational system. In the three essays, “The ‘Banking’ Concept of Education” by Paulo Freire, “Against School” by John Taylor Gatto and “The Achievement of Desire” by Richard Rodriguez, the authors realize different problems of the educational system and have different opinions about it. In my point of

The educational system of the United States is plagued by many issues. There have been numerous methods and attempts to speak and solve these issues. In, No Education No Life: How the Algebra Project is Educating for Insurgency by Paul Lauter, you see an explanation of how to resolve these issues through such actions as protest. Lauter uses this article to inspire not only adults but students as well to fight for an improved educational system. He also works to point out every flaw in our current educational system and how it affects the children. Throughout the article, you see the use of facts and examples to support each claim. Lauter points out issues of race and lacking of creativity. His attitude in the article is passionate, serious, and persuasive.

The students’ brains are still growing, and they are absorbing everything around them. What are they absorbing? In the present day classroom, children have been absorbing how dull school has become. This has created apathy earlier than ever before in the classrooms. Teachers have been complaining about how the excitement of learning has been taken out of the classroom with the students’ interest and creativity. In an article that was authored by Valerie Strauss, she stated, “We became elementary school teachers because we wanted to help foster a love of learning. We teach our students that reading can bring joy and that math is magical. However, that message is nullified when we start to prepare our students for standardized tests. We tell our students that they can no longer talk with their friends to puzzle out a math solution, or consult the word wall to help them understand unfamiliar words. We tell our students that they need to read quickly because on testing days they will have a mere 75 minutes to read two or three stories, answer multiple choice questions and write an essay. As we completely undermine what we have spent so much time building, our students begin to lose their passion for reading and math. If we extinguish the passion to learn at such a young age, how are we preparing them for “college and careers?” With this downfall of education, our country will fall due to the lack of interest