John Gatto Against School Analysis

John Taylor Gatto’s “Against School” is his own portrayal on the educational system he perceived throughout his time teaching, observing the “schooling” method, and contrasting the differences between education and the “laboratories of experimentation on young minds” known to Gatto as the Standard educational system. Education is only an acceptable means of “learning” through a “forced schooling” method, which in turn; creates a method of maintaining a controlled society, and developing “role oriented” citizens. The labeling of students in an “assembly line” format provides the country with set statistics based on education profiling, as what Prussia experienced in the 1820’s. The division of children via test rankings, class rankings, and …show more content…
Gatto uses the phrase “two million happy home-schooled individuals” when regarding those whose education was taught outside of a basic set curriculum, rather than the more common “boring” terminology. Gatto has made a point to express a happy individual as one who can have a more open-minded or self-taught education, along with the amount that one can accomplish in this manner; thus putting to rest the thought “do we really need forced …show more content…
The aspect of students and teachers having to follow a certain method of educating or being educated is true in most instances. However; a free-thinking environment, in most of my personal cases, still pertains to be a factor in the classroom. Being “bored” with the education in a classroom is no different than being bored with a television program, you simply find something that peaks your interest and study that material. While most credited education is in a direct format; there truthfully is no limit to the amount of knowledge one can learn, one must have the stride to want