John Gatto Against School Summary

John Taylor Gatto wrote “Against School” as a critique of the modern American education system. I agree with him that the system is flawed in that they do not teach many applicable concepts and they focus more on test taking than life skills such as leadership and initiative. I do not think, however, eliminating school altogether is the correct way to fix that though which is what Gatto suggests by asking “Do we really need school?” (273). I am convinced school is a good idea in theory, the current execution is just incorrect. I agree with Gatto when he says school should “encourage the best qualities of youthfulness-curiosity, adventure, resilience, the capacity for surprising insight” and I think the current foundation we have now can achieve …show more content…
While overcrowding can make things harder for the students, isolation would be equally negative, especially for young minds. Social interactions are an innate part of being human and school is how we learn to handle these interactions appropriately. Students should learn to help one another through school. For example, a student strong in math can help her friend with her calculus homework. In return, the friend, who is better in English, can review her math friend’s essay. Each student would play to their strengths and help the other where they are lacking. Education based solely on testing though breeds a sense of competitiveness-which can be good to a certain extent-but we have pushed past the point so that it now ceases to be helpful. Instead, we are each focused on achieving our own goal of passing and not working on helping others reach theirs. Gatto calls this “taking a schooling” versus “receiving an education” (274). Students learn to focus on a singular goal and move onto the next, much like a robot. When they work together though, they can achieve the same results and enjoy themselves in the process by making