Today, a school education is no longer an option or privilege, but rather a need in the United States of America. The author of “Against School,” John Taylor Gatto says, “Do we really need school?” (143). What if children will not go to school, then how will they learn to read and write? Education is the demonstration of learning things around us and helps us to comprehend an objective in life. Most people who believe that children need higher education in order to succeed in life. We often don’t understand why we have to go to school every day, but when we grow up we realize that children need to attend the school for a wide range of reasons, for instance; for new experiences, increased knowledge or career preparation. School education …show more content…
Without knowledge, people would be confused and lost with the decisions to make in life. I believe that many people, including myself, are seeking to be interested in education and become more successful in life. In “Against School,” Gatto argues that in our current school education system, boredom is a major component. I agree with him from my own experience. Both students and teachers are bored in schools today. The learning should be much more interesting and active for students in school, therefore, teacher needs to grab their student attention. When I was in high school, my parents asked me a question at the dinner table, “What did you learn at school today?” Most often my answers were “nothing.” This conversation is an example of how boredom is commonly found in American public schools. Students complain that the teachers are unable to teach their material and teacher complain that the students do not want to learn. Gatto discusses this common school attitude in his article. Also, he gives a question then who is to blame for the affection of boredom among teachers and students alike. Gatto answers with the simple sentence of “We all are.” Here is the truth that people are responsible for their own education and their own entertainment. Therefore, it is up to the individual to overcome their own boredom. It is up to students to find …show more content…
Knowledge is an important aspect of life. Author Michael Moore in “Idiot Nation,” said, “so if you live in a country where forty-four million can’t read- and perhaps close to another who hundred million can read but usually don’t –well, friends, you and I are living in one very scary place” (123). Moore argues that because people do not read enough and don’t teach history in schools they lack intelligence. Intelligence is important in the real world. He says that especially political figures are ignorant, and they complain about kids not doing well in school because they do not support the school system with books and good certified teachers. This explains the attitudes of Mike Rose’s friends in “I Just Wanna be Average,” because they know why they are not receiving a good education and they were not likely to get a good paying job when they graduate. One of these reasons is that they do not feel like they need to try, then why they need school. They just want to fit in and move on. They accepted the fact that they were placed in a very low-grade level in school. I think that a lot of American children are good with being average because they still want to be successful without doing something for it in schools. Also, I think that school system became so convoluted in how they separate the children into groups depending on whether they are smart or dumb. It affects the children in terms of how they see
In the article “Against School”, John Taylor Gatto urges Americans to see the school system as it really is: testing facilities for young minds, with teachers who are pounding into student 's brains what society wants. Gatto first explains that he taught for 30 years at the best and worst schools in Manhattan. He claims to have firsthand experience of the boredom that students and teachers struggle with. Gatto believes that schooling is not necessary, and there are many successful people that were self-educated. He then explains the history and importance of mandatory schooling. To conclude his article, Gatto gives his foresight for the future of schooling. Although Gatto has a well thought out argument for his opinion on schooling, he focuses
John Taylor Gatto in his essay “Against School” explains the lack of motivation that students have to the educational system of the USA. He also explains the damage that the system makes to both, students and teachers, by the non-interesting topics they are taught class. Furthermore, he enlightens the indifference of students towards the teacher, seem as incompetent and unprepared. In addition, he also highlights the dark side of the school system which intends to brainwash and rescind the ideas from students. He addresses a main goal of the educational system; convert juveniles into the next docile and manageable generation. Wherefore, he proposes an educational system that should be structured and not controlled. In addition,
The average human would think that going to school and getting an education are the two key items needed to make it in life. Another common belief is, the higher someone goes with their education, the more successful they ought to be. Some may even question if school really makes anyone smarter or not. In order to analyze it, there needs to be recognition of ethos, which is the writer 's appeal to their own credibility, followed by pathos that appeals to the writer’s mind and emotions, and lastly, logos that is a writer’s appeal to logical reasoning. While using the three appeals, I will be analyzing “Against School” an essay written by John Taylor Gatto that gives a glimpse of what modern day schooling is like, and if it actually help kids
Gatto argues that the staying in the American schooling system for so long has supplied him with every reason to refer to it as a childish and “ 'a disablement '” program for students. He supposes that he can bring out the best qualities in children by giving them the autonomy to make decisions and manage themselves, rather than confining them to school. According to Gatto, people may see the key problem of schooling as boredom. To clarify his point, Gatto believes having an education in school is considered as “a daily routine in a factory of childishness in order to make sure not one of them ever really grow up”.
Have you ever wondered if our education system has flaws? Well in the article “Against School” written by John Taylor Gatto, Gatto once a teacher explains how public education weakens the youth. He starts off the paper by saying how he taught for 30 years, went through a termination, and personally witnessed almost all of the schooling flaws. In Gatto’s article he lists very noticeable names, such as George W. Bush, George Washington, James Bryant Conant, and H.L Mencken to name a few. Having taught children for so long Gatto believes he has the expert rule in this subject. He proposes that to bring out the best qualities in a child you have to let them make decision and let them take their own risks. Gatto’s mission in this article is to make you consider, if school is actually important.
“More than one million High School students fail to graduate high school each year. This not only affects the individual and his or her education but also takes a toll on society and the economy”.-Unknown. Today’s education cap affects society in many ways. Education is one key element that is needed throughout everyday life. It is needed for critical thinking, problem-solving, and great independent decision making in our lives. Without education, we wouldn’t be able to communicate with one another or make something out of ourselves. So we might ask ourselves how can we make education better for us and the future generations? In the book “Smartest Kids in the World”, Amanda Ripley gives an explanation of the difference between the education system in U.S. and in countries like Finland, Poland, and South
John Taylor Gatto in his essay “Against School” explains the lack of motivation that students have to the educational system of the USA. He also explains the damage that the system makes to both, students and teachers, by the non-interesting topics they are taught in class. Furthermore, he enlightens the indifference of students towards the teacher, seem as incompetent and unprepared. In addition, he also highlights the dark side of the school system which intends to brainwash and rescind the ideas from students. He addresses a main goal of the educational system; convert juveniles into the next docile and manageable generation. Wherefore, he proposes an educational system that should be structured and not controlled. In addition, he demonstrates
We live in a society where we are surrounded by people telling us that school/education and being educated is the only way to succeed. However, the school system is not up to the standards we want it to uphold. There are three issues we discuss the most which are the government, the student, and the teacher. In John Taylor Gatto 's essay “Against School”, we see the inside perspective of the educational system from the view of a teacher. In “I Just Wanna Be Average”, an essay written by Mike Rose, we hear a student 's experience of being in a vocational class in the lower level class in the educational system when he was supposed to be in the higher class.
There are about 60 million school aged children in the world who are not in school, according to the article “Education”. Educated children have more opportunities compared to non-educated children, however, it is not just educated children that get more opportunities, but also educated adults. It does not matter how old someone is when they get their education, but that they are getting an education at all. This is portrayed in the excerpts “Me Talk Pretty” by David Sedaris, “The Human Cost of an Illiterate Society” by Jonathan Kozol, and “Learning to Read” by Frederick Douglass. Education leads to individual success and empowerment.
Many Americans do not question the credibility of the education system within the country because they believe it forms good citizens and creates a stepping-stone to success. John Taylor Gatto is an American teacher who has experience in the classroom for thirty years and has now devoted his life to critiquing American schools exploiting his own experiences. In his essay “Against School”, he argues that the 12-year system of school may not be necessary, due to its curriculum, and that it may be a tactic of manipulation from the government to promote obedience. I agree with his argument because there are many paths to individual success outside of public education, such as homeschooling or vocational school.
As American’s we place a high level of importance on attending school and receiving a certain level of education. Across the world, the recommendations for attending school vastly differ based on the culture of the society. In America, we require our children to attend school until they are almost of legal age, push high school graduates to attend college and we constantly emphasize structured learning. Many children in today’s world lack many skills that would allow them to “teach” themselves outside of school leading to an increased interest in televisions, computers, and phones. Technology has taken away society’s attention away from independent learning such as reading, writing, and outside experiences. John Taylor Gatto’s emotional voice in his writing “Against School” has allowed me reveal my psychological voice regarding the educational system.
In his essay “Against School,” John Taylor Gatto illustrates his view point that the American population would be better off by managing their own education. He compares the school system to the concept of boredom; that students as well as teachers are victims of the long ago adopted Prussian educational system: “We suppress our genius only because we haven’t yet figured out how to manage a population of educated men and women. The solution, I think, is simply and glorious. Let them manage themselves.” In other words, Gatto believes that the main reason for the existence of schooling consists in that it trains our children to be obedient citizens who can’t think on their own. His point is that as a society we cut off the intelligence and creativity
The Quality of a child’s education often either limits or opens up a world of opportunities. Those who study the purpose of public education and the way it is distributed throughout society can often identify clear correlations between social class and the type of education a student receives. It is generally known by society that wealthy families obtain the best opportunities money can buy. Education is a tool of intellectual and economical empowerment and since the quality of education is strongly influenced by social class, a smaller portion of the American population obtains the opportunities acquired from a top notch education. Many people believe that educational inequalities are perpetuated from the interests of specific classes, but some researchers like John Gatto believe that there are even stronger social forces in play. In the essay “Against Schools” the author John Gatto presents three arguments: (1) that are educational system is flawed, (2) that the American educational system is purposely designed to create a massive working class that is easy to manipulate, and (3) alternative teaching methods should be applied to teach children to think for themselves. In this essay I will be summarizing and relating each of these arguments to other educational essays. Also, I will be discussing the strengths and weaknesses of the author’s argument.
John Taylor Gatto, in his essay “Against School: How Public Education Cripples our Kids, and why”, argues that the contemporary purpose of education in public schools is to produce “harmless electorate,” “a servile labor force,” and “mindless consumers” (28). According to Gatto, he is blaming public schools by explain that the purpose of education is to shape students to certain expectations and habits without their interests. He argues that students “want to be doing something real” (Gatto 23). Also, He explains that they produce a manageable working class and “mindless consumers” (27-28). His point is that students want to learn something new that help them in their life better than actual books from school which don’t apply their interests and their experience (23). So he recommends home-schooling as option to schools (24). Gatto claims that contemporary schools “adopted one of the very worst aspect...
A time approaches in every person’s life when they must come to learn new things. Speaking on behalf of all those who have attended school at some point in their life, I must say that most do not like it for its educational significance. Today’s youth undervalue the worth of America’s public school system to the point of shame. Hard-working, underpaid teachers and professors prepare to educate these ingrates as their living, and it’s exasperating for the students to not even care. I must be fair though and call attention to the fact that not everyone shares this loathe for education and schooling.