ipl-logo

John Taylor Gatto's Against School

1112 Words5 Pages

The purpose of education is to improve our thinking which can lead to success. Defining modern schooling and its effectiveness proves to be quite controversial. Based on how the unsatisfactory system is run and the claim that it produces immaturity causes people to start questioning if mandatory schooling is really necessary to achieve an education.
School determines the type of education a student is allowed to receive based on their social class meaning that the upper class may have access to better books and programs while the poor can not. John Taylor Gatto stated in his essay, "Against School," that the American education system adopted its concept from the Prussian system; one idea that instilled separating and educating students based on …show more content…

"...to dumb people down, to demoralize them, left them sitting ducks..." (Gatto 613) It is suggested that schooling only releases idiotic and immature people out into the world. However, Alexie and Douglass are prime examples to display disagreement with Gatto’s claim. Alexie believes each person can overcome a challenge and present their "genius" if they tried. “I refused to fail… I read books late into the night until I could barely keep my eyes open.” (Alexie 36) Alexie’s idea contradicts Gatto because he chose to put in the effort to learn and prevail over the stereotypes labeled on Indians. He had the desire to teach his students about the power of reading and learning because he was previously in the same place as them. Douglass always brought his book with him whenever he was sent on errands to make friends with the white boys in order to attain some sort of knowledge. It is one’s own choice to whether or not they want to succeed. The brain holds knowledge and it can be used to educate; leaving behind the restrictions put on students by

Show More
Related
913 Words | 4 Pages

uperman and Me Adelaida Urrea Sherman Alexie, in his essay, “Superman and Me”, recounts how he learned to read even though he lived in poor family inside a community where education was disparaged. Alexi’s purpose is to describe how kids are expected to fail academically since education is not cared for in Native American communities, and ignite change in the ways Native American children are educated. He adopts an inspirational tone in order to encourage other Native Americans to follow his example and educators to help solve this problem. Alexi projects an inspirational tone, through the use of diction to achieve his purpose.

Read More
689 Words | 3 Pages

Alexie had all the books in his father’s house. Alexie had positive outlooks. After he learned, he wanted to teach other Indian boys. He was strong mentally with his abilities. Douglass thought that him learning how to read was more of a curse than a blessing.

Read More
358 Words | 2 Pages

What is school really trying to do with our lives? The article “Against School” by John Taylor Gatto is an article that talks about the problem of schools and how the goals are not what they say they are. First. the author talks about how the school system creates boredom and what could be done to fix it. He then talks about how school is not needed in its required class times, what the schools say the goals are for the students, and where our school system originated from.

Read More
360 Words | 2 Pages

Gatton believes that The point Gatto argument begin to emerge is that students are getting borned in school easily and also are the teachers. He talks about how Then he started to question “Do we really need school”? On page 684.Then he goes on to talk about how school is five days a week and nine months and twelve years. He talks about how students are not really learning they are just inputting information and then outputting it back to the teaches which is not learning. Gatto even goes on to mention a few famous people that did not go through the schooling system such as George Washington, Abraham Lincoln,Thomas Jefferson.

Read More
743 Words | 3 Pages

Many of us take education for granted and don’t learn to our fullest potential, but Fredrick Douglass soaked in every piece of information up because he knew it was his way out. “Learning to Read and Write” is a famous article based on what Fredrick Douglass went through to earn a valuable education while being enslaved. Author Fredrick Douglass, wrote “Learning to Read and Write”, published in 1845. Throughout the article, he takes us through different events he goes through while being enslaved. Douglass begins building his credibility with personal facts and successfully demonstrating logic and pathos appeal.

Read More
299 Words | 2 Pages

Frederick Douglass was a slave who wanted to learn how to read. His mistress wanted to teach him but her husband did not approve, so he had to find a different way to learn how to read. He gave the white children down the street bread and in return they would teach him to read. Frederick Douglass grew to not like reading because it reminded him that he would never be free. Douglass’s tone in his Autobiography is angry, this helped him achieve his purpose.

Read More
342 Words | 2 Pages

Karla, I actually believe that Gattos essay was more or less written as a form of an attempt as general persuasion, primarily directed to the general population but it could also be written to just about anyone who has been around or even possibly grown up in the American school system. While this essay was written after his career as a teacher it provides little insight into how he himself taught while he was in the same position. It seems that he is clearly frustrated with the American education system and while he may have made attempts to change it, he clearly displays his overall frustration on paper in this essay. While he never really comes out and states that school is important, I receive the impression that he does think that education is important, however it’s more as though he believes that the current lack of that initial spark for learning is severely lacking from the current education system. I, for one believe he is right however aside from his essay it doesn’t seem as though he has attempted to lobby very much support for this change.

Read More
654 Words | 3 Pages

The Power of Education Education can be for both better and worse. Several different views of education are located everywhere in A Lesson Before Dying. While most people would say education is what helps people get somewhere in this world, being too educated can lead people to becoming selfish individuals. Whether it is about black v. white education, book smarts v. street smarts, or how education does not mean everything, Ernest J. Gaines novel is bleeding with ways on how education affects the events in the novel.

Read More
755 Words | 4 Pages

The lessons he teaches include Confusion, Class Position, Indifference, Emotional Dependency, Intellectual Dependency, Provisional Self-Esteem, and One Can’t Hide. Through these lessons Gatto tells that he teaches his students what he is meant to teach according to the academic guidelines set before him, leading his students to become dependent on the rules set before them. This, he says, only serves to dehumanize our youth from the free thinking individuals that they should become. Gatto repeatedly criticizes this way of educating the men and women of tomorrow. He asserts that this

Read More
1727 Words | 7 Pages

With all the knowledge he was gaining, he began to comprehend everything around him. The things he was learning fascinated him, but the “more [he] read, the more [he] was led to abhor and detest [his] enslavers”(Douglass 35); however, that should not be viewed as a negative affect but a positive one. No one should want to be deceived for their entire life. This hatred that he built up motivated him to continue to further educate himself. As a result, he later motivated other slaves to earn an education by having “[availed] themselves to [an] opportunity to learn to read” (Douglass 69) by Douglass teaching them every Sunday.

Read More
1070 Words | 5 Pages

Education is the act or process of imparting or acquiring general knowledge, developing the powers of reasoning and judgment, and generally of preparing oneself or others intellectually for mature life. In each essay, all three authors ward against the dangers with the education system of their era. Whether it be diversity, segregation or the goals of the system itself the authors believe changes need to be made, as education systems form the future leaders of our society. Through their text the authors believe they must solve the faults within the education systems, to conform society to what they believe is morally and ethically correct.

Read More
953 Words | 4 Pages

People dream of freedom. A freedom that can bestow opportunities, a freedom that can establish equality, and a freedom that can promote success—people dream of the American dream. Many pursue it believing that education is the primary pathway to achieving success, and through education and hard work they can lower barriers; thus, being capable of scaling upward in the social ladder. Sadly, this dream has been tainted by myths that are associated with education. For example, some people claim that education is the grand equalizer of society, so through proper schooling everyone has the same chance of move up the social ladder.

Read More
1464 Words | 6 Pages

The significance of education cannot be stated enough, which is an investment to a better future. Getting an education is one of the most powerful things a person can ever obtain. It is crucial to the overall development of the individual and the society as a whole. When individuals do not have the option of getting an education due to the cost of the schools as well as the lack of schools itself. For those living in poverty it can be difficult to earn the same amount of education as other people who are considered middle or high class.

Read More
751 Words | 4 Pages

Why the school system is bad - Arshia Education is very important for everyone and it will only get more important. Schooling is just plain bad. It used to serve a purpose, like the heart in a person 's body, but now it is basically just boring students more and more. Nowadays at the end of the day, we all just want to go home.

Read More
1587 Words | 7 Pages

The benefit and purpose of school is to gain new knowledge and socialize with other people. The importance of school is taken to consideration as it helps you to meet the grades that you need to go further in life, and the skills/knowledge that can be accomplished and improved. School opens up a lot of opportunities for young people because it is the one place where they go to get new life skills and experience. School is somewhere where young people are able to practice their techniques/learning and form social bonds with other students. School is not just for learning but also for young people to help from in a way that they can also build their social skills and attributes when interacting with other students.

Read More

More about John Taylor Gatto's Against School

Related Topics

Open Document