Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling
by John Taylor Gatto
Book Summary Information
Author: John Taylor GattoEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2002-02-01
ISBN: 0865714487
Number of pages: 144
Publisher: New Society Publishers
Book Reviews of Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling
Book Review: This book provides cogent arguements for homeschooling.
Summary: 5 Stars
John Taylor Gatto was an award-winning public school teacher when he wrote much of the text for this book. He reveals the curriculum of public schools nationwide under the headings: Confusion, Class Position, Indifference, Emotional Dependency, Intellectual Dependency, Provisional Self-Esteem, and One Can't Hide. He asserts that the true goal of childhood learning should be to discover some meaning in life...a passion or an enthusiasm that will drive subsequent learning pursuits. Instead, schools cram irrelevant facts into young minds, substituting book-knowledge for self-knowledge.
This book explains a lot for anyone who got good grades, went to college, and then didn't have any idea what to do with his life. It's also a wake-up call to parents with school-age children. Do we really want our children to grow up to be good factory workers and do as they're told? Do we really want them to buy into the "Good grades=good jobs" myth? Do we want them to believe that the goal in life is to acquire more and more stuff to fuel consumerism?
Or should we give them more reflective, unstructured time in childhood to find out who they are, what they like, and how they can contribute to their communities?
Dumbing Us Down is a quick, worthwhile read.
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