Because of my newly-found interest in homeschooling I have been doing lots of reading, including books by people I would formerly have dismissed as radical anarchists.
One is John Taylor Gatto, who presents in his book Dumbing us Down, his take on the seven things that you really learn at school.
1. Confusion.
Everything taught is out of context. Most curricula have a lack of coherence. Too much is taught, each thing unconnected to the next. Slavery, adjectives, dance, choir, computers, standardised tests, planets... the list goes on.
2. Class Position
Students stay in the place they are allotted to. Children are numbered. Everyone has a proper place in the pyramid and there is no way out of your class.
3. Indifference
Children are taught not to care too much about what they do. They are expected to be keen and enthusiastic about the lesson, but only for as long as the lesson takes. When the bell rings they must switch enthusiasm, turn on and off like a light switch.
4. Emotional Dependency
Privileges can be earned by pleasing the teacher. Children are taught to surrender their will and their self-worth to the predestinated chain of command.
5. Intellectual Dependency
Good students wait for a teacher to tell them what to do. The expert makes the important choices. We've built a way of life that depends on people doing what they are told because they don't know how to tell themselves what to do.
6. Provisional self-esteem
A child's self-respect should depend on expert opinion. What does the report say about a child? That's what they are worth! The lesson of report cards, grades and tests is that children should not trust themselves or their parents but should instead rely on the evaluation of certified officials. People need to be told what they are worth.
7. You can't hideS
Students are always under surveillance and there are no private spaces or private time for children. Homework continues the surveillance into the home. The meaning of this is that no-one can be trusted and privacy is not legitimate.
I feel like I'm exploring a whole other way of thinking. What do you think?
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5 comments:
Hey Cec,
Bro here, since you ask, here is what I think. (and I say all this with a smile on my face and in my heart)
Over the past 4 or 5 years I have come across alot more home schooling than I ever did before, from both countries I know. My experience is that (like school) done well, it is great. Done poorly, it is terrible, and I have seen both.
I think this book (and your summary) is a straw man argument, ie it presents the worst of bad schooling and compares it to the best of home. I disagree with most points in any halfway decent home and school life. eg. Child's self worth: the report comes out twice a year. A child's self worth is going to come mostly from his/her parents, and to a lesser extent the teacher.
Point 7 is frankly nonsense. homework is not surveillance. It is a way of teaching a child to work independently and be self starting.
I think point 4 is much more relevent to home life and how parents relate to kids than school.
The summary seems to suggest that kids in school have no or at least minimal home life influence. I disagree with this, mostly based on the fact that even in a boarding school, where kids really did spend more than half their time away, disfunctional adults still had disfunctional kids and vice versa. Even in a boarding situation, home life was more influential than school. how much more so in a regular day school!
Having said all that, I can see how home schooling would appeal to you, especially for Bright eyes. You'd do a very good job I think.
Thank you for the disagreement. I am presenting for the purpose of trying to get discussion going!
Do you really think home life was more influential than school life at boarding? Perhaps then... but what about now that we are adults? I know I certainly have a lot of carryover of things that happened at boarding to my attitudes today.
I think Gatto's book is almost violent in its virulence against schools, and simplistic in its "Things were so much better in the days of the Mayflower". I don't believe anything was better (or worse for that matter) in the past. Things are always as they have been.. perhaps just a little different in the particular negatives or positives.
Anyway.... thanks for commenting. I'm guessing you won't be homeschooling anytime soon.
Love you guys!
It's the wife here: It's an interesting book you seem to have gotten your hands on. While I was in the US, I read a few slightly more balanced things and I really enjoyed them. They had some good points although so much of the stuff seems to say hs is the ONLY way to go that it gets a bit old.
You're wrong about us homeschooling, though! Your brother has a wife now! :) Frankly, I don't think either of us would be as good at it as a really good school, but in view of current circumstances, we may be better. I have stuff with me here so that I can do it if I need to and Princess is quite keen to do things. Of course, she's also keen to go to school - she's like her father! She needs companionship.
Which, of course, brings me to my next point. I think hs is good for some kids and not so good for others. Have you talked to KP? She hs her youngest for a year. Anyway, it will be interesting to see what you come up with. It certainly would make the upcoming ?move/etc. easier to deal with.
I did talk to Kathryn who seemed keen about it, so that was good. I didn't get the 'you're a loony' reaction which I'm expecting - because I have given it myself up until now.
The social aspect is definitely the tricky bit. J is an out and out extrovert too. Learning would be a cinch I reckon. You'd have to have a regular group of friends to hang out with and do lots of extra stuff like swimming club, hockey, dancing etc.
Yeah, I was friends with a family who had 10 kids (another came while I knew them) and they did a spectacular job hs ALL of them. How, I just don't know, but they did it. Major effort on both parent's parts despite the fact dad was in med school at the time. They had their kids in all sorts of community activities.
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