by John Taylor Gatto
1991
New Society Publishers
ISBN: 086571231X (paperback)
Book review by Jan K. France.
I first read Dumbing Us Down shortly after we had pulled our own son out of public school in the seventh grade. Recently, I decided to re-read this book and it is still ringing true.
John Taylor Gatto taught in the New York City school system for 26 years. He worked with children of the elite and children of Harlem. He won many awards, including being named New York State Teacher of the Year.
Yet Gatto says, "School is a twelve-year jail sentence where bad habits are the only curriculum truly learned. I teach school and win awards doing it. I should know." This book is a collection of his speeches and writings, all of which point out the deficiencies of the system in which he, too, was trapped.
Gatto starts with a chapter called "The Seven-Lesson Schoolteacher." (See below for a web link to this chapter, which you can read online.) He speaks of the lessons he must convey as a public schoolteacher: 1.) confusion; 2.) class position; 3.) indifference; 4.) emotional dependency; 5.) intellectual dependency; 6.) provisional self-esteem; and 7.) one can't hide. The institution dictates that teachers must convey these lessons.
Even though the basic lessons of reading, writing, and arithmetic only take approximately 100 hours to transmit to a willing learner, our school system prolongs them. So now it takes 12 years for a student to navigate the maze and learn the system of compulsory schooling. In addition, school robs children of time with their families and communities. It locks them up with only same-age peers, much as our society locks up the very old. It demands additional time after school hours in the form of homework.
Gatto lists the characteristics of the students he has taught. They are overwhelmingly dependent--something that the imported Prussian school system purposely develops rather than independent thinking. He says the students are indifferent to adult thinking, have almost no curiosity, have a poor sense of the future, are ahistorical, cruel, uneasy with intimacy, and materialistic. How sad!
So what can be done? Gatto suggests that children need less school, not more. They need less homework, and more time with their relatives and in meaningful pursuits in their communities. Apprenticeships should come back as a way for children to learn. Children can also be their own teachers and decide what they should learn. They don't need the competition for A's, nor teachers who must compete for favor with their principals. They don't need a national curriculum.
Gatto believes in breaking down the institution and no longer requiring certification to teach. We should be spending less money, not more. He feels that we should seek less regimentation and more local solutions. He believes in getting out of the way, and giving kids space and time and respect. We should trust children and families.
He also says, "Here is another curiosity to think about. The home-schooling movement has quietly grown to a size where one and a half million young people are being educated entirely by their own parents; last month the education press reported the amazing news that children schooled at home seem to be five or even ten years ahead of their formally trained peers in their ability to think."
Interestingly, Gatto no longer teaches school (hear his reasons in the We the People interview below). He is in great demand as a speaker at homeschooling conferences. Word is that he has a new book in the works.
Footnote: There are several places on the web that contain Gatto's writing or interviews with the author:
Gatto's own site has excerpts from his newest book, The Underground History of American Education. You'll also find a history of education tour and details about his upcoming projects.
Jerry Brown, of We the People, hosted Gatto on his radio show on 3/25/97. You can go to our web page with the interview to hear it in its entirety.
The Origins of Compulsory Education, an interview with John Taylor Gatto, by Jim Martin
The Nine Assumptions of Modern Schooling by John Taylor Gatto
The Six-Lesson Schoolteacher by John Taylor Gatto
The Seven-Lesson Schoolteacher by John Taylor Gatto
The Public School Nightmare by John Taylor Gatto
Thoughts on Education by John Taylor Gatto
Choice in Education and Preservenet have additional links to Gatto's writing and speeches.
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