We read this wonderful essay by John Taylor Gatto on the air this morning. If you missed it, read it here. Especially if you still have your kids in government schools.
Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: I QUIT, I THINK.
TrackBack URL for this entry: http://boortz.com/blogging/mt-tb.cgi/30642
Jamie Dupree's Blog
If you enjoy Neal's daily chat with Jamie Dupree, you'll love Jamie's Blog! Check it out for analysis of the campaigns and goings on in Washington D.C.
Cristina Gonzalez and Laura Nunemaker assist in the daily preparation of Nealz Nuze!
Avg. rating: N/A
What others are saying
Government Schools
I completely agree with Mr. Gatto. Government schools don't teach children - they label & stifle them! I was in 2nd Grade when I learned this. My Mom bought me a book at the store that taught cursive writing. I practiced my little fingers off. When I thought I had mastered it, I was delighted to show my teacher. Instead of telling me how well I had done or congratulating me on taking the initiative to learn on my own, her response was that I could not use cursive writing until 3rd Grade. I have never forgotten this seemingly insignificant exchange. When a child wants to learn, in fact is eager to learn, the worst thing a teacher or anyone else can do is discourage the child. In some way, I think that is the point that I realized Government education was not going to be the "Real Educator" in my life. It would simply be something to tolerate, get what I could out of it, & use it to get a diploma so that I could get into to college. Most of what I have learned in my life that has been useful has come from my parents or learning, observing & studying on my own (i.e. real life).
John Gatto
John Gatto has been writing and speaking around the world since this was published in the WSJ. His book Dumbing Us Down shortly followed (visit www.educationrevolution.org/dumbingusdown.html for more information) and most recently Weapons of Mass Instruction (www.educationrevolution.org/weapons.html) whose title premiered at the AERO conference 2005. If you're interested in information on education that is non-traditional (primarily private, some public) please do visit www.educationrevolution.org
Best
No myrmidons here...
My eight year old is usually moving when we're reading history. In my little homeschool this is acceptable, because I understand that some people learn better when they are moving. This said, I was unsure about how much he'd absorbed whereas my eleven year old son and I talk all day about all kinds of things including politics and how history (his favorite subject) has led up to current events. The other day he said, "Mommy, you know that king we read about that kept signing that charter (Magna Charta) whenever he wanted something and then would go on doing all the bad things anyway?" We had just read about King Henry, John Lacklands successor. I said, "Yes...?" wondering where this was going. "Well Mom, isn't that sort of what Obama is doing to the constitution?" I was stunned with delight that my eight year old son gets what most folks in this country seem unable to grasp. I seriously doubt that he would have been asking that question if he was in govt. school.
Homeschooling works.
1 teacher's point of view
I sent the link to my mother, an elementary teacher for the last 30 years. Here is her perspective from down in the trenches...
"A little (LOT) overstated, but he makes some very good points.
However, we (teachers/schools) are limited in what we can do by being one adult among two dozen or more students, ALL with special needs and abilities, but not very much desire to learn. Throw in the demands of parents (serve MY child well, but don’t bother me for help or support) and mandates of government (ALL students need to know algebra and the steps of mitosis, but we don’t have enough time for ANY kids any more to learn basic home and record keeping skills) and special interest groups (evolution/creationism, diversity, etc.), yada yada ad nauseum.
Of course this is overstated as well, but you probably get what I mean.
I’ve been teaching long enough to realize that most of the “latest, greatest, most desperately necessary” stuff goes in and out of fashion, and I try to teach whatever the mandate du jour is while I concentrate on actually using those basic skills while instilling responsibility, civility, and common sense, not to mention THINKING (maybe the hardest thing).
http://www.shmoozenet.com/yudel/mtarchives/001436.html This is something I keep up on my bulletin board. It also overstates some things. But, since nobody actually listens or reads all the way to the end any more, I guess we have started overstating things to try to make our points."
What has happened to all the Teachers...
I read over this article and listened to Boortz read it on the radio. While I agree with a few items that Mr. Gatto wrote about, there was an underlining issue that I just couldn't shake. What has happened to teachers that actually lead their classrooms? I know that school boards try their hardest to dictate what is taught in a classroom, but I can tell you that the best teachers I had were government teachers, but they were smart enough not to let policy and standarization dictate thier leadership and ability to really teach. There are ways to teach the cirriculum and also teach students how to think for themselves! Sure it requres a teacher to risk losing a job, but great leadership involves much risk. I am sorry that Mr. Gatto has spent 26 years teaching in NY. I am sorry that his students didn't have a teacher that was willing to stay and fight for them, to show them how to learn, really learn despite the system. Systems do not change by their own accord. The parents, students and teachers need to be the ones leading the way, even in a government schooling system. Too bad Mr. Gatto fell along with all the other teachers that let the system beat them down. What do you think that teaches the students of tomorrow?
Decisions.
And this is why my husband and I waited to have children until we could afford to either send them to private school or for me to stay home and home school our children. Our children will not go through the public school system like we did.
That is why...
When my wife and I (both educators) had our first child is was private montessori school for her. They allow learning at your own pace, and she has excelled well beyond her cousins twice her age who attend public indoctrination.
There are a few things that stick out in my mind, throughout my public education that, upon reflection, make me wonder how I turned out relatively intellignet :)
1. My first grade teacher put my in the slow kid reading group because I didn't read aloud with enough emotion...accuracy and comprehension apparently weren't important factors in her grouping decision. 2. My fifth grade teacher told me that each piece of a fraction doesn't have to be the same size...I was 10 and knew that was wrong. 3. My sixth grade math teacher gave me a zero on a homework assignment about probability because I solved all the problems assuming 54 cards in a deck (2 jokers) instead of 52, even though all the work and all the answers were correct for 54, but I'm guessing they didn't match her answer key. 4. My 7th grade social studies teacher told me that a koala was a bear (Wrong!) and that deserts had to be hot (Wrong!). 5. My eighth grade English teach used the term "should of been" in a correction she made on a paper I turned in.
Follow this link to a recent McKinsey Report
This was the most illuninating report I've seen in a long while as to the state of public "education" and its economic impact in a USA vs. "rest of the world" context. Fascinating read, for those of us willing to face the facts and stop sweeping issues like the black "anti-achievement" culture under the rug.
I heard a quote some years ago, and cannot remember who said it, but I think it applies here... "School does not take 13 years because that is how long it takes to educate a child, but how long it takes to break a child's spirit."
John Taylor Gatto
He also has an interesting article on his website that became one of the chapters in his book "Weapons of Mass Instruction." Read it here: http://johntaylorgatto.com/hp/frames.htm
Excellent!
Sums up most of the reasons that we are homeschooling our kids. All kids learn at different speeds, whether it be potty-training, walking, reading, math, etc. But govt schools put kids into categories and give them (sometimes harmful) labels based on arbitrary milestones.
I used to have respect for the teachers themselves despite hating the system, but I've started losing respect for anyone who would choose to stay in such a toxic and dysfunctional environment, harming our kids. Bravo to all the teachers who leave govt employment.
Link Now Works
I heard this on air this morning, and it helped to explain so much to me.
Although, I was brought up in the public schools, I think I lucked out being in the Idaho and Montana systems. In those areas, the influence of big city conformity would not be as high. It could be redneck-like but I even had the opportunity to take Taxidermy in 8th grade!
The best example of letting kids excel was when a teacher took a group of us in 6th grade and started teaching us computer programming, something I immediately understood and now excel.
While the public can read this and get riled up, I hope teachers and administrators read this too. Public schools will always be here, but its the individuals within the system, willing to the system for it is, and fight against it that will help. I actually hope this teacher keeps teaching. Its like the movie Equilibrium, where the government outlaws emotion in future to combat "all" things bad/human. It takes people from the inside to reveal the truth, and break the bonds of the oligarchy.
Teach your children well ...
When my child graduated to middle school, a letter of welcome was sent to our home, signed by the principal. The letter contained four grammatical errors and 11 spelling errors.
I met with this principal. I asked if he didn't know about these errors or if he didn't care. Either way, it was a pretty sad statement to make. Perhaps there was some other, rational explanation that I overlooked.
My child's education continued at a private school where the administration cared about such details.
Most interesting part of this is...
It was written in 1991. Wonder how many notice that.
link failed
Neal,
The link failed to this story. Could you possibly add the text?
Search Boortz.com
