Against School by John Taylor Gatto the Essay

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Against School by John Taylor Gatto

The article is written by a former teacher who retired and hence recounts his experiences and tribulations in the teaching profession. He also airs his observations of the system and the shortcomings that he feels are in the system. He also suggests various ways through which the education system in America can be adjusted to fit the needs of the nation and of the children involved in the system.

Having taught for thirty years, Taylor indicates that there is nothing more commonly shared among children than boredom. It is an event that cuts across the children and the teachers with each side having the other side to blame. The most outstanding reason however is the education system that confines the teachers and the children to a routine for twelve years in compulsory program. The boredom comes from a predictable schedule and content by both the children and the teachers who are enshrined in the system.

The first argument in support for his castigation of the education system of the U.S.A. As it is the routine in terms of hours per day spent in school and the market value that is tied to the schooling system. He sights various figures that did not go through the entire schooling system but became significant people within the society, a proof that the schooling system is not the ultimate marking scheme for greatness in the society.

Taylor also argues that the education system is highly borrowed from the Prussian system hence makes the children to imbibe a foreign culture and as a consequence of it, the people going through the schooling system are meant to be adaptive and 'adjustive' to the governance system, to easily conform to the needs of the system, to be able to get assigned social roles and predeterminations of future and he notes that the system is also selective setting apart the weak ones in terms of grades from the stronger ones who have better grades.

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The last of the arguments fronted by Taylor is the ability of education system to hinder the critical thinking of the children but surrender them to accept what the world has to offer them without criticizing. He calls these groups children, indeed says that "School has done a pretty good job of turning our children into addicts, but it has done a spectacular job of turning our children into children. Again, this is no accident" (Taylor J., 2003), which is summative conclusion to all the arguments made hitherto.

Response to text

Taylor puts forth his thesis and succinct defense of his thesis drawing a few examples from the current American society, all in effort to discredit the schooling system that exists. His arguments though fall short of looking at the numerous benefits that the education system has brought into the society.

It is not enough to mention one person who helped invent the WWI chemicals without necessarily having a college background, but there should be equal consideration given to the medics and research scientists who helped come up with medicine that would successfully see the eradication of malaria and other infectious diseases like chicken pox from the U.S.A. The medical field has inventions that have heavy academic backgrounds that equipped the scientists with the in-depth knowledge of the human body and the disease trends which would not be possible without education.

Indeed the argument that the schooling system is a mandatory confinement and o the other hand recognizing the home schooling system that has been embraced by millions….....

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