www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Education and John Taylor Gatto

I'm not certain how this relates, but I have a hunch it is crucial. How many of you have ever heard of John Taylor Gatto? Here is a website:

http://www.johntaylorgatto.com/

My comments are not so much about Gatto, whose ideas I'm only secondarily familiar but about education and its affects upon people.

I've long thought that our educational system is more akin to prison than to education. It is designed to create dysfunctional lemmings rather than creative human beings.

I have many thoughts on this subject. Care to join me in a conversation?

Dan Lauffer

Dan,

I'd love to hear your thoughts - those of an educator who considers our system akin to prison.

Actually I thought the system was designed to make functional lemmings, but instead too often makes dysfunctional narcissists, with self-esteem predicated mere existence rather than mastery.

Sum ergo cogito.

Dan,
sort of reinforces what I have thought of the public school system from back when I was in public high school. Most people these days don't believe it, but I was taught during eight years of Catholic elementary school in the sixties, to think for myself, form my own conclusions, to use the brain that God had created in me. Then I went to a public high school and was labeled a trouble maker if I disagreed with a teacher's opinion, or even suggested that what the teacher was saying was an opinion and not fact.

It has only gotten worse over the years and I saw it when my own three were in public school. Now I am homeschooling and see the mistake I made by leaving them in the system for so long, thinking I wasn't able to teach them myself. My daughter has a memory problem and so was labeled learning disabled. I thought that meant the schools would teach her how to access her own style of learning, teach her how to work around the problem. Instead I found out that they were all but doing the work for her, leading her by hand, trying to force her to fit the mold, and then gave the impression that college would be too hard for her and she would do better in a trade. If a trade was her own choice this would be fine, but on and off over the years the child showed interest in fields that need a college degree. Suddenly that interest is dead and she is thinking of fashion design of all things. One year of private school where she was allowed to do her own work, in her own style and she is thinking of law school again.

Some people thinking that the 'dumbing down' theory is just a conspiracy theorist's nightmare. I did too for a while, only because the alternative seemed like something out of science fiction. Call me a conspiracy theorist, but I think that the only kids who manage to get an education out of our public schools are those who have parents who stay on them to excell and who are willing to work hard on their own.

Slava Isusu Christi

Vie

djs,

"Actually I thought the system was designed to make functional lemmings, but instead too often makes dysfunctional narcissists, with self-esteem predicated mere existence rather than mastery."

"Functional lemmings" I love it! Although many function, as you of course suggest, as quite "functional narcissists".

I come at the subject of education from a great degree of frustration with the regimentation of it all. The one thing I don't like about teaching in a University setting is the regimentation of the entire enterprise.

We do have discussions, creative oral reports, field trips, and the like but it still is not what it should be. Frankly, I feel a bit guilty about it.

One thing I do beyond this is to tell the students that their education has trained them to be good servants of the upper classes and not much more. O yes, graduate school, if you get that far, will provide some mentoring but it's only better by degree.

I show them how the American system really is a caste system not much different from the Hindu caste system. Unless they are able to get a mentor they will probably always be an employee. If that is what they really wish to be that is fine, but many wish to be something else and find themselves trapped in a system that provides little or no alternatives.

I've used Robert Kiyosaki's, "The Cash Flow Quandrant" to explain how culture really works. I give a short non graded quiz to let them see if they really want to be something other than an employee and challenge them to read Kiyosaki's book. Finally, for those who have the initiative to read the book and write a brief report on it, I offer to be a mentor for them. Still, I wish I could do more.

Dan Lauffer

Vie,

Your experience with your daughter warms my heart. It is sad that the school system is pretty much designed to create employees and not masters of anything but it is very encouraging that you came to her rescue.

Here's a bit of our personal story. For several summers as our sons were growing up we attended a music camp in southwestern Michigan. A fellow named Gordon always offered a couple of courses. One in art (drawing) and the other in educational theory. We always took both of them. His thesis for both was that while there are seven ways to learn public education only uses one. His approach was absolutely fascinating.

Both of our sons had the privilege of attending Montessori classes from first through fifth grades.

Andrew was affected most adversely from the change from Montessori to traditional. Amazingly, one year he would do very well and the next he would do very poorly until he reached high school. He spent more time in the principal's office than in classes. When asked why, he said, "The principal likes me." When we asked the principal he agreed. It seems that Andy would do almost anything to stay out of the classes with some notable exceptions. We wondered if he would even get into college. He made it but we worried.

During his first semester of his Freshmen year he decided to take the two courses he hated the most and get them out of the way. He promptly wound up on a list for academic poor performers. However, his decision turned out to be a wise one in a curious sort of way. From that point on he received nothing below a B and mostly A's. He really turned in on in areas in which he could express his creativity in writing.

Dan Lauffer