Summary: “Against School,” by John Tayler Gatto In John Tayler Gatto’s ‘Against School,’ he argues that children and teachers alike have become bored with the notion of schooling. That there is no room to learn skills to build upon one's character but rather to keep busy. Children become bored of the structured material that they are forced to learn. Thus the teachers have no motivation to teach the children when there is no effort put forth. The structure of the education system causes an individual to become stuck and unable to learn skills useful to their character. The boredom that results from the busy work pressed upon the kids, has caused for a one way mind set. Gatto states how the education system has embedded the notion in a child's mind that the only way to succeed is to achieve the perfect grade. The human mind is unable to accept this idea because it is natural to rebel and express individuality. Which cannot be proclaimed through the design of the education system that forces unnecessary busy work on young minds. Not only are children bored but they are only being kept busy. There is no challenge that they are facing, merely a challenge of entertaining themselves. Most students struggle with school not because of the work load but because of the demand of long hours for intricate periods at a time. …show more content…
It is not the education of the children that is the problem more so the system that they endure. The education system of schools is holding great minds back and not allowing them to develop. Who knows, if it wasn’t for the fine structured prison that children are forced to attend, there might be more inventors or future presidents out there. Education may seem like the issue, however, it is the way we have been educated that is the
The Game of School: Why We All Play It, How It Hurts Kids, and What It Will Take to Change It by Robert L. Fried is a great tool for identifying challenges in school systems and planning school reform. This book explains in great depth the problems faced by students and educators in schools today and ends with a call to action for solving these problems. Some major concepts that arise frequently throughout the book are time being wasted, students feeling powerless and the prioritization of test scores over authentic learning. Time is wasted by everyone in school and is wasted in various ways, for example students are given busy work and teachers rush through a curriculum while students learn nothing. Students, while they are the most important stakeholders, feel as though they have no control over their education.
In “I Just Wanna Be Average,” Mike Rose explains the experience being part of a school system that had no prior knowledge to have educators to teach students. Rose supports his claims by describing the different situations he had to encounter with the lack of the school system, the hopelessness of the teachers and his peers, that lead those students with no support to lead them in a direction of success. Rose purpose is to point out that; all that it was needed was a teacher that cared enough to teach and to influence those students to succeed and to never hinder the student’s learning experience because anything is possible with an little of an encouragement. In the 8th paragraph in “I Just Wanna Be Average,” Rose describes what it felt like
In Carl Singleton’s article, “What Our Education System Needs is More F’s,” he argues that students aren’t receiving the failing grades they deserve. School systems are to blame for the lack of quality in America’s education. No other recommendation for improvement will succeed. The only way to fix the American education system is to fail more students. According to Singleton, the real root of the issue is with the parents.
Nowadays kids in school hate having to wake up early and go to school. John Taylor Gatto reveals his opinion to why that is in an article which was published in Harper’s Magazine Forum in September 2001. According to Gatto, school is “childish.” Gatto talks about many Americans that did not attend school that were very productive and self educated, such as George Washington. He believes, that going to school through our educational system is just like a children’s program.
The main argument is that perceived throughout the reading is that the schools itself is failing students. They see a student who may not have the greatest test scores or the best grades, and degrade them from the idea of being intellectual. Graff states, “We associate the educated life, the life of the mind, too narrowly and exclusively with subjects and texts that we consider inherently weighty and academic” (Graff 244). Schools need to channel the minds of street smart students and turn their work into something academic.
President Lyndon B. Johnson once said, “The Great Society rests on abundance and liberty for all,” in his speech that changed American’s views on society and the outcomes that can occur (“Great Society”).With the death of President Kennedy in November of 1963, it was Johnson’s duty to follow the path of Kennedy’s vision of making America and its future great for everyone. President Johnson named his vision and passion for the future of America that he strived to lead the Great Society(“Great Society”). Johnson’s speech on May 22, 1964 was played out for America and its people to educate the importance to supply our society with wealth, wisdom, and experience to successfully build a country where the struggled labor becomes a value for the
“What I Learned and What I Said at Princeton” by David Saderis and “Against School: How Public Education Cripple Our Kids, And Why” by John Taylor Gatto both relate to school using the experience that they encounter in the system. Both writers give example of how the education can affect the student reflection. In “What I Learned and What I Said at Princeton,” Saderis mention how his dad was in character of his school, “He had the whole outfit: Princeton breastplate, Princeton nightcap; he even got the velvet cape with the tiger hanging like a rucksack from between the should blades (Saderis 197).” Failing was not an option for Saderis; his dad is constantly bloated about him as a Princeton student. In the second essay, “Against School:
The current plight of the American education system is partly due to a serious shortage of teachers who can effectively instruct the students on the material and skills expected of their grade level and beyond. One reason may be because the current requirements for all teacher candidates are quite soft, as in many states, candidates are subject to only a number of requirements, including a bachelor’s degree, the completion of teacher training, an exam of school content knowledge, and other certifications (“Teacher Certification and Licensing Guide”). The most likely reason, however, of low-quality instruction in school is due to an inherent lack of intrinsic motivation and discipline in many teachers to do their best for students to excel in school and life, and if the teachers are too lazy and incompetent to do their jobs, students are more likely to follow that example and do so likewise in their own lives. This is shown in a chapter from Theodore R. Sizer’s book Horace's Compromise: The Dilemma of the American High School called “What High School Is,” where a story is told from the perspective of Mark, a typical high school student in the United States, including
The article continued to mention that schools are a form of social control. Schools give children a place to be and are thought how to
There are many problems that students experience, and hopefully,
Presently, these children will grow up some day and will be ignorant parents and also prevent their children from attending schools and force them to work. So Ignorance and backwardness will continue. Also this ignorance will lead to a negative impact on child psychology in the future. Parents should play an important role in their children lives, informing them about the importance of education. When people wake up tomorrow they will put all their hopes in today's children.
The resilience and perseverance they show when playing video games or looking for the perfect outfit is unavailable to them when it comes to schoolwork. They think that learning should be like
With enhancement in technology, the distraction of the media, and the lack of discipline of oneself has made students think of easier solutions to their problems. Instead of studying for long hours as our ancestors have done, we choose to satisfy ourselves with social entertainment and other fun activities then look for easy ways out when it comes to tests or final exams by taking drugs. On the other hand the fast lifestyle we have in today’s society also impacts our way of learning with limited number of hours to focus on school which are taken by work, family, and other personal issues. Students do not have much time to study the large quantity of materials that’s presented by difficult courses which causes frustration and impatience. The demand on need of different solutions is increasing and supply of that demand is pointed in the same
Our educational system is failing us. The United States of America is supposed to be the “greatest” country in the world but statistics are showing that our government/educational system is failing us; children/young adults of the nation. Being a student of a middle ranked school in Arizona, I personally have had a first-hand feel for how good and/or bad teaching affects students. Just in high school I have had teachers that would just assign websites as our lesson and even teachers that sit at their desk for the whole hour; don’t even go over the mindset, homework, and maybe only show one problem so that we’ll know what the homework will be like. Until sophomore year I didn’t even know the differences between you’re, your, too, and to.
Why the school system is bad - Arshia Education is very important for everyone and it will only get more important. Schooling is just plain bad. It used to serve a purpose, like the heart in a person 's body, but now it is basically just boring students more and more. Nowadays at the end of the day, we all just want to go home.