Gatto Interpretation Draft #3

Robinson 1

Oliver Robinson English 1101x Dr. Rieman November 19th 2009

Gatto is Against School In John Taylor Gatto’s article, “Against School” he writes how our modern day education system “Cripples” the students and needs to be completely reformed. As a former teacher, Gatto brings about many good points, such as going to school less and changing the structure of the current school system. As a student the idea of less school is obviously appealing, but as I looked deeper into Gatto’s article and the points he makes, but fails to back up, I saw someone who is angered by the system and wants to change it so that in the future children will be able to become more creative and successful which will inevitably help the country. Gatto has faith in the children but not in the system and he wants every reader of his article to know that the system is failing the future geniuses of this country. After reading this article to myself and then hearing what others had to say about it, I began to agree with most, if not all, of what Gatto had to say. However, I wanted more substance to the arguments he made against our modern school system. Gatto mentions how students today are bored and even the teachers become bored with an overused and oversimplified curriculum; this could not be truer. After this point is made Gatto lets the

Robinson 2

readers down by not coming up with ideas how to change this boring attitude most people have towards school. He was a teacher for many years, as he states in the opening paragraph, so it would be assumed that he had time to think about how he would change the system. Although this is a minor let down Gatto adds substance to the article when he gives a brief, eye opening history lesson to the reader. Not much of the article surprised me until he reveals the true origins of the public school system, according to Gatto the military state of Prussia was the template used to create our current system. He reveals that the basis was to teach children how to be good people, good citizens and make them reach their personal best. This sounds harmless enough until Gatto describes the true ideas of the Prussian system which are “To produce mediocre intellects, to hamstring the inner life, to deny students appreciable leadership skills, and to ensure docile and incomplete citizens” (36). This surprising revelation gives Gatto’s argument a whole new level of interest from a reader’s point of view. What I would have liked to see is ways in which Gatto thinks the system can break away from its Prussian origins and into a more interactive system. Gatto does not give any of his own suggestions in this piece but this may not be what the article was all about. Instead of writing an article about all of his ideas maybe Gatto just wanted to bring to the reader’s attention ways in which this modern system is failing the students. Perhaps he wanted all of the readers to make a stand and try and change the current system.

Robinson 3

This is the second piece in this course to deal with the failures of our public school system. First was Jean Anyon’s essay on her findings of a hidden curriculum and now second is John Taylor Gatto’s piece on our crippling school system. Although many readers could argue that Anyon’s findings are as valid as Gatto’s article I would have to say that Gatto’s fact based article has more power to it. Anyon argues that the school system works fine for those in a higher class but fails those in a lower class. She had a small amount of evidence for this and never brought any factual articles or citations to back up her study. Gatto however brings his own knowledge as an educator as well as factual based findings to tell the reader how it is. These two essays are similar in that they both bring about faults in our current education system, Gatto’s factual based article simply does a better job of convincing the reader that there is a problem with the system and it needs to be addressed. After reading this article and the many points Gatto makes against the school system it is not hard to be angered and want to change the current system. Gatto does a great job of evoking passion in the reader against the system by slowly giving the reader points that are backed by facts that are hard to ignore. However, Gatto could have given the reader more ideas on how to change the system by giving his own opinion. I am positive that there were many readers eager to read what he had to say about the future of education. The passion Gatto has on this topic is evident throughout the article which gives the article a great strength. Although the article makes

Robinson 4

my twelve years of school seem like a redundant waste of my time, it also offers a great insight into why our school system is that way it is and that it does not always have to be this way.

SELF ASSESSMENT For this paper I think that I did a good job of reviewing Gatto’s essay then relating it to Jean Anyon’s essay that we interpreted earlier this year. However, I want to know if I have enough quotes/examples from the article by Gatto’s or Anyon’s essay. I could add some quotes but I don’t want to just add it so it lengthens the essay. I tried to add my own experience from school but I also think maybe there could be more but I am not sure where exactly to put it. Works Cited Gatto, John. “Against School.” Harper’s Magazine Sep. 2001: 33-38, Print.