Dumbing us Down

The system is making us more more stupider

It's hard not to be overly critical when reading this title. But let’s do it.

John Taylor Gatto was publisher turned teacher in New York City. He was fed up with his life in the marketing industry and turned to public service, teaching English to Middle school students. His book goes through the lessons and realisations of the education system and what it really stands for. It is also worth mentioning that during his career he also achieved several ‘Best teacher’ awards. Maybe his voice is someone worth listening to.

Here I will break down some of his observations and realisations. He stripped away all the BS and just told it like it is. I will try and do the same.

It was so nice reading this book as I came to similar conclusions throughout my own career. I have started my workshops and I am trying to give parents the confidence to choose other alternative styles of education. It is a challenge.

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John’s 7 Lessons

Lesson 1: Confusion:

The teacher teaches confusion. The curriculum is designed to confuse children. Everything is taught in abstract and out of context. The teacher teaches the unrelating of everything. Planets, religion, assemblies, gases and liquids, fire drills, standardised tests etc. What do any of these things have to do with each other? Students finish school with a collection of superficial facts and concepts and not a genuine love and enthusiasm for one thing.

Humans seek meaning not disconnect. The natural sequence of a progression of light to sunrise to sunset, ancient procedure to farming and preparation of a feast are all actions followed by a justifying action. It all has a meaning. The school sequence jumps from subject to subject, break time to learning time where things are not connected.

Lesson 2: Class Position

Students are taught to stay in the classroom where they belong. They all are in register order and have been assigned a number or colour group.

Numbers could mean a grade or position which can be an illusive business. It is not up to the teacher to question why they have a number, just give them one, they need one. The teacher's job is to get the children to like being put in a room for the majority of the day. A teacher has done a good job if the student can envy or fear being in another class and it works really well when they can manage and police themselves.

A teacher can further promote and reward students by achieving certain test scores and, later, suggesting that these test scores will get them employed in the future.

Socrates said thousands of years ago:

‘The lesson of numbered classes is that everyone has a proper place in the pyramid and that there is no way out of your class except by number magic. Failing that, you must stay where you are put.’

Lesson 3: Indifference

Teachers teach students to not care about anything too much. How do you do that? First, the teacher demands that students become totally involved in the lesson and compete for my attention from the rest of their peers. However, when the bell rings the students must drop everything and move on to the next task.

Students are like light switches, turning on and off their enthusiasm to lessons and the bell indicates that what you were just working on is now longer important. Bells condition us for later in life.

Lesson 4: Emotional Dependency

Dojos, ticks and crosses, smiley faces, stars and stripes all condition students to surrender their will to the powers at be. Teachers intervene in personal matters of the students, handing out disciplinary measures or rewards.

The will of students are always trying to assert itself in a classroom and it is the teacher's job to control and manipulate this will.

Individuality is a conflict in the classroom. Examples of this are: Students wanting to go for a bathroom break when they don’t actually need one, or forgetting something that is in their bag out in the corridor. The teacher knows they don’t need the toilet or get something from their bag, but allows this to happen. This deception teaches students that they need the permission from the teacher to do these things.

Lesson 5: Intellectual Dependency

Good students wait for the teacher to tell them what to do. Waiting for the expert to tell us what to do. What to learn, when to learn? The teacher decides what to learn and the powers behind the teacher controls the curriculum and the teacher implements it.

The power to control what children think allows the teacher to see who the successful students are and the failures. Successful students do the thing that is assigned to them with minimal resistance and enthusiasm. The thing that is learnt is controlled by the teacher who in fact has been given their direction from a ‘faceless’ employer.

There is no time or space for curiosity, only conformity.

Good people wait for an expert to tell them what to do, in fact our entire economy depends on this model. The conditioning starts at school.

Lesson 6: Provisional Self-esteem

Teaching that self-respect is dependent on expert opinion. If a world was inhabited by super confident people then our systems would fail.

Reports are sent home termly to reduce a child to a single figure for a parent to see how satisfied or dissatisfied adults around them are. A constant stream of dissatisfaction is a good business model for books and curriculums to be updated and repurchased.

A set of grades are collated together for a child to determine what they can and can’t do. GCSEs, end of year exams, report cards dictate a future for a child and the system dictates their path. Strangers, systems and unseen faces are the ones in control.

Lesson 7: One Can’t Hide

There are no hiding places in the classroom. You finished your work-there is an extension. The bell has gone-we have 120 seconds to get to assembly. Go to the library by yourself-no way!

The school is designed for children to tell on each other which gives it a soviet style self policing effect, but this extends to the home environment as well. Parents come in and off load their observations to the teacher at parent meetings and children come in and happily diverge information from last night's dinner.

Homework takes time. Time to limit the learning of other things maybe from the child’s parents or exploring ideas.

‘Children must be children must be closely watched if you want to keep a society under tight central control’

Final thoughts

As I read and write this I am constantly changing my mind. This is ridiculous (of course because they can’t go to the library by themselves for health and safety) . John is right (why can’t I give this child a little more freedom to go and choose a book, and take your time).

I recall travelling through Nepal. As I passed a building a small child came running out with an empty canister of water. He must have been about 6 years old. He was running to fill up the canister from a fountain which we passed 1km away. I walked into the building and it was a school. I spent some time looking at the conditions of the school, which were very very poor and trying to speak to the staff. The school had only 10 students but I could see that the students had responsibilities and trust from the adults around them.

It is hard to not be cynical and negative towards the current system. This quote comes to mind:

‘Does a fish know it’s in water?’

Meaning it is hard to tell and be critical of a system when you are in the system.

Where to find his book:

Right here. It is free on google.