Summary Of John Gatto

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Drew Huff 2/24/2011 English 108 12:30 pm Summary of John Taylor Gatto’s Against School John Taylor Gatto’s essay “Against School” explains what he thinks about education. He critizes the fact of whether schooling is even nessacary and what is even the purpose of the educational system. He says why is it that children are forced to attend school, why are they faced with all kinds of boredom, what are they learning, and so on. Gatto states that there are many types of education in the world. Such as the education systems in Prussia, ancient India, and ancient China are known as compulsory schooling. This school he states is a type that is just used to dumb people down he believes. He explains when this type of schooling was brought into the United States and what he thinks it is used for. Gatto explains what is said to be the three reasons to the purpose of schooling. First is to make good people, next is to make good citizens, and last is to make each person his or her best. He states that many of us think this is true and some schools even exercise this but in the real world we are wrong. The Prussia style of schooling teaches the children the worst aspects of culture. Gatto then states that the real purposes of schooling which he says he learned from James Bryant Conant. He says without Conant the schooling wouldn’t have the same style and degree of standard testing we have today. Gatto then goes on to say the Inglis gives a perfect understanding why compulsory schooling was brought to the United States. He states that Inglis breaks down the actual purpose of modern schooling into six basic functions. Adjustive or adaptive function, integrating function, diagnostic and directive function, differentiating function, selective function, and propaedeutic function. This although Gatto states is the purpose of the mandatory public eduction in this country. In
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