Dumbing Us Down - 25th Anniversary Edition: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling

While this is a slim volume, it's not a quick read. Gatto gives the reader a lot to chew on as your entire public school experience is presented in a different light. Crazy to think that this was written 30+ years ago before our schools started to falter even more. This book is changing the way I view not just education, but our American way of life. Highly recommend.

Good read and lots of facts to support the points made

One of the best of thousands of books I have purchased. Everyone should learn John Taylor Gatto's evaluation of our educations. We are dumbed down to be consumers and employees, and subservient to government not leaders and thinkers. This book as changed my life.

As a former teacher, when I started to consider homeschooling, I really struggled with what to actually do at home. In my mind I had the idea that to homeschool I needed to replicate public school, at home. However, when I read Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling by John Taylor Gatto, all of that changed. Gatto's book opened my eyes to the idea of less school for more learning. Now I do want to be clear here, I am not one for conspiracy theories. I don't think that there is some master puppeteer trying to make our kids in to zombies or sluggards. Instead I think Gatto makes clear arguments for why our American education system must be changed. On page 69 Gatto compels us to "Break up these institutional schools, decertify teaching, let anyone who has a mind to teach bid for customers, privatize this whole business-trust the free market system." I have to say that it makes a lot of sense. The public school system is broken, period. No one can argue that but I think the portion of Gatto's writing on page 55 is a crucial aspect of why our society is struggling so much. He writes: "By isolating young and old from working life of places and by isolating the working population from the lives of young and old, institutions and networks have brought about a fundamental disconnection of the generations. The griefs that arise from this have no synthetic remedy; no vibrant. satisfying communities can come into being where young and old are locked away." Teachers are also dealing with children that are growing up in an isolated bubble of people their own age, rather than experiencing all of the stages of life. If students don't get to see what else life has to offer why would the care about learning more and doing better? Overall, Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling by John Taylor Gatto, is an argument for why privatized schooling and homeschooling are so crucial. If you are on the fence about your children remaining in public school this book is for you.

I am a homeschool mom and this book stopped me in my tracks. It is one of those reads that makes you question assumptions you did not even realize you had about education, childhood, and what it actually means to raise a capable human being. Gatto's core argument is that compulsory schooling was never really designed to produce independent thinkers. It was designed to produce compliant, dependent ones. He lays it out through what he calls the seven lessons that school teaches implicitly, things like confusion, indifference, and emotional dependency, regardless of the subject being taught. As someone already outside the traditional school system it still made me look hard at my own approach. The ideas that hit me hardest were around protecting unstructured time as non-negotiable rather than leftover time, letting boredom happen instead of rushing to fill it, and the idea that family and community time is not separate from education, it is education. That last one shifted something for me. One honest note on the writing style: it can be dense and a bit difficult to follow at times. It is not a quick casual read. Go in prepared to sit with it and take notes. If you are a parent questioning the system, homeschooling, or just curious about how modern education actually shapes kids, this book is worth every page.

Really enjoyed this one. Fantastic book to read for anyone interested in the education systems. This is my first Gatto book but will probably read more!

Such a good read for homeschooling parents and people who are on the fence about homeschooling! I loved reading this book so much I recommended it other families I know. You have to read the entire thing to understand what is going on, you won’t understand from this one piece in the beginning.

This book was PHENOMENAL! As a homemaker who has always homeschooled our children—this book was another reminder that we chose the correct path from the beginning! Our children are light years ahead of their peers + we spend a fraction of the time on “schooling.” They love being outside in nature, are obsessed w/ reading, figuring out how things work, want to research about bugs, animals plants etc., ask questions constantly, are super curious, kind etc. As a product of the public school system, I have had to drop, while still working on it, a few of these concepts that were intentionally embedded in my head. I need to get out of their way—give them more opportunities to figure it out! Ask them more questions about what they are interested in—would like to learn. This book speaks heavily on the loss of community + the “jailing” of the old + the young. A reminder that the young need the old + vice versa! A true community is the only way we can thrive! If your children are still a part of the system—this book should make you angry enough to remove them! If you’re already homeschooling—this books should encourage you to create a stronger bond w/in your community + drop any institutional ideologies that we may still be carrying +/or projecting onto our children. This book is a quick read. Mark up those pages + go back for reference. May we all live + be Monongahela.

Se tardó en llegar pero llegó. Llegó en buen estado y se ve que está interesante.

A must read for every one who cares about children and society.

Mr Gatto is nailing down an issue that stands clear in front of us, using a very effective language. A book that I am actively reccomending.

Ótima leitura para os interessados no tema da Educação.

Highly recommended for educators, families or curious minds interested in rethinking our approach to education.