Readers Response #1 - Gatto

John Taylor Gatto, an award winning teacher in the New York State Public Schools offers a provocative view on the current education system, in his article Against School, which was published in Harper’s Magazine in September 2003.   Gatto discusses his observations, after a lifetime of teaching, on the level of boredom that exists with both teachers and pupils in the current model of education in the United States.  He questions whether we really need to be schooled, or whether our education can be garnered in other ways, reminding us that many of the most influential people of our time had not been schooled as we know it,  but had been educated in ways that allowed them to become great leaders, inventors or writers.  He reminds us of the mission of public education, which is to make us good people and citizens who strive to reach our highest potential. He then questions the validity of this mission by discussing the Prussian education system in the early 19th century, that was adopted by the United States and whose purpose was to stifle creative thinking for the masses and only have a small elite group of scholars bubble to the top of the heap to keep the masses unquestioning and obedient.
As the parent of two children who are now adults themselves, my observation has been that many parents turn their children over to the school system with the hope that teachers will do the job of turning them into well rounded, intelligent, motivated adults by their 18th birthday.   I fully concur with Gatto’s grandfather when Gatto at seven years old mentioned his boredom; he tells us his grandfather said “….. I was never to use that term in his presence again, that if I was bored it was my fault and no one else’s” (148) . It is essential for parents to empower children to attain complete autonomy, while instilling a love of the natural world and adventure, and a belief that they should let nothing limit their thinking.
 The more subtle message that Gatto received, at seven years old, when his Grandfather told him that he only had himself to blame if he was bored was that he had to take responsibility for creating the excitement in his life.  Unfortunately today a temptingly easy response would be to put the child in front of a television set, as we busily go on with the things on our long list of “to do’s”. We have to resist that temptation and take the time to really listen to our children and encourage the creative thinking that comes out of someone being interested in their ideas. With my own children it was so important to me that they knew where their food came from so from a very young age we had a large vegetable garden that they helped to grow and nurture.  My husband and I took them on backpacking and camping trips in the Sierra Nevada mountains, multi-day river rafting trips in Montana where they learned how to fish and take care of themselves out in the wilderness.  We taught them about different countries and different cultures around the world.  By age eighteen they had travelled to South Africa, the British Virgin Islands, Japan, Europe and Canada because we believe that nothing can open your mind up like traveling to another part of the world where people live very differently.   We always encouraged them to try a new activity or even a new type of food.  Our philosophy as parents was to introduce them to as much diversity as possible, so as to allow them to discover where their own passions lie which would then inspire them to achieve whatever they set their mind to.
Although I agree with Gatto in many ways, that our education system stifles creativity, encourages boredom and does not allow children to open their minds to their fullest potential, I do believe that some schooling has its place in our society and is very necessary in the absence of a viable national alternative.  Perhaps if, as a society we could spend much less time in the classroom, worrying about grades and standardized tests that pigeon hole us into places we don’t belong, and if parents could take on more responsibility encouraging their children in a wide range of ways to discover their passions then perhaps we can transcend the current stagnant and somewhat ineffective system that is in place right now.