Gatto - Dumbing us down the hidden curriculum of compulsory schooling

Praise for John Taylor Gatto and Dumbing Us Down

A remarkable achievement. I cant remember ever reading such a profound analysis of modern education.

Howard Zinn, on The Underground
History of American Education

Educations most original thinker.

Daniel H. Pink, author of
Free Agent Nation

Ive loved John Gattos work ever since I first encountered his astounding essays.

Christiane Northrup, MD, author of
Womens Bodies, Womens Wisdom

I count John Gatto among my heroes.

Robert Bly

Gatto is a singular antidote to stale convention.

David Guterson, author of
Snow Falling on Cedars

Brilliant Work!

Laissez Faire Books

I agree with damn near every semi-colon and comma that Mr. Gatto has written.

Tom Peters, author of
In Search of Excellence

Gattos voice is strong and unique, a Socrates of the educational world.

Thomas Moore,
author of Care of the Soul

Any student would be lucky to have a teacher like Gatto.

Editorial in Commonweal

Im still baffled by how someone so forthright would have been named Teacher of the Year.

Jeanne Allen, Editor,
Education Update, Washington DC

One of the worlds most controversial education reformists.

The Western Australian

Inspirational and chillingly on the money.

Bruce Bebb,
The Hollywood Reporter,
Hollywood CA

Youve got guts.

DArcy Rickard, British Columbia School
Trustees Association, Canada

Easily the most brilliant and arresting salvo on education that Ive seen.

Graham Betts,
Madison WI

I read what you had to say with the greatest of delight and shared it with friends, one of whom said it brought tears to her eyes. We both thank you for writing.

Edward M. Jones, Editor,
A Voice for Children, Santa Fe NM

Professor Kenneth E. Boulding saw your writing and got it to me. I so fully agreed with everything you said that you have re-excited me about the similar mission I am on.

Ed Lyell, Colorado State Board
of Education, Denver CO

A very important and passionate booka reawakening of the penetrating critique of schooling made in the 1960s by John Holt, Jonathan Kozol, and James Herndon...it deserves to be in every bookstore in the country. Yours is a voice of humanity, community, and love. Bravo!

Ron Miller, Editor,
Holistic Education Review

My daughter, a smart, dedicated 14-year-old who just dropped out of high school and is successfully pursuing independent studies, reports that your findings about the nature of institutional schooling are precisely right. Drove her nuts.

Ken Richards,
Richmond IN

Brilliant. Ive never seen so many true statements about education, children, and families in one place.... Your insights and integrity are wonderful.

Norah Dooley,
Cambridge MA

Seldom have I read such a penetrating and passionate diagnosis of our current educational and cultural crisis. And I have read all the current weighty expostulations.

Robert Inchausti,
California Polytechnic University,
San Luis Obispo CA

I can visualize the Department of Education putting out a contract on your life. Please continue to speak out in the direction you are going.

W. Evans,
Woodbury/St.George UT

Your articles are wonderful and so desperately needed. Ive copied them for a dozen families and everyone was enthusiastic. One mother said, We should elect this man President!

Elaine Majors,
Chapel Hill NC

Thank you for challenging public educationin your Wall Street Journal editorial, your evening program at Carnegie Hall, your book, and all the rest.

Sandra Booth,
Spring Valley NY

It is as refreshing to read and hear your words as it is to study Zen.... Good show!

John Warfield,
Huntingdon VA

Copyright 2017 by John Taylor Gatto.
First edition 1992 by John Taylor Gatto. All rights reserved.

Cover design by Diane McIntosh.
Cover Images iStock

Printed in Canada. First printing April 2017

Inquiries regarding requests to reprint all or part of Dumbing Us Down should be addressed to New Society Publishers at the address below.
To order directly from the publishers, please call toll-free (North America) 1-800-567-6772, or order online at www.newsociety.com

Any other inquiries can be directed by mail to:

New Society Publishers
P.O. Box 189, Gabriola Island, BC V0R 1X0, Canada
(250) 247-9737

Gatto, John Taylor, author
Dumbing us down : the hidden curriculum of compulsory schooling / John Taylor Gatto.25th anniversary edition.

Contents: The seven-lesson schoolteacherThe psychopathic schoolThe green monongahelaWe need less school, not moreThe congregational principle.

Issued in print and electronic formats.
ISBN 978-0-86571-856-2 (hardcover).ISBN 978-0-86571-854-8 (softcover).ISBN 978-1-55092-649-1 (PDF).ISBN 978-1-77142-244-4 (EPUB)

LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION

1. EducationAims and objectivesUnited States. 2. Educational sociologyUnited States. 3. Education, CompulsoryUnited States. I. Title.

LA210.G38 2017 370.973 C2017-902383-7
C2017-902384-5

New Society Publishers mission is to publish books that contribute in fundamental ways to building an ecologically sustainable and just society, and to do so with the least possible impact on the environment, in a manner that models this vision.

This 25th Anniversary Edition
is dedicated with deep love to my Scottish wife Janet, my enduring inspiration, and her children, Raven and Briseis, both thoroughbreds; plus our Icelandic granddaughter, assistant Dean of Admissions at Hampshire College in Amherst, Mass.

God bless you all for saturating my life with higher meaning.

Sparkle and shine in the face of darkness.

I CARRY A CARD in my wallet with a quote from John Taylor Gatto. I look at this card any time I feel the urge to settle on an easy path and to stop learning. It reads, You either learn your way towards writing your own script in life, or you unwittingly become an actor in someone elses script.

I was the perfect student through high school and the beginning of college. I got good grades, turned assignments in on time, got into an Ivy League university, landed a comfortable research fellowship, and continued my track towards being defined as a top student. Then, I left school.

I loved learning and enjoyed the aspects of school that allowed me to do that, but I always knew there was something off about school when I was a student. I was a product of the No Child Left Behind era, and I remember the deluge of standardized tests that always defined the end of the school year. My best teachers were those who did not follow exam requirements and only begrudgingly made sure that the exams were completed.

The best teacher I had was one who signed passes so students could skip other classes to go to her classroom and work on whatever they wanted. The worst were those obsessed with meeting state-mandated standards.