Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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42 of 42 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Truth, June 17, 2008
John Taylor Gatto is a former New York public schoolteacher who taught for thirty years and won multiple awards for his teaching. However, constant harassment by unhelpful administrations plus his own frustrations with what he came to realize were the inherent systemic deficiencies of our `public' schools led him to resign; he now is a school-choice activist who writes and speaks against our compulsory, government-run school system.
THE UNDERGROUND HISTORY OF AMERICAN EDUCATION is a freewheeling investigation into the real - as opposed to the `official' - history of schooling, focused on the U.S. but with examinations of other historical examples for the purposes of comparing and contrasting, as well as for tracing where ideas and concepts related to education originated. You will discover things you were never told in the official version, things that will, at times, surprise, disgust, and scare you. You will also be introduced to the little-known historiography of the the darker side of the construction of compulsory government schooling.
In the final analysis, Gatto believes that compulsory, government-run schooling is inherently destructive to true education, the cultivation of self-reliance, and indeed to individualism - which used to be a defining element of the American character. The true purpose of our public school system in reality has more to do with control than it does with learning. This does not mean that rank-and-file teachers, principals, and even superintendents believe they are making students dumber, more conformist, less self-reliant, less capable of genuine analytical, independent thought, and more easily controlled; most people involved in the system no doubt believe that they are trying their best to really teach their students. However, the system itself (which Gatto often characterizes as a complex web) ensures that its real purpose is served, despite the efforts of individual reformers within it - that true democracy is rendered unworkable even as the trappings of democracy are allegedly bolstered. Seen in this light, these institutions that produce barely literate, dependent, conformist, incomplete individuals full of emotional and psychological problems, who lack real knowledge (and whose capacity for acquiring such is deliberately weakened or eliminated), and who are just `educated' enough to pay their taxes and buy the latest products, are not, in fact, failing schools - on the contrary, if we are to believe Gatto's analysis, they are performing their designated function PERFECTLY. That purpose is to mold people in such a way as to make them more easily controlled by corporations and the state (a clear-cut example of how, contrary to popular myth, the interests of big business and those of big government more often than not coincide.)
Though the organization of the book is somewhat haphazard, and there are occasional writing errors, this book is compulsively readable to any critical thinker with an open mind to consider what's REALLY wrong with our school system (and, no, it's nothing so simple as a shortage of funds or a lack of `accountability' -- the real problems are deeper, philosophical, and systemic.) The book is absolutely riveting, and the country would be better off if more citizens read it and demanded real change to the system. Unfortunately, since most citizens have been "educated" in our "public' schools" they might either completely lack the ability to understand Gatto's often complex arguments, or, if they can grasp them, many will doubtless instinctively reject their unsavory implications, however true they may be.
Gatto's book deserves five stars because, despite its imperfections, it dares to speak the truth.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Underground History of American Education, March 1, 2009
This book is on my all-time top 10 list. While it is well worth the price, it is also available in its entirety online, at www.johntaylorgatto.com for free. I read it there first, and then purchased it to read again, annotate, and loan to friends. Gatto's books are all excellent, but this one is his opus. I also highly recommend Education: Free and Compulsory by Murray Rothbard. This is also available online, free, at www.mises.org. It was written decades ago, in the 60's I believe, and is amazing in its support of homeschooling, an option essentially unknown at that time. It is much shorter, at about 150 pages, than Underground History and so makes a good starting point. Mises is a generally excellent source for all manner of libertarian writings. They operate an online bookstore, but every item they control the copyright to is also available free online. As a result of these books (and many others also), we have liberated 3 of our children from the tyranny, thought control, and general low standards of our local magnet school. Our 4th is a senior this year. I'm sorry it is too late for him, but we certainly won't be sending him to a public university. My entire experience with now 13 years of public schools can be summed up in four words - I had no idea. I would also suggest that if you have children in public school now, esp high school, have them bring home all their text books and look over them closely. You may be surprised to see the PC content of the texts, not just the obvious history, government, and economics books but also English (we have an English grammar book, but we don't use it at all - indeed the pages are in pristine condition is spite of being issued to 3 previous students. Also, we don't actually write term papers, even in two years of AP English, although we do make videos. I'm sure our college profs will accept those as well. And we are well up to speed in Oprah Lit.), math (we don't do proofs in Geometry, they aren't tested on the SAT you know) and of course science, the most PC of all (few actual labs, but we do draw posters in the lab as group projects- cooperation is very important, and fully one third of our course syllabus in biology is devoted to evolution, ecology, and global warming - because the debate is over, don't you know). Let me emphasize that this is the only magnet academic high school in the city, not just an average public school. My son is a National Merit Finalist this year, one of 22 in his class. This school consistently has more Finalists than any other school in TN - they are very good at test prep, leaving the impression that they are teaching something worth knowing. I didn't know before, but now I do, and you will too if you read Gatto's book.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Highly Academic Look at the History of Schools, Important Book, December 8, 2008
Gatto, a school teacher for almost 30 years, wonders how or why he spent a large portion of his life as a teacher. He goes into extreme detail, exploring the history of education, especially focusing on the 1800's and early 1900's.
The theme repeated over, and over, and over again is simple: That our "modern" educational system, not just in the U.S. but England and Europe as well, has one design, and one purpose. To make children stupid. To make children into a lower working class who believe in material objects, who cannot think for themselves, and who follow orders.
Gatto carefully tracks from many angles how the structure of school was set up, so that the teachers, and the parents HAVE NO POWER over what the government says or does to their children. He also documents how much smarter children are who are not schooled, citing amazing abilities. With clear quotes and extremely thorough research he proves without a shadow of a doubt, that school is designed to make our children into dumb and lifeless objects by promoting fake dependence and thwarting natural development.
This book is very dense and detailed, so be prepared for that.
Review is by Ramiel Nagel author of Healing Our Children: Because Your New Baby Matters! Sacred Wisdom for Preconception, Pregnancy, Birth and Parenting (ages 0-6) & Cure Tooth Decay: Heal and Prevent Cavities with Nutrition (First Edition).
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