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Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling (Hardcover)

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4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (138 customer reviews)

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Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

In this tenth-anniversary edition, Gatto updates his theories on how the U.S. educational system cranks out students the way Detroit cranks out Buicks. He contends that students are more programmed to conform to economic and social norms rather than really taught to think.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Description

A highly praised bestseller for over a decade, Dumbing Us Down is a radical treatise on public education that concludes that compulsory government schooling does little but teach young people to follow orders like cogs in a machine. This Special Collector's Hardcover Edition celebrates 100,000 copies of the book in print, and the book's on-going importance and popularity.

John Gatto was a teacher in New York City's public schools for over 30 years and is a recipient of the New York State Teacher of the Year award. A much-sought after speaker on education throughout North America, his other books include A Different Kind of Teacher (Berkeley Hills Books, 2001) and The Underground History of American Education (Oxford Village Press, 2000).

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Product Details

  • Hardcover: 144 pages
  • Publisher: New Society Publishers; Collectors edition (March 1, 2005)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 086571519X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0865715196
  • Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 0.7 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (138 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #189,046 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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John Taylor Gatto
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138 Reviews
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291 of 303 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Real learning demands individuality, not regimentation., March 1, 2000
By Patricia Brattan (N. Hollywood, CA USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling (Paperback)
After 26 years of teaching in the New York public schools, John Taylor Gatto has seen a lot. His book,Dumbing Us Down, is a treatise against what he believes to be the destructive nature of schooling. The book opens with a chapter called "The Seven-Lesson Schoolteacher," in which he outlines sevenharmful lessons he must convey as a public schoolteacher: 1.) confusion 2.) class position 3.) indifference 4.) emotional dependency 5.) intellectual dependency 6.) provisional self-esteem 7.) constant surveillance and the denial of privacy.

How ironic it is that Gatto's first two chapters contain the text of his acceptance speeches for NewYork State and City Teacher of the Year Awards. How ironic indeed, that he uses his own award presentation as a forum to attack the very same educational system that is honoring him! Gatto describes schooling, as opposed to learning, as a "twelve-year jail sentence where bad habits are the onlycurriculum truly learned. I teach school and win awards doing it," taunts the author.

While trapped in this debilitative system along with his students, Gatto, observed in them anoverwhelming dependence. He believes that school teaches this dependence by purposely inhibitingindependent thinking, and reinforcing indifference to adult thinking. He describes his students as"having almost no curiosity, a poor sense of the future, are a historical, cruel, uneasy with intimacy, and materialistic."

Gatto suggests that the remedy to this crisis in education is less time spent in school, and more timespent with family and "in meaningful pursuits in their communities." He advocates apprenticeships andhome schooling as a way for children to learn. He even goes so far as to argue for the removal of certification requirements for teachers, and letting "anybody who wants to, teach."

Gatto's style of writing is simple and easy to follow. He interlaces personal stories throughout the book to bring clarity and harmony to his views, while also drawing on logic and history to support his ideas about freedom in education and a return to building community. He clearly distinguishes communities from networks: "Communities ... are complex relationships of commonality and obligation," whereas, "Networksdon't require the whole person, but only a narrow piece."

While Gatto harshly criticizes schooling, we must realize that his opinions do come as a result of 26 yearsof experience and frustration with the public school system. Unfortunately, whether or not one agrees with his solutions, he has not outlined the logistics of how these improvements would be implemented. His ideas are based on idealism, and the reality of numbers and economics would present many obstacles. Nevertheless, it gives us a clear vision and a direction to follow for teachers and parents who believe in the family as the most important agent for childrearing and growth.

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169 of 176 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Superb! Should be Required Reading, May 19, 2002
By apoem "apoem" (Bosque Farms, NM USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling (Paperback)
Everyone who has something to do with children should read this book: Educators, parents, counselors and employers.

This is not a book about solutions- This is a book about recognizing the problem. As we know, recognizing the problem is the first step to correcting the situation.

This is a series of essays and speaches the author has written about education in the United States. Mr. Gatto is an award winning teacher who has taken the brave step of stating what he sees wrong with education. As only someone who has worked in the system for so long can really see the problems, he not only sees the problems, he shares them with the rest of the nation.

As a teacher who has quit to stay at home with my children, I agree whole heartedly with Mr. Gatto. As a teacher who has vowed to home school, I agree with Mr. Gatto.

Education does what it was set up to do- to teach the masses, to tame the unruly individual thinkers, and more. Mr. Gatto's seven lessons that school teaches is exactly on target. Unfortunately.
How do we change the education system? It will take a shift of thinking across the nation. This book is just a small drop in the tidal wave of events that needs to happen. Each person reading this book and acting on it only adds to the rising wave of education reform.

Truly a well thought out book written by a brave man who was willing to put his job and living on the line for what he believes.

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127 of 133 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars This book provides cogent arguements for homeschooling., November 6, 1997
By A Customer
This review is from: Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling (Paperback)
John Taylor Gatto was an award-winning public school teacher when he wrote much of the text for this book. He reveals the curriculum of public schools nationwide under the headings: Confusion, Class Position, Indifference, Emotional Dependency, Intellectual Dependency, Provisional Self-Esteem, and One Can't Hide. He asserts that the true goal of childhood learning should be to discover some meaning in life...a passion or an enthusiasm that will drive subsequent learning pursuits. Instead, schools cram irrelevant facts into young minds, substituting book-knowledge for self-knowledge. This book explains a lot for anyone who got good grades, went to college, and then didn't have any idea what to do with his life. It's also a wake-up call to parents with school-age children. Do we really want our children to grow up to be good factory workers and do as they're told? Do we really want them to buy into the "Good grades=good jobs" myth? Do we want them to believe that the goal in life is to acquire more and more stuff to fuel consumerism? Or should we give them more reflective, unstructured time in childhood to find out who they are, what they like, and how they can contribute to their communities? Dumbing Us Down is a quick, worthwhile read.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Against a Fragmented Curriculum of Disconnected Facts: Prophetic in Terms of Home Schooling and School Choice
Gatto, the author, believes [review based on the 1st edition] that only about 100 hours are necessary to learn the essentials of grammar, reading, and math to those who are... Read more
Published 2 days ago by Jan Peczkis

4.0 out of 5 stars A radical speaks...
John Taylor Gatto was awarded New York State Teacher of the Year in 1991. One can only guess that his love of children, especially the disadvantaged, somehow sustained his... Read more
Published 10 days ago by Jack Bender

5.0 out of 5 stars Parents beware
As a paraprofessional involved in the American education system for two decades, and as someone educated by the French, I absolutely agree with John Gatto about the state of... Read more
Published 19 days ago by Dong Tran

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome and thought provoking
I read this book a few years ago and my mind carries with it some of the book's most cogent points. I especially think about the illusion that our schools are really... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Helena

5.0 out of 5 stars An important voice
I discovered this book during my junior year of public high school. It spoke so clearly and truthfully to my own terrible experience within the system. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Samantha Goldberg

5.0 out of 5 stars Restore Educational Liberty
Food, clothing and shelter--we easily shop around for these things. Why not schooling services too? Read more
Published 7 months ago by James S. Stehr

5.0 out of 5 stars For those who are afraid...
I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a child in school. Do you face ugly truths head on, exploring and studying them or do you feel powerless against them? Read more
Published 8 months ago by Dave Scotese

4.0 out of 5 stars Who is benefitting from the school system?
I finally finished reading Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling by John Tayor Gatto.

Wow

First, the quibbles. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Arthur Sido

3.0 out of 5 stars not much I haven't heard before
Gatto's short book is a good overview of the dangers of compulsory public education. However, it tends to be very repetitive, as it is simply a compilation of speeches and essays... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Emily C. Boling

4.0 out of 5 stars every parent should read this
Agree or disagree, this thought provoking book deserves a good look. I give it four stars, only because the new intro in this new edition is a little redundant.
Published 9 months ago by mntnmom

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