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Weapons of Mass Instruction: A Schoolteacher's Journey Through the Dark World of Compulsory Schooling Paperback – April 1, 2010
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John Taylor Gatto
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Print length240 pages
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LanguageEnglish
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PublisherNew Society Publishers
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Publication dateApril 1, 2010
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Reading age16 years and up
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Dimensions6 x 0.48 x 9 inches
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ISBN-100865716692
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ISBN-13978-0865716698
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"John Taylor Gatto has been a hero of mine for years. He has the courage to challenge an educational system that is obsolete and out of touch with reality. Years ago, he gave me the courage to speak out and write my books. I trust this book will give you the courage to speak out."
— Robert Kiyosaki, author, Rich Dad, Poor Dad
"For over 20 years John Taylor Gatto has been working tirelessly to teach us the truth about our educational system - that compulsory schooling does not work to foster a democratic way of life."
— Mary Leue, Founder of the Albany Free School
"All of Gatto's words shine. Let's have Gatto as US Secretary of Education and then, this time, he can blow it all up."
— George Meegan, author of The Longest Walk and world record holder, longest unbroken march in human history
"We accept Mr Gatto's invitation to an open conspiracy against forced schooling here in Europe as well. The virtues of this book, its precise ideas, realistic proposals and sharp conscience, class it among the best works of Thoreau, Jefferson, Hume or Diderot. A masterly book."
— The Kadmos Paris Magazine, Paris, October 2008.
"In Weapons of Mass Instruction, John Taylor Gatto points out the folly of the business of American education, especially standardized testing. Listen up, for children's sake."
— Wendy Zeigler, artist and former student of John Taylor Gatto.
"It happens rarely, but whenever I do read a newspaper, listen to the radio, or watch television, on a variety of topics, I find myself wondering, "How? How can this happen? How can people be so gullible". Gatto has an answer and it is disturbing as well as compelling: 20th Century US education. His argument renews gratitude to my father for having given me the chance to dodge full immersion in the homogenizing machine, and makes me more determined than ever to pass this gift of becoming an individual on to my own children."
— Tania Aebi, author of Maiden Voyage ; and world record holder, first circumnavigation of the world by a solo female sailor
"I run a school. John Gatto is my conscience. He has taught me to hate school and love learning. This book will do that for others, and we need them."
— Becky Elder, Northfield School of The Liberal Arts
Review
"John Taylor Gatto has been a hero of mine for years. He has the courage to challenge an educational system that is obsolete and out of touch with reality. Years ago, he gave me the courage to speak out and write my books. I trust this book will give you the courage to speak out."
― Robert Kiyosaki, author, Rich Dad, Poor Dad
"For over 20 years John Taylor Gatto has been working tirelessly to teach us the truth about our educational system - that compulsory schooling does not work to foster a democratic way of life."
― Mary Leue, Founder of the Albany Free School
"All of Gatto's words shine. Let's have Gatto as US Secretary of Education and then, this time, he can blow it all up."
― George Meegan, author of The Longest Walk and world record holder, longest unbroken march in human history
"We accept Mr Gatto's invitation to an open conspiracy against forced schooling here in Europe as well. The virtues of this book, its precise ideas, realistic proposals and sharp conscience, class it among the best works of Thoreau, Jefferson, Hume or Diderot. A masterly book."
― The Kadmos Paris Magazine, Paris, October 2008.
" In Weapons of Mass Instruction , John Taylor Gatto points out the folly of the business of American education, especially standardized testing. Listen up, for children's sake."
― Wendy Zeigler, artist and former student of John Taylor Gatto.
"It happens rarely, but whenever I do read a newspaper, listen to the radio, or watch television, on a variety of topics, I find myself wondering, "How? How can this happen? How can people be so gullible". Gatto has an answer and it is disturbing as well as compelling: 20th Century US education. His argument renews gratitude to my father for having given me the chance to dodge full immersion in the homogenizing machine, and makes me more determined than ever to pass this gift of becoming an individual on to my own children."
― Tania Aebi, author of Maiden Voyage ; and world record holder, first circumnavigation of the world by a solo female sailor
"I run a school. John Gatto is my conscience. He has taught me to hate school and love learning. This book will do that for others, and we need them."
― Becky Elder, Northfield School of The Liberal Arts
Book Description
The transformation of schooling from a twelve-year jail sentence to freedom to learn.
From the Back Cover
The transformation of schooling from a twelve-year jail sentence to freedom to learn
Have our schools become mere Weapons of Mass Instruction, or can they be transformed to offer genuine freedom to learn?
John Taylor Gatto has been a hero of mine for years. He has the courage to challenge an educational system that is obsolete and out of touch with reality. Years ago, he gave me the courage to speak out and write my books. I trust this book will give you the courage to speak out and challenge the system.
- Robert Kiyosaki, author Rich Dad, Poor DadJohn Taylor Gatto's voice must be heard … He knows why the (education) system is so utterly flawed and lays it out right here. We ignore his profound insights at our own peril.
― Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, founder Zaytuna Institute (credits and title need checking)
Weapons of Mass Instruction is a hard-hitting critique of the mechanisms of compulsory schooling which cripple imagination and discourage critical thinking. In his earlier book, John Taylor Gatto brought his now-famous title - Dumbing Us Down - into common use worldwide. Weapons of Mass Instruction promises to add another chilling metaphor to the lengthy brief against schooling.
Weapons of Mass Instruction demonstrates that the harm school inflicts is quite rational and deliberate. The real function of pedagogy, Gatto claims, is to render the common population manageable, to remove the obligation of child care from adult workers so they are free to fuel the industrial economy, and to train the next generation into subservient obedience to the state. Gatto reveals that Ivy League schools do not produce the most successful graduates; that some of the world's riches entrepreneurs are high school drop outs; and that Thomas Edison, John D. Rockefeller, and Andrew Carnegie didn't finish elementary school. Filled with examples of people who have escaped the trap of compulsory schooling, Weapons of Mass Instruction shows us that the realization of personal potential requires a different way of growing up and learning, one Gatto calls "open source learning."
Urgent and controversial, this book is a page-turner that promises to appeal to all who harbor doubts about the current education system.
A remarkable achievement. I can't remember ever reading such a profound analysis of modern education . Howard Zinn, on The Underground History of American Education
About the Author
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Product details
- Publisher : New Society Publishers; Paperback edition (April 1, 2010)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 240 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0865716692
- ISBN-13 : 978-0865716698
- Reading age : 16 years and up
- Item Weight : 14.1 ounces
- Dimensions : 6 x 0.48 x 9 inches
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Best Sellers Rank:
#19,802 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #12 in Canadian Politics
- #13 in Propaganda & Political Psychology
- #30 in Education Reform & Policy
- Customer Reviews:
Customer reviews
Top reviews from the United States
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1.- He is right, the way people are educated leaves much to be desired.
2.- His solution is to destroy the system.
3.- He is a failed politician that is consumed with appearances.
He doesn't say anything new, and to destroy its much easier than it is to build. Also he uses the traditional marxist analysis without saying that he is one. Speaks of liberty and admires Cuba, situation normal for most intellectuals. Very incomplete and superficial there are other points that he ignores like:
a.- Intellectual pursuits are not enjoyed by every one.
b.- Education tries to give a liberal education giving information that people otherwise would not pursuit.
c.- The personal interactions in school and college are very valuable.
d.- Education in the old times was incomplete and inaccessible, a few genius exceptions don't disprove this.
e.- The last 50 years have produced more innovations than all periods before.
Wish he were more balanced and less angry.
Peter
I could see why people would think that as oftentimes lazy students would use those beliefs as an excuse to not do work. But, I always knew that there was a deep truth there that was being hidden from us and I wished I could give the system a name. I now have that name thanks to John Taylor Gatto, "Compulsory Schooling."
That said, some of the claims in the book are a bit far-fetched. He says the civil war wasn’t about slavery? I’d need more grounding to believe that. His love of antebellum America is apparent too. And then standardized tests don’t measure anything? I am pretty sire they have some psychometric validity. Saying they’re meaningless seems a bit like pandering.
A lot of anecdotes too in this book. Some anecdotes are fine, but data is better.
Top reviews from other countries
If you are thinking of homeschooling, unschooling,or have just started and are now in that zone of " oh flip! Have I done the right thing? Where do I start?!" Buy this book. If you have children at school, it is an even more essential read.
Other books that have totally transformed our experience, taken away our fears, and given me amazing guidance and clarity are Teach Your Own by John Holt and Free to Learn by Peter Gray.
I'm aware other reviews revere other works by Gatto, but this book for me was excellent. Clearly an intelligent man with a real passion for what he is writing about, his challenge to the dogmatic, bland and conformist stance of education is loud and impressive.
Essential reading if you're involved in education in any way.
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