Dumbing Us Down - 25th Anniversary Edition: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling Paperback – Illustrated, May 19, 2017

Surprised i hadnt found this book sooner, good author, good read

This is a quick read but a potent read!

As a former teacher, when I started to consider homeschooling, I really struggled with what to actually do at home. In my mind I had the idea that to homeschool I needed to replicate public school, at home. However, when I read Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling by John Taylor Gatto, all of that changed.Gatto's book opened my eyes to the idea of less school for more learning.Now I do want to be clear here, I am not one for conspiracy theories. I don't think that there is some master puppeteer trying to make our kids in to zombies or sluggards. Instead I think Gatto makes clear arguments for why our American education system must be changed.On page 69 Gatto compels us to "Break up these institutional schools, decertify teaching, let anyone who has a mind to teach bid for customers, privatize this whole business-trust the free market system."I have to say that it makes a lot of sense.The public school system is broken, period. No one can argue that but I think the portion of Gatto's writing on page 55 is a crucial aspect of why our society is struggling so much. He writes:"By isolating young and old from working life of places and by isolating the working population from the lives of young and old, institutions and networks have brought about a fundamental disconnection of the generations. The griefs that arise from this have no synthetic remedy; no vibrant. satisfying communities can come into being where young and old are locked away."Teachers are also dealing with children that are growing up in an isolated bubble of people their own age, rather than experiencing all of the stages of life. If students don't get to see what else life has to offer why would the care about learning more and doing better?Overall, Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling by John Taylor Gatto, is an argument for why privatized schooling and homeschooling are so crucial. If you are on the fence about your children remaining in public school this book is for you.

A great book for anyone raising children

OK, so Gatto had STRONG opinions about the modern US school structures. This book was written in 1992 with a few updates from 2017, so most of the statements apply to NY schools in the 70's, 80's & 90's. Since I went to school then, I did a whole lot of nodding and "you ain't kiddin man" and other Gen X stuff like that. A good chunk of it still applies, BUT:1: Gatto was quite conservative. If that's your jam, you'll love him. If it's not, you'll probably mutter "WT-" a lot.2: Schools have changed in interesting ways since this book was written. I just kept thinking "my Dude, you retired before cell phones and TikTok took over classrooms... you have NO idea..."3: School bullying hasn't exactly gone away, but the manner in which it happens is quite different now than it was then. It's less "stuff you in a locker" and more "incessant and insidious online harassment..." Which is one of the top reasons parents turn to homeschooling now.The book is largely anti-establishment, anti-administration, anti-standardization, anti-teach-to-the-test (heard), and has a lot of nostalgia. Gatto won teaching awards when admin got out of his way. He was a big proponent of self-directed learning. He supported a practical experience-based learning model, and a facilitator-not-teacher model.This book is beloved by the Unschooling community for a lot of good reasons. It is NOT anti-school. It is asking for much-needed school reform, some of which has happened, but not enough to combat the move towards more rigid curriculums and lock-step teaching models of the last 20 years. TBH I'm not sure how valuable it is for people actively homeschooling, IMO most homeschoolers have taken that route for just the reasons Gatto listed here. It was certainly cathartic reading for me. I don't agree with everything he had to say, but that's not necessary for it to be a good book. I do think it's worth a read for parents of kids who are struggling in the highly structured public school system IF they are considering homeschooling. Just keep in mind it is older and things have changed. If nothing else, it's short.