“This is a personal investigation of why school is a dangerous place. It’s not so much that anyone there sets out to hurt children; more that all of us associated with the institution are stuck like flies in the same great web your kids are. We buzz frantically to cover our own panic but have little power to help smaller flies.”
“We live together, you and I, in a dark time when all official history is propaganda. If you want truth, you have to struggle for it. This is my struggle. Let me bear witness to what I have seen.”
These are two quotes from the prologue of a book I just came across, The Underground History of American Education, by John Taylor Gatto. My cousin, who homeschools her children, sent an article to me about this guy and his view on the American education system. I found the article interesting, and continued to read about what this guy had to say. Now the education system here where I am is appalling, and often the topic of my thoughts, anger and frustration. I do not believe that the American education system is great, but it certainly is compared to what they have here. At the same time, I have recently realized that American schools have been forced to change a lot recently and are more and more forced to focus on standardized tests. I am completely against that. I wanted to write something interesting or thoughtful about this, but its late and my words are gone. Still I will post this and let you all read about this book for yourself and form your own thoughts. Any comments are appreciative. Maybe I will have more to say on this topic later….but usually I say that and never add anything else, so no promises.
You can access this whole book online. Or read the first article my cousin sent me.
Naten e mire.
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