Rebelling against the system
Because of my newly-found interest in homeschooling I have been doing lots of reading, including books by people I would formerly have dismissed as radical anarchists.
One is John Taylor Gatto, who presents in his book Dumbing us Down, his take on the seven things that you really learn at school.
1. Confusion.
Everything taught is out of context. Most curricula have a lack of coherence. Too much is taught, each thing unconnected to the next. Slavery, adjectives, dance, choir, computers, standardised tests, planets... the list goes on.
2. Class Position
Students stay in the place they are allotted to. Children are numbered. Everyone has a proper place in the pyramid and there is no way out of your class.
3. Indifference
Children are taught not to care too much about what they do. They are expected to be keen and enthusiastic about the lesson, but only for as long as the lesson takes. When the bell rings they must switch enthusiasm, turn on and off like a light switch.
4. Emotional Dependency
Privileges can be earned by pleasing the teacher. Children are taught to surrender their will and their self-worth to the predestinated chain of command.
5. Intellectual Dependency
Good students wait for a teacher to tell them what to do. The expert makes the important choices. We've built a way of life that depends on people doing what they are told because they don't know how to tell themselves what to do.
6. Provisional self-esteem
A child's self-respect should depend on expert opinion. What does the report say about a child? That's what they are worth! The lesson of report cards, grades and tests is that children should not trust themselves or their parents but should instead rely on the evaluation of certified officials. People need to be told what they are worth.
7. You can't hideS
Students are always under surveillance and there are no private spaces or private time for children. Homework continues the surveillance into the home. The meaning of this is that no-one can be trusted and privacy is not legitimate.
I feel like I'm exploring a whole other way of thinking. What do you think?