I enjoyed this essay because it brings up some really good points on our country’s education system. There are so many kids in classes that are extremely bored and as a result, learn nothing. I believe there are some kids out there, that are not meant to be in school and teachers know it too. Some teachers don’t want to admit it but, students can tell when a teacher just doesn’t care and situations like these are a waste of time. The story also brings up the purpose of our education system which is to control and determine our lives. I do not agree with it but, it is a valid theory on how the government is controlling us.
This has to be one of the most interesting stories I read from Writer’s Presence. How ironic that a former public school teacher is criticizing about the modern U.S. public school system. I do agree, to certain extend, that school “trains children to be employees and consumers” because we are taught from little that education is the key to a good life. In our sense a good life means a good career with a good salary. In our society education is the only way to get opportunities and opportunities lead to jobs and jobs lead to money and money leads to consumption. We don’t go to school because we want to learn or gain knowledge; it is rather that we need to go to school to have a better future. Even teachers and adults emphasized the importance of education for a better and wealthier life. I don’t know if the public school system is created to deliberately dumb down students, but I do agree that students have been dumbing down gradually overtime. If one compares a regent test ten years ago to the one we have today, we will realize that the test from ten years is more challenging than the most recent one. Some of the things the author said are to an extreme. I strongly believe that there should be education for children and strongly disagree to let children to “manage themselves.” The public school system is created so that children get to explore their options of what they want to do in life. It is also created to prevent child labor. Not everyone can afford home school or private school. Public schools are created to offer free education to those who need it. Without public school system in the country, many children will be “left behind” and send the society into a turmoil. Overall, I think the author is bias and some of his points and ideas are to an extreme.
I enjoyed this essay because it made me do two things: (1) remember an important quote my friend told me and (2) made me consider our school system and why it has to be the way it is. First when the author mentions how students and teachers are both bored in school and then went on to recall an incident of boredom with his grandfather I remembered this quote: “Only boring people are bored.” This quote was the basis of my adventures during the summertime. It made me think that the reason I wasn’t having fun was my own fault. Because I was a boring person, my life, in turn, was boring. This is the same with the students and teachers of this essay. The essay also questioned the structure of schooling in America and made me ask “why can’t it be different?” Maybe the key to affective learning and teaching is the way we learn and teach. What would happen if we lost this mundane structure and took a more free-spirited approach to teaching? This is essay was significant to me because it made my mind wonder and ponder this question and questions like it.
In this essay, John Taylor Gatto wrote how public education cripples students and why. He said it is because of boredom. When he asked the students wht they are bored, they said that the work was stupid and it didn’t make sense. They also said that teachers didn’t know much about their subjects and weren’t interested in learning (688). Gatto believed that schools are trying to turn students into slaves. I don’t agree with what Gatto is saying. I believe that public education gives student the opportunities of getting a job or a career in life. Without education, students won’t know what they want to do in their lives.
This essay makes me not want to go to school!! I agree with Gatto, school is not for everyone. How can one be expected to live through a monotonous schedule for twelve consecutive years. Well, our class is almost there. At one point, Gatto describes the six basic structures of modern schooling. I have to admit, it was quite disturbing. According to Inglis, one of the main purposes of modern schools is to put children in their place, so to speak. Children are constantly rated, tested and ranked- but those who do not meet the standards are humiliated because of it. To me, the idea that someone took time to plan out this system is mind-boggling. I also feel that the school system has a very rigid structure, one that not many people can avoid. But we need to fix this system in order to make it fair for all students, not just those who are well test takers or those who are willing to conform to the system.
I wasnt too fond of this essay. While reading it i wasnt excited about reading it or completely into it. I felt like i was just reading the essay becuase i had to and coincidentally I found it to be a boring essay. Although I didn’t enjoy reading it that much, i did relate to the writer when he was talking about boredom. I feel that being bored is not an excuse as to why you dont do your work. I feel taht people make themselves bored becuase it is easy to make a very boring situation into one that you can enjoy. I related this to my World Civilization class at pace, when I first started that class I wanted to drop it as soon as i entered it becuase it was extremely boring but i decided not to. I decided not to becuase I figured that it did not make any sense to drop a class that i can easily be a B+ to an A- student just becuase it was boring, so I decided to just make the best of it which i did and i am happy i decided to continue taking that class.
After reading “Against School” I came to the conclusion that I am not the intended reader because I realized that the writer is clearly against schools because they find it to be a more and a waste of time. In addition, they proceed to talk about how some children become adults at young ages which is tue but at the same time, I believe that children should always have the opportunity to live out their youthful years beause it is something that can not be brought back once taken back. Furthermore, I am personally a strong advocate of the education system. Although it may be considered a bore, it is in the obligation of the teacher and their students to intrest the geater good. Although I do agree with the writer and their analysis on the school vibe, it is something that simply needs improvement and therefore that should be taken into consideration. Overall, I believe that the author taught us a message that was not clearly what they were trying to express; moreover improve the education system so that it benefits eveything and retains the intrest of those who are being taught.
I really enjoyed this essay because this can relate to many people and even myself. Gatto writes about school and how boring it was back in the days. The thing is that he went to a horrible school in Manhattan. For students to go through the same schedule everyday of the week is boring and it can sometimes be painful. School might not be right for some people and that is okay. I also believe if teachers are not interested in the subject they are teaching that students will also not be interested. Today teachers focus so much of their teaching based on testing rather then more lecturing. Students are ranked and sometimes it may be good but sometime it can get competitive. Even though I believe school is needed school can get boring and school isn’t right for everyone.
“Of course, teachers are themselves products of the same twelve-year compulsory school program that so thoroughly bore their students, and as school personnel they trapped inside structures even more rigid than those impose upon the children. Who, then, is to blame? We all are” (688-689).
This is my favorite quote because I agree with how boredom is created by everyone and not just one person or a group of people. Everyone in the world is responsible for the education of the future, just because someone is not a teacher it doesn’t mean they don’t contribute to this factor of boredom. People want to have a better education and in order to get that everyone must follow all the rules and get all the information needed in order to be successful. I agree that not everything should be blame on the teacher and everyone should understand that in some ways they have created this boredom because they want success in the future. School is not always a boring place but I think in order for younger generation to be interested in the materials, everyone as a whole should come together and try to make the learning experience a better one for everyone around and not just rely on certain people.
“Mandatory education serves children only incidentally; its real purpose is to its turn them into servants.”
I must say that I do L O V E this line. We are being brainwashed. Slowly, but surely we are. For twelve years of my life I have gone to school for about 7 hours each day then to go home and do approximately 2-3 hours of homework everyday. College, school used to be about self improvement. People used to go to school to learn unlike to day we do it to get our diploma, our B.A, M.A… basically to get a piece of paper that says “you know have the opportunity to TRY make some more money” Boring. school is boring. I hate sitting in a class where we have to keep doing the SAME lessons over again because people can’t grasp the concepts. so much for honors class, right? It’s boring because we are FORCED to take classes we hate because the government decided to take away vocational school. So how are we servants? We are servants to this system of spending money we don’t have, working jobs we don’t like, living lives that we despise. Our options to to be different or to do as we please are limited and, of course, come with a hefty price. I want to go into the field i want to go to not for money, but because it is what i want to do. So why does it have to cost money I don’t have? Because you are basically spending money you might someday have. This system is a trip and we are bored with our lives. That includes both the students and the educators. Our lives of servitude shall only commence if we allow them to.
“Schools are meant to tag the unfit—with poor grades, remedial placement, and other punishments—clearly enough that their peers will accept them as inferior and effectively bar them from the reproductive sweepstakes.”
I agree with this quotation. Schools create divisions between students and heads of schools know that. Most schools have an honors course and a regular course. The “above average” students get put into honors and the “average” to “below average” get put into the regular course. Some students act like there isn’t any kind of inferiority complex in their minds but there are. As an honor student I do make certain comments that sometimes offend people and being in honors does make me feel like I’m on a higher level. The problem is that we no one in the school system should be looked as lower than someone else. Everyone is intelligent in their own way and some students don’t learn well with certain teaching methods. So the reasons behind each student’s grades are different. Instead of working together to build a group of intelligent and close students the school system has separated us into classes.
This essay was very interesting. It made readers get a differnt look on public education from a teacher’s perspective. Readers find that boredom is the common factor in an unsucessful learning environment. The students blame the teachers, and the teachers blame the students. When it comes to school the basic focus is pretty much fully on grades. There is no insight on other aspects of life, that coexist with learning. The author encourages readers to find their own way of discovering new ways to learn about life.
I enjoyed this essay, because it mirrors my opinion on our educational system. We are taught to memorize rather than actually learn to think. And like the author, I feel that it is ALL of our faults. We can’t pin point whose to blame, since we are all contributors. Take myself for example, I know that the only reason I do well in history is because I have a natural interest for the subject. While, kids who have trouble in that class are not dumb, but, instead, bored. We have allowed our view of intelligence to be based solely on pieces of papers; diplomas, report cards, and even money. Much like Hollywood, our educational system is focused on profit. Everyday I wake up to go to school, in hope that I could get into a good college so that one day I could have a well paying job.
Our education system is in dire need of reforms, so that no one, teachers included, are bored. We should focus on tools for life learning rather then for a test at the end of the year. I can stay that the system hasn’t given me anything that will help with my life after graduation. But, thankfully I’ve had (some) teachers who have seen beyond the Regents and any other criteria and have given me tools and lessons that I will take with me.
After reading “Against School” I can understand that the government is controlling all young people through the school system. As a student I have experienced first hand those teachers that really aren’t into their jobs or they’re teaching the wrong group of kids. Even now in school there are many different occasions where plenty of students become bored and they attempt to occupy themselves with other things while sitting in class. The worse thing that I’ve experienced is a teacher who didn’t care enough to try to re- engage those students who have become distracted by boredom. Although a teachers job is to help us graduate and get out of high school, their first priority should be to teach reasoning and critical thinking. Everything a person will need in life can not be taught through a textbook, and as a teacher that needs to be understood before you can try to teach someone else. I feel that well off in life should not be determined by a test score, and that is where our educational system has failed its students.
This essay reassured my opinion that the education system is flawed and if we hope to produce better students who will go far in life, we need a better method that will keep both the students and the teachers equally interested in what they are learning.
“Is it possible that George W. Bush accidentally spoke the truth when he said we would ‘leave no child behind’? Could it be that our schools are designed to make sure not one of them ever really grows up” (689)
This is my favorite quote because it comments on the kind of education we get in America. Despite satirizing the infamous President Bush, this quote suggests that people go to school, but they are not learning at full potential. This notion of “no child left behind” sets a mindset that people do not have to try hard in school and still get to where they want in life, especially in America. There could be people that are failing a couple of classes yet still think they can get into an Ivy League college. Gatto also notes that “mandatory education” is hurting a child’s childhood (695). A child is so concentrated on finding the answers to a math problem that they do not have a memorable child life. My childhood was shattered when my parents forced me to go to summer school. I did not understand why because I was not required to go to one. At summer school, I felt that the word ‘vacation’ never existed. There was no time to go play at the park or even have a conversation with a friend. After reading the essay, I believe that schools accomplishes its goal to educate people but does not encourage them to work hard for it.
I like this essay because I can really relate to the character and his rant on education. I really don’t enjoy the long amount of time we spend during school because we only get one chance in life and it makes sense to make the most use out of it. It is boring and although the information we learn in school are helpful, to spend so much time learning and stuffing information in our brains is time consuming. As much as I want to spend the rest of my life doing only things I want to, I know that in the future I’ll need a salary somehow and if it is low, it means I have to work hard to survive. It’s boring but education will be useful in the distant future.
“Bordem is the common condition of schoolteachers…the whinning, the dispirited attitudes, to be found there When asked why they feel bored, the teachers tend to blame the kids, as you might expect. Who wouldn’t get bored teaching students who are rude and interested only in grades?”
I enjoyed the essay alot but this quote stood out to me the most. I viewed it as a text-to-world connection which shone light on how the school system works in today’s society. The teachers are interested in their subject, hence, go to school for X amount of years to achieve their masters. Students should be interested in the subject if the teachers present the material/information in an interesting way. When students become more interested the classroom becomes more vibrant and fun. In order to stimulate the positive interaction between students and teachers, there must be great teaching techniques. It’s not always about reading straight from the textbooks and distributing multiple exams throughout the quarter. There must be an active and effective way of learning. Students who only care about their grades only care about the numbers and not about their comprehension on the content being taught. We see this in our school today; the difference between those who care about all the aspects of education and those who don’t.
This essay is my favorite essay so far in the Writers presence. I felt like I’m, the intended reader, because I have once or twice wondered why our school system the way it is today. I wonder how all these changes came into place and I have been bored with the same routine the school system gives the student. I don’t think I’m bored all the time, just like the author, his grandfather doesn’t like the term of boredom, just like my mother. So I master a skill to deal with boredom in different ways. It’s ironic how a teacher feels this way about the school system but at the same time I think she would be against school because she has all this knowledge about people who didn’t have the same school system and were successful in life. His reasoning of how “we are all” the blame for boredom in school is correct. I agree with her statement because if teachers are going to be bored teaching the material, students will be bored to learn it. I enjoy John’s questioning and reasonable explanations about school systems. I think the routine itself makes school boring. Its idealistic goal of making all students into good people, good citizens and for them to reach for their personal best is a limiting goal. I think that school should have a larger goal to expand the minds of students and allow them to grow into adults through experience.
“The integrating function. This might well be called “the conformity function,” because its intention is to make children as alike as possible. People who conform are predictable, and this is of great use to those who wish to harness and manipulate a large labor force” (692)
This statement is true; I think that at times schools want students to be the same, similar to robots. The ideal student is perfect grades, great sats scores and overall unrealistic. This ideal student is the goal for all schools, they want as many of these ideals students they can receive.
I found this essay interesting since I’m enrolled in a public school. As a student, I do feel like I am a “puppet” for my teachers and those with higher authority. I think school should change because it doesn’t allow individuals to gain their own identity. I also found the “six basic functions” to be interesting since its breaks down the actual purpose of the public school system. It shows how the authority is capable of keeping us from excelling in life and becoming geniuses by dumbing us down. We are only expected to learn so much, and study only one field in order to cut back on our amount of our knowledge.
I enjoyed this essay. I enjoyed it because this are some of my thoughts about education. Education is not for everyone, not everyone can sit through 6 to 7 classes a day 5 days a week and learn. It truly is boring. In our education system we do not learn as much as we should, rather we are taught to memorize an abundance of information at once. We are constantly being ranked and rated as though we are items, not every person has the same mind to remember loads of information of the past years. We are tested for the ability to memorize, if you fail you can’t go on in life. Gatto states, “do we really need school? I don’t mean education, just forced schooling”(689). I agree maybe school hours should be shorter, after a while it becomes montonous to the point where we get bored and do not want to learn. In a world like America education is a key essential to life. In order to be successful we must get an education which will help us get a good well paying job. I feel that America as a whole has to reorganize this educational system to improve education. I agree with Gatto in this story to a certain extent.
Though this essay did not rub me the right way like most of the others I did find something of substance. It came as Gatto explained his grandfather’s views on boredom, “he told me that I was never to use the term in his presence again, that if I was bored it was my fault and no one else’s. They obligation to amuse and instruct myself was entirely my own, and the people who didn’t know that were childish people, to be avoided if possible” (689). I completely agree with this quotation, it’s easy to give up on something and use that fact that you’re bored or that it doesn’t interest you as a reason. It takes a mature person to stick with something and do their best even if they hate it or don’t want to do it. And so yes I do think those people should be avoided because their negativity can bring a person down instead of uplifting them. In life things are going to come about that we won’t like but we just can’t give up on them we have to persever and get through with them.
“I taught for thirty years in some of the worst schools in Manhattan, and in some of the best, and during that time I became an expert in boredom. Boredom was everywhere in my world, and if you asked the kids, as I often did, why they felt so bored, they always gave the same answers: They said the work was stupid, that it made no sense, that they already knew it” (688). Boredom is affiliated with those public school students who do not have an urge or understanding for education. Students who are interested in learning can never become bored. The urge for such a fundamental idea such as knowledge should be found in every student. The reason I do so well in school is because I like to learn and look forward to it, every second of the day. Without knowledge comes ignorance, which isn’t a good characteristics. Thus, the priority of society should be renewed; education is the key to success, so why not achieve it?
Welcome, Class of 2010! I hope you will find this blog to be a useful, expedient mechanism for sharing your writing and responding to the writing of others. Furthermore, I hope you have some fun! There are some rules, however, of which you must be aware.
First Rule
This blog is educational. It is not a space for chatting with your friends (you have myspace, facebook, bebo, etc. for that). You'll be expected to respond to your classmates' writing, but I want you to think of them more as colleagues than friends on this site. The "fun" mentioned above will be in taking others' ideas to task in friendly debate. Therefore...
Second Rule
Writing on this site is FORMAL. For a GRADE. You will be graded on the content quality of your response, not your grammar. HOWEVER...Grammar mistakes will lead to grammar assignments selected especially for you. The fewer mistakes you make, the fewer grammar check-ups you'll be required to complete.
Third Rule
Text message/Chat abbreviations are just that -- for texting and chatting. You won't be LOL-ing, btw, when I pwn ur grade, lolz! (For the record, I love txt lingo -- and it has its place -- but my job is to teach you to write formally -- not be your bff -- hence the requirement that you write with a formal tone here).
Fourth Rule
Comment on the comments of others, but remember that there's a person behind that comment. People have a tendency to think that it's okay to be cruel online and to "speak" to others in ways they wouldn't speak to others in real life. Remember: I know who you are.
Fifth Rule
Always use the same username in your comments. If you use a name that isn't already known to me, I'll assume you aren't one of my students and I'll delete the comment -- which means you'll have to write it again under your usual username, and that would not be fun.
23 Comments
October 28, 2009 at 9:32 pm
I enjoyed this essay because it brings up some really good points on our country’s education system. There are so many kids in classes that are extremely bored and as a result, learn nothing. I believe there are some kids out there, that are not meant to be in school and teachers know it too. Some teachers don’t want to admit it but, students can tell when a teacher just doesn’t care and situations like these are a waste of time. The story also brings up the purpose of our education system which is to control and determine our lives. I do not agree with it but, it is a valid theory on how the government is controlling us.
October 28, 2009 at 9:51 pm
This has to be one of the most interesting stories I read from Writer’s Presence. How ironic that a former public school teacher is criticizing about the modern U.S. public school system. I do agree, to certain extend, that school “trains children to be employees and consumers” because we are taught from little that education is the key to a good life. In our sense a good life means a good career with a good salary. In our society education is the only way to get opportunities and opportunities lead to jobs and jobs lead to money and money leads to consumption. We don’t go to school because we want to learn or gain knowledge; it is rather that we need to go to school to have a better future. Even teachers and adults emphasized the importance of education for a better and wealthier life. I don’t know if the public school system is created to deliberately dumb down students, but I do agree that students have been dumbing down gradually overtime. If one compares a regent test ten years ago to the one we have today, we will realize that the test from ten years is more challenging than the most recent one. Some of the things the author said are to an extreme. I strongly believe that there should be education for children and strongly disagree to let children to “manage themselves.” The public school system is created so that children get to explore their options of what they want to do in life. It is also created to prevent child labor. Not everyone can afford home school or private school. Public schools are created to offer free education to those who need it. Without public school system in the country, many children will be “left behind” and send the society into a turmoil. Overall, I think the author is bias and some of his points and ideas are to an extreme.
October 28, 2009 at 10:13 pm
I enjoyed this essay because it made me do two things: (1) remember an important quote my friend told me and (2) made me consider our school system and why it has to be the way it is. First when the author mentions how students and teachers are both bored in school and then went on to recall an incident of boredom with his grandfather I remembered this quote: “Only boring people are bored.” This quote was the basis of my adventures during the summertime. It made me think that the reason I wasn’t having fun was my own fault. Because I was a boring person, my life, in turn, was boring. This is the same with the students and teachers of this essay. The essay also questioned the structure of schooling in America and made me ask “why can’t it be different?” Maybe the key to affective learning and teaching is the way we learn and teach. What would happen if we lost this mundane structure and took a more free-spirited approach to teaching? This is essay was significant to me because it made my mind wonder and ponder this question and questions like it.
October 28, 2009 at 10:25 pm
In this essay, John Taylor Gatto wrote how public education cripples students and why. He said it is because of boredom. When he asked the students wht they are bored, they said that the work was stupid and it didn’t make sense. They also said that teachers didn’t know much about their subjects and weren’t interested in learning (688). Gatto believed that schools are trying to turn students into slaves. I don’t agree with what Gatto is saying. I believe that public education gives student the opportunities of getting a job or a career in life. Without education, students won’t know what they want to do in their lives.
October 28, 2009 at 10:41 pm
This essay makes me not want to go to school!! I agree with Gatto, school is not for everyone. How can one be expected to live through a monotonous schedule for twelve consecutive years. Well, our class is almost there. At one point, Gatto describes the six basic structures of modern schooling. I have to admit, it was quite disturbing. According to Inglis, one of the main purposes of modern schools is to put children in their place, so to speak. Children are constantly rated, tested and ranked- but those who do not meet the standards are humiliated because of it. To me, the idea that someone took time to plan out this system is mind-boggling. I also feel that the school system has a very rigid structure, one that not many people can avoid. But we need to fix this system in order to make it fair for all students, not just those who are well test takers or those who are willing to conform to the system.
October 28, 2009 at 11:26 pm
I wasnt too fond of this essay. While reading it i wasnt excited about reading it or completely into it. I felt like i was just reading the essay becuase i had to and coincidentally I found it to be a boring essay. Although I didn’t enjoy reading it that much, i did relate to the writer when he was talking about boredom. I feel that being bored is not an excuse as to why you dont do your work. I feel taht people make themselves bored becuase it is easy to make a very boring situation into one that you can enjoy. I related this to my World Civilization class at pace, when I first started that class I wanted to drop it as soon as i entered it becuase it was extremely boring but i decided not to. I decided not to becuase I figured that it did not make any sense to drop a class that i can easily be a B+ to an A- student just becuase it was boring, so I decided to just make the best of it which i did and i am happy i decided to continue taking that class.
October 28, 2009 at 11:34 pm
After reading “Against School” I came to the conclusion that I am not the intended reader because I realized that the writer is clearly against schools because they find it to be a more and a waste of time. In addition, they proceed to talk about how some children become adults at young ages which is tue but at the same time, I believe that children should always have the opportunity to live out their youthful years beause it is something that can not be brought back once taken back. Furthermore, I am personally a strong advocate of the education system. Although it may be considered a bore, it is in the obligation of the teacher and their students to intrest the geater good. Although I do agree with the writer and their analysis on the school vibe, it is something that simply needs improvement and therefore that should be taken into consideration. Overall, I believe that the author taught us a message that was not clearly what they were trying to express; moreover improve the education system so that it benefits eveything and retains the intrest of those who are being taught.
October 29, 2009 at 12:40 am
I really enjoyed this essay because this can relate to many people and even myself. Gatto writes about school and how boring it was back in the days. The thing is that he went to a horrible school in Manhattan. For students to go through the same schedule everyday of the week is boring and it can sometimes be painful. School might not be right for some people and that is okay. I also believe if teachers are not interested in the subject they are teaching that students will also not be interested. Today teachers focus so much of their teaching based on testing rather then more lecturing. Students are ranked and sometimes it may be good but sometime it can get competitive. Even though I believe school is needed school can get boring and school isn’t right for everyone.
October 29, 2009 at 2:14 am
“Of course, teachers are themselves products of the same twelve-year compulsory school program that so thoroughly bore their students, and as school personnel they trapped inside structures even more rigid than those impose upon the children. Who, then, is to blame? We all are” (688-689).
This is my favorite quote because I agree with how boredom is created by everyone and not just one person or a group of people. Everyone in the world is responsible for the education of the future, just because someone is not a teacher it doesn’t mean they don’t contribute to this factor of boredom. People want to have a better education and in order to get that everyone must follow all the rules and get all the information needed in order to be successful. I agree that not everything should be blame on the teacher and everyone should understand that in some ways they have created this boredom because they want success in the future. School is not always a boring place but I think in order for younger generation to be interested in the materials, everyone as a whole should come together and try to make the learning experience a better one for everyone around and not just rely on certain people.
October 29, 2009 at 2:45 am
“Mandatory education serves children only incidentally; its real purpose is to its turn them into servants.”
I must say that I do L O V E this line. We are being brainwashed. Slowly, but surely we are. For twelve years of my life I have gone to school for about 7 hours each day then to go home and do approximately 2-3 hours of homework everyday. College, school used to be about self improvement. People used to go to school to learn unlike to day we do it to get our diploma, our B.A, M.A… basically to get a piece of paper that says “you know have the opportunity to TRY make some more money” Boring. school is boring. I hate sitting in a class where we have to keep doing the SAME lessons over again because people can’t grasp the concepts. so much for honors class, right? It’s boring because we are FORCED to take classes we hate because the government decided to take away vocational school. So how are we servants? We are servants to this system of spending money we don’t have, working jobs we don’t like, living lives that we despise. Our options to to be different or to do as we please are limited and, of course, come with a hefty price. I want to go into the field i want to go to not for money, but because it is what i want to do. So why does it have to cost money I don’t have? Because you are basically spending money you might someday have. This system is a trip and we are bored with our lives. That includes both the students and the educators. Our lives of servitude shall only commence if we allow them to.
October 29, 2009 at 3:38 am
“Schools are meant to tag the unfit—with poor grades, remedial placement, and other punishments—clearly enough that their peers will accept them as inferior and effectively bar them from the reproductive sweepstakes.”
I agree with this quotation. Schools create divisions between students and heads of schools know that. Most schools have an honors course and a regular course. The “above average” students get put into honors and the “average” to “below average” get put into the regular course. Some students act like there isn’t any kind of inferiority complex in their minds but there are. As an honor student I do make certain comments that sometimes offend people and being in honors does make me feel like I’m on a higher level. The problem is that we no one in the school system should be looked as lower than someone else. Everyone is intelligent in their own way and some students don’t learn well with certain teaching methods. So the reasons behind each student’s grades are different. Instead of working together to build a group of intelligent and close students the school system has separated us into classes.
October 29, 2009 at 3:43 am
This essay was very interesting. It made readers get a differnt look on public education from a teacher’s perspective. Readers find that boredom is the common factor in an unsucessful learning environment. The students blame the teachers, and the teachers blame the students. When it comes to school the basic focus is pretty much fully on grades. There is no insight on other aspects of life, that coexist with learning. The author encourages readers to find their own way of discovering new ways to learn about life.
October 29, 2009 at 3:52 am
I enjoyed this essay, because it mirrors my opinion on our educational system. We are taught to memorize rather than actually learn to think. And like the author, I feel that it is ALL of our faults. We can’t pin point whose to blame, since we are all contributors. Take myself for example, I know that the only reason I do well in history is because I have a natural interest for the subject. While, kids who have trouble in that class are not dumb, but, instead, bored. We have allowed our view of intelligence to be based solely on pieces of papers; diplomas, report cards, and even money. Much like Hollywood, our educational system is focused on profit. Everyday I wake up to go to school, in hope that I could get into a good college so that one day I could have a well paying job.
Our education system is in dire need of reforms, so that no one, teachers included, are bored. We should focus on tools for life learning rather then for a test at the end of the year. I can stay that the system hasn’t given me anything that will help with my life after graduation. But, thankfully I’ve had (some) teachers who have seen beyond the Regents and any other criteria and have given me tools and lessons that I will take with me.
If we want change, we have to be the change.
October 29, 2009 at 4:16 am
After reading “Against School” I can understand that the government is controlling all young people through the school system. As a student I have experienced first hand those teachers that really aren’t into their jobs or they’re teaching the wrong group of kids. Even now in school there are many different occasions where plenty of students become bored and they attempt to occupy themselves with other things while sitting in class. The worse thing that I’ve experienced is a teacher who didn’t care enough to try to re- engage those students who have become distracted by boredom. Although a teachers job is to help us graduate and get out of high school, their first priority should be to teach reasoning and critical thinking. Everything a person will need in life can not be taught through a textbook, and as a teacher that needs to be understood before you can try to teach someone else. I feel that well off in life should not be determined by a test score, and that is where our educational system has failed its students.
This essay reassured my opinion that the education system is flawed and if we hope to produce better students who will go far in life, we need a better method that will keep both the students and the teachers equally interested in what they are learning.
October 29, 2009 at 4:38 am
“Is it possible that George W. Bush accidentally spoke the truth when he said we would ‘leave no child behind’? Could it be that our schools are designed to make sure not one of them ever really grows up” (689)
This is my favorite quote because it comments on the kind of education we get in America. Despite satirizing the infamous President Bush, this quote suggests that people go to school, but they are not learning at full potential. This notion of “no child left behind” sets a mindset that people do not have to try hard in school and still get to where they want in life, especially in America. There could be people that are failing a couple of classes yet still think they can get into an Ivy League college. Gatto also notes that “mandatory education” is hurting a child’s childhood (695). A child is so concentrated on finding the answers to a math problem that they do not have a memorable child life. My childhood was shattered when my parents forced me to go to summer school. I did not understand why because I was not required to go to one. At summer school, I felt that the word ‘vacation’ never existed. There was no time to go play at the park or even have a conversation with a friend. After reading the essay, I believe that schools accomplishes its goal to educate people but does not encourage them to work hard for it.
October 29, 2009 at 4:46 am
I like this essay because I can really relate to the character and his rant on education. I really don’t enjoy the long amount of time we spend during school because we only get one chance in life and it makes sense to make the most use out of it. It is boring and although the information we learn in school are helpful, to spend so much time learning and stuffing information in our brains is time consuming. As much as I want to spend the rest of my life doing only things I want to, I know that in the future I’ll need a salary somehow and if it is low, it means I have to work hard to survive. It’s boring but education will be useful in the distant future.
October 29, 2009 at 5:44 am
“Bordem is the common condition of schoolteachers…the whinning, the dispirited attitudes, to be found there When asked why they feel bored, the teachers tend to blame the kids, as you might expect. Who wouldn’t get bored teaching students who are rude and interested only in grades?”
I enjoyed the essay alot but this quote stood out to me the most. I viewed it as a text-to-world connection which shone light on how the school system works in today’s society. The teachers are interested in their subject, hence, go to school for X amount of years to achieve their masters. Students should be interested in the subject if the teachers present the material/information in an interesting way. When students become more interested the classroom becomes more vibrant and fun. In order to stimulate the positive interaction between students and teachers, there must be great teaching techniques. It’s not always about reading straight from the textbooks and distributing multiple exams throughout the quarter. There must be an active and effective way of learning. Students who only care about their grades only care about the numbers and not about their comprehension on the content being taught. We see this in our school today; the difference between those who care about all the aspects of education and those who don’t.
October 29, 2009 at 6:36 am
This essay is my favorite essay so far in the Writers presence. I felt like I’m, the intended reader, because I have once or twice wondered why our school system the way it is today. I wonder how all these changes came into place and I have been bored with the same routine the school system gives the student. I don’t think I’m bored all the time, just like the author, his grandfather doesn’t like the term of boredom, just like my mother. So I master a skill to deal with boredom in different ways. It’s ironic how a teacher feels this way about the school system but at the same time I think she would be against school because she has all this knowledge about people who didn’t have the same school system and were successful in life. His reasoning of how “we are all” the blame for boredom in school is correct. I agree with her statement because if teachers are going to be bored teaching the material, students will be bored to learn it. I enjoy John’s questioning and reasonable explanations about school systems. I think the routine itself makes school boring. Its idealistic goal of making all students into good people, good citizens and for them to reach for their personal best is a limiting goal. I think that school should have a larger goal to expand the minds of students and allow them to grow into adults through experience.
“The integrating function. This might well be called “the conformity function,” because its intention is to make children as alike as possible. People who conform are predictable, and this is of great use to those who wish to harness and manipulate a large labor force” (692)
This statement is true; I think that at times schools want students to be the same, similar to robots. The ideal student is perfect grades, great sats scores and overall unrealistic. This ideal student is the goal for all schools, they want as many of these ideals students they can receive.
October 29, 2009 at 7:26 pm
I found this essay interesting since I’m enrolled in a public school. As a student, I do feel like I am a “puppet” for my teachers and those with higher authority. I think school should change because it doesn’t allow individuals to gain their own identity. I also found the “six basic functions” to be interesting since its breaks down the actual purpose of the public school system. It shows how the authority is capable of keeping us from excelling in life and becoming geniuses by dumbing us down. We are only expected to learn so much, and study only one field in order to cut back on our amount of our knowledge.
October 29, 2009 at 11:06 pm
I enjoyed this essay. I enjoyed it because this are some of my thoughts about education. Education is not for everyone, not everyone can sit through 6 to 7 classes a day 5 days a week and learn. It truly is boring. In our education system we do not learn as much as we should, rather we are taught to memorize an abundance of information at once. We are constantly being ranked and rated as though we are items, not every person has the same mind to remember loads of information of the past years. We are tested for the ability to memorize, if you fail you can’t go on in life. Gatto states, “do we really need school? I don’t mean education, just forced schooling”(689). I agree maybe school hours should be shorter, after a while it becomes montonous to the point where we get bored and do not want to learn. In a world like America education is a key essential to life. In order to be successful we must get an education which will help us get a good well paying job. I feel that America as a whole has to reorganize this educational system to improve education. I agree with Gatto in this story to a certain extent.
November 1, 2009 at 5:11 am
Though this essay did not rub me the right way like most of the others I did find something of substance. It came as Gatto explained his grandfather’s views on boredom, “he told me that I was never to use the term in his presence again, that if I was bored it was my fault and no one else’s. They obligation to amuse and instruct myself was entirely my own, and the people who didn’t know that were childish people, to be avoided if possible” (689). I completely agree with this quotation, it’s easy to give up on something and use that fact that you’re bored or that it doesn’t interest you as a reason. It takes a mature person to stick with something and do their best even if they hate it or don’t want to do it. And so yes I do think those people should be avoided because their negativity can bring a person down instead of uplifting them. In life things are going to come about that we won’t like but we just can’t give up on them we have to persever and get through with them.
November 1, 2009 at 9:40 pm
im just realizing the post weren’t up since last week, so i’m going to repost them.
November 1, 2009 at 9:42 pm
“I taught for thirty years in some of the worst schools in Manhattan, and in some of the best, and during that time I became an expert in boredom. Boredom was everywhere in my world, and if you asked the kids, as I often did, why they felt so bored, they always gave the same answers: They said the work was stupid, that it made no sense, that they already knew it” (688). Boredom is affiliated with those public school students who do not have an urge or understanding for education. Students who are interested in learning can never become bored. The urge for such a fundamental idea such as knowledge should be found in every student. The reason I do so well in school is because I like to learn and look forward to it, every second of the day. Without knowledge comes ignorance, which isn’t a good characteristics. Thus, the priority of society should be renewed; education is the key to success, so why not achieve it?