Analysis Of John Taylor Gatto's Against School

The promising doors of nationwide public education strives to give all Americans the opportunity for a student to become a high-achieving role model in today’s society. Originating in 1837 from the Father of Common School, Horace Mann, an educational revolution emerged to ensure that every child has the opportunity to receive a basic, free education. Then followed several years later, the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 assures that teachers are highly qualified to teach America’s youth and additionally gives all students an equal right to 12 years of proper education. But what is truly meant by a basic educational system in which all children will be treated equally? John Taylor Gatto’s Against School describes America’s schooling system as …show more content…
School is meant to not just find those who conform, but “improve the breeding stock… [tagging] the unfit… clearly enough that their peers will accept them as inferior” (Gatto 157). Gatto claims that through bad test scores, remedial placement, and several other bad consequences, students will develop a bad impression towards the “dumber” students which will, in turn, ultimately keep them outside the breeding pool. Since people see being smart as a high quality, attractive attribute, people who are not smart are often deemed unattractive. Through all the harsh bullying and judgmental factors these students face, they never develop their full potential and accept the fact they are unfit for society. It is similar to trying to train a singular fish in a class of apes to climb a tree. The fish will not succeed, but had the test been to seek the one who is able to stay underwater the longest, the fish would always win and emerge as genius. By intellectually abusing students towards trying to fit in, school is truly only shaping and molding a student to become manageable and genius for the

Show More

Related Documents: Analysis Of John Taylor Gatto's Against School

Rhetorical Analysis: "Against School" Essay