Essay #2

Essay #2- Against School

After reading John Taylor Gatto’s article entitled Against School, my perception of what school stood for and its motives have drastically been altered. I initially believed that school was a sanctuary for knowledge. It was implemented to create well-rounded, self- driven, ambitious individuals, who could positively influence the market and work place. I assumed that the purpose of school was to teach social norms, ethics, goal setting, time management, and self control. I equally felt that teachers were there because of their passion to help and to fulfill an internal desire to help develop individuals to their maximum potential. I was under the impression that school the structures their curriculum to reflect current historical, political and environmental challenges that our society is faced with today. Again, promoting the idea that school should be a safe haven for children to experience and be exposed to new cultures, different diversities, and offer their students the ability to gain life experiences through structured programs, clubs, and committees, to see school as a factory or a prison was shocking . School was, at least before I read this article, a place for children to grow and become self driven, knowledgeable, and responsible adults. I too, was under the impression that school was implemented to make good citizens, better people and to aid people in achieving their personal best. However, post reading Gatto’s article I have been shown a new perspective of school that is very unsettling.

I never would have thought that schools were implemented as a strategic battle plan adopted from the Prussian empire which intended to “produce mediocre intellects, to hamstring the inner life, to deny students appreciable leadership skills, and to ensure docile and incomplete citizens- all in order to render the populace “manageable.” The key word being “manageable” is exactly what teachers strive for today and until reading this article I did not see it. Those teachers who struggle with “managing” their students are the ones who have stronger negative view of children and are more incline to use destructive labels for children. Constructing a “factory” that nurtured children to be more interdependent on authority, they want kids to rely on people of power to dictate what right from wrong, what is acceptable within their society and to manufacture a society that questions nothing and follows orders efficiently. This is an underlying motive that when I was in school I was oblivious to. I did not have the historical knowledge base to analyze and disassemble why school was structure the way it was. Nor was I empowered enough to think beyond the scope of school and see the bigger picture as it correlated to social influence. In school those who challenged the instructor were ostracized from their student population and where outsourced to someone who held higher authorities. The vice principals job is to intimidate students to the point where they break and conform to the schools social expectation of them. There are strict punishment emplaced for those who rebel and great rewards for those who are conform. There is great validity in comparing compulsory secondary schooling with that of prison.

Prison like school is forced upon, promotes change with an alternative motive and gives no power to those who are imprisoned (student or inmate). Prisoners are placed in designated wards to prevent uproar and conflict; they have set schedules, agendas and time frames. Those who do not meet these set rules, face disciplinary action. School too, has many similar attributes such as; law requiring students to be involved for a set time period, student’s schedules are set with an agenda that leaves little room for electives and is not taught to think “outside the box”. Students are expected to follow their “prisons” rules and if they fail to meet and obey their authority, one is faced with suspension or possibly expulsion. Both realms utilize separation and categorization of populations as a tool for identification purposes. Inglis states that “dividing children by subject, age grading, and by constantly ranking children through testing… will separate the ignorant masses of mankind”. This quote means that through using separation and categorization both students and prisoners go through a selection process. For example, schools utilize placement testing as a way to dictate where a student’s will be placed and therefore promoting segregation in the sense of intelligence level. And prisoners are assessed and assigned to specific ward and occupational tasks that reflect their initial placement within the prison ward. In essence, both prisoners and students become codependent on the system, hence not giving them any life skills that could be used to cope with the realities of life. These systems perpetuate a lack of self awareness, creativity and leadership, therefore causing a cyclical environment.

Inglis presents the idea that school posses six basic functions: adjustive or adaptive function, integrating function, diagnostic and directive function, differentiating function, a selective function and lastly a propaedeutic function. Adjustive or adaptive function is the notion that school denounces critical judgment, meaning no room for personal perspective, within their curriculum because one cannot measure ones flexible obedience. Integrating function, also known as the “conformity function” intends to create a melting pot effect, when people go with the grain and conform then they are less of a threat and are predictable. The diagnostic and directive function is used to determine a child’s social goal. They do this through standardized testing and through school grades. Its function is to gauge a person’s weaknesses and strengths, in turn designating their proper social role within society. Differentiating function is when school begins to sort children post assessment into classes that shall reflect their social roles, then training students accordingly. Schools provide strictly book training and refrain from offering real life experience. This function totally goes against my initial perspective of school because how would you truly know if that job field is right for you without having firsthand experience. Life is all about choices and challenging yourself to go beyond societal dictations and be the best that you can be for yourself. The selective function goes hand in hand with Darwins theory. I am in agreement with this theory because people in my opinion are discriminated upon due to race, color, gender, and sexual orientation. The theory is emplaced to deter integration between varying cultures, social classes and intellects. The hope is to make those who are brighter not to procreate with those who are not at their caliber. Lastly, the propaedeutic function selects the leaders who are the top of the hierarchy pyramid, causing the determination of the classifications within our society.

In conclusion, I see that school is as much about teaching conformity and sorting students into social roles as it is about manipulation. Before reading Gatto’s article I believed that the school system was fairly implemented to give everyone an equal right to an education and the skills sets to successfully succeed in our economy. But after reading this article it made me realize that there are underlying motives within the schools system that promotes segregation, labeling and inferiority. For example, someone who does not do well on standardized testing is automatically rejected from Ivy League schools. Hence, separating the so called “elite” from the rest, that itself it prejudice and extremely bias. No one should have the power to make a judgment call on anyone individual and reduce their chances for a better education and a chance to succeed. Just because one may not be intellectually equipped for taking tests does not mean that a student should be deprived the opportunity to attend an Ivy League school.