John Taylor Gatto

John Taylor Gatto[1] (born December 15, 1935[2]) is an American author and
John Taylor Gatto
former school teacher who taught in the classroom for nearly 30 years. He devoted
much of his energy to his teaching career, then, following his resignation, authored Born December 15, 1935
several books on modern education, criticizing its ideology, history, and Monongahela,
consequences. He is best known for his books Dumbing Us Down: the Hidden Pennsylvania, USA
Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling, and The Underground History of American Residence Oxford, New York
Education: A Schoolteacher’s Intimate Investigation Into the Problem of Modern Nationality American
Schooling, which is sometimes considered to be hismagnum opus.
Other names John Gatto
He was named New York City Teacher of the Year in 1989, 1990, and 1991, and Education Cornell University
New York State Teacher of the Year in 1991.[3] University of
Pittsburgh
Yeshiva University
Hunter College
Contents Reed College
University of
Biography
California, Berkeley
Main thesis
Occupation Author and speaker
Bibliography
Filmography
Known for Educational activist,
scholar, New York
See also
State Teacher of the
References
Year
External links
Writings and lectures Spouse(s) Janet Gatto
Multimedia Website www.johntaylorgatto
.com

Biography
Gatto was born in Monongahela, Pennsylvania, a steel town near Pittsburgh. In his youth he attended public schools throughout the
Pittsburgh Metro Area including Swissvale, Monongahela, and Uniontown as well as a Catholic boarding school in Latrobe. He did
undergraduate work at Cornell, the University of Pittsburgh, and Columbia, then served in the U.S. Army medical corps at Fort
Knox, Kentucky, and Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Following army service he did graduate work at the City University of New York,
Hunter College, Yeshiva University, the University of California, Berkeley, and Cornell.

He worked as a writer and held several odd jobs before borrowing his roommate's license to investigate teaching. Gatto also ran for
the New York State Senate, 29th District in 1985 and 1988 as a member of the Conservative Party of New York against incumbent
David Paterson.[4] He was named New York City Teacher of the Year in 1989, 1990, and 1991, and New York State Teacher of the
Year in 1991.[3] In 1991, he wrote a letter announcing his retirement, titled I Quit, I Think,[5] to the op-ed pages of the Wall Street
Journal, saying that he no longer wished to "hurt kids to make a living." He then began a public speaking and writing career, and has
received several awards from libertarian organizations, including the Alexis de Tocqueville Award for Excellence in Advancement of
Educational Freedom in 1997.[6]

He promotes homeschooling, and specifically unschooling and open source learning. Wade A. Carpenter, associate professor of
education at Berry College, has called his books "scathing" and "one-sided and hyperbolic, [but] not inaccurate"[7] and describes
himself as in agreement with Gatto.[8]
Gatto is currently working on a 3-part documentary about compulsory schooling, titled The Fourth Purpose. He says he was inspired
by Ken Burns's Civil War.[9]

In 2011, Gatto had two major strokes. The stroke occurred after he completed the filming of "The Ultimate History Lesson: A
Weekend with John Taylor Gatto"[10] which was released in early 2012 by Tragedy and Hope Communications.[11]

Main thesis
Gatto asserts the following regarding what school does to children in "Dumbing Us Down":

1. It confuses the students. It presents an incoherent ensemble of information that the child needs to memorize to stay
in school. Apart from the tests and trials, this programming is similar to the television; it fills almost all the "free" time
of children. One sees and hears something, only to forget it again.
2. It teaches them to accept theirclass affiliation.
3. It makes them indifferent.
4. It makes them emotionally dependent.
5. It makes them intellectually dependent.
6. It teaches them a kind of self-confidence that requires constant confirmation by experts (provisional self-esteem).
[12]
7. It makes it clear to them that they cannot hide, because they are always supervised.
He also draws a contrast between communities and “networks,” with the former being healthy, and schools being examples of the
latter. He says networks have become an unhealthy substitute for community in the United States.

Bibliography
Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling(1992).
The Exhausted School(1993).
A Different Kind of Teacher: Solving the Crisis of American Schooling(2000). ISBN 1-893163-21-0
The Underground History of American Education(2001).
'Against School' (2003) (Complete Text Online)
Weapons of Mass Instruction: A Schoolteacher's Journey through the Dark World of Compulsory Schooling(2008).
ISBN 0-86571-631-5
* '[The Adventures of Snider, the CIA Spider]]' (2017, Lost Tools Press) ISBN 978-0-9892800-3-7

Filmography
The Ultimate History Lesson: A Weekend with John Taylor Gatto (2012) - interview [13]
Thrive (2011) - appearance
Human Resources Documentary(2010) - appearance

See also
Critical pedagogy
Deschooling Society (book by Ivan Illich)
Hidden curriculum
How Children Fail (book by John Holt)
Total institution
Other critics of public education:

Zachariah Montgomery
Richard Grant White

References
 1. After learning he was regularly confused with another teacher named John Gatto, he addedaylor
T to his pen name.
2. "Birthdatabase (.com)" (http://www.stephenmorse.com/birthday/birthday2.html). Stephenmorse.com. Retrieved
2014-03-10.
3. New York's Teachers of the Year (http://www.regents.nysed.gov/meetings/2004Meetings/February2004/0204heppd2.
htm), New York State Education Department (accessed April 5, 2014).
4. "THE ELECTIONS; New York State Senate (https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE6DC1639F933A
25752C1A96E948260)". New York Times. November 10, 1988.
5. "I Quit, I Think" (http://www.educationrevolution.org/blog/i-quit-i-think/). Jerry Mintz. Retrieved 2015-05-30.
6. "[1] (http://www.schoolandstate.org/Bios/HistoryTocqueville.htm)". Alexis de Tocqueville Award. April 5, 2014.
7. Wade A. Carpenter (2007)."For Those We Won't Reach: An Alternative"(https://web.archive.org/web/20110722191
020/http://www.pilambda.org/styles/pilambda/defiles/v85-3.pdf?phpMyAdmin=7ef832b5771aeb8f8ed4cd00c2e37023
&phpMyAdmin=-zoWw3mdi0AafcwcegVd7BGSXS5)(PDF). Educational Horizons. 85 (3): 153n8. Archived fromthe
original (http://www.pilambda.org/styles/pilambda/defiles/v85-3.pdf?phpMyAdmin=7ef832b5771aeb8f8ed4cd00c2e3
7023&phpMyAdmin=-zoWw3mdi0AafcwcegVd7BGSXS5)(PDF) on 2011-07-22.
8. Wade A. Carpenter. "Behind Every Silver Lining: The Other Side of No Child Left Behind"(https://web.archive.org/we
b/20110821051340/http://www.pilambda.org/styles/pilambda/defiles/v85-1.pdf?phpMyAdmin=7ef832b5771aeb8f8ed
4cd00c2e37023&phpMyAdmin=-zoWw3mdi0AafcwcegVd7BGSXS5)(PDF). Educational Horizons. 85 (1). Archived
from the original (http://www.pilambda.org/styles/pilambda/defiles/v85-1.pdf?phpMyAdmin=7ef832b5771aeb8f8ed4c
d00c2e37023&phpMyAdmin=-zoWw3mdi0AafcwcegVd7BGSXS5)(PDF) on 2011-08-21.
9. The Fourth Purpose Documentary Series(http://www.johntaylorgatto.com/fourthpurpose/gatto.htm) Archived (https://
web.archive.org/web/20090403235110/http://www .johntaylorgatto.com/fourthpurpose/gatto.htm)2009-04-03 at the
Wayback Machine., Fourth Purpose Films (accessed March 21, 2008).
10. "The Ultimate History Lesson: A Weekend with John Taylor Gatto (Intro + Hour 1 of 5)"(https://www.youtube.com/wa
tch?v=YQiW_l848t8). YouTube. 2012-01-01. Retrieved 2014-03-10.
11. "The Ultimate History Lesson: A Weekend with John Taylor Gatto" (https://www.tragedyandhope.com/th-films/the-ulti
mate-history-lesson/). Tragedyandhope.com. Retrieved 2014-03-10.
12. See John Taylor Gatto, Dumbing Us Down. The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling
, Iceland Gabriola: New
Society Publishers, 2005, p. 2–11
13. "John Taylor Gatto" (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm4682967/). IMDB. Retrieved 18 March 2015.

External links
Official website
[2]
Kinza Academy, Homeschooling with the Classics. Gatto is on the Advisory Board.
Collection of essays Gatto is a regular columnist for The Link Homeschool Newspaper
Transcript of radio interview with Jerry Brown
Gatto's November 2007 visit to Netherlands: audio, video and articles
Book reviews by Layla AR
The Underground History of American Education by John aylor T Gatto (complete download)
Collection of John Taylor Gatto quotes and videos

Writings and lectures

[3]
"Against School" – originally published inHarper's Magazine, September 2003
"The Six-Lesson Schoolteacher"– originally published inWhole Earth Review, Fall 1991
The Seven Lesson School Teacher
A set of quotes from Gatto and links to original essays
"Institutional Schooling Must Be Destroyed"
"The Tyranny Of Compulsory Schooling"
"The Public School Nightmare: Why fix a system designed to destroy individual thought?"
, article published by Diablo
Valley School
 "Why Schools Don't Educate - Teacher of the Year acceptance speech"
"A Short Angry History of American Forced Schooling"
Book reviews by Layla AR
Everything We Think About Schooling Is Wrong! – Interview with Gatto (PDF file download)
A set of quotes from Gatto and links to original essays

Multimedia
The Ultimate History Lesson, 2012on YouTube, released free
Bartleby Project 2010 on YouTube
4th Purpose Promo – Trailer for The Fourth Purpose
John Gatto Keynote Talks - Video: Five complete keynote talks by JohnGatto (2004–2010)
Altruists.org – download audio files of some of Gatto's talks
Video of Gatto interview, broken into topic sections
Speech at a home schooling Conference by Radio for Peace(MP3)
The Lew Rockwell Show, Aug 25, 2010
Collection of Gatto Files, mainly MP3s

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aylor_Gatto&oldid=824096206"

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