Nine Assumptions of Schooling and Twenty-one Facts the Institution Would Rather Not Discuss

Spinning Globe ^ | John Taylor Gatto

[Clintonfatigued]

I'll start off bluntly by giving you some data I'd be shocked if you already know. A few simple facts, all verifiable, which by their existence call into question the whole shaky edifice of American government compulsion schooling from kindergarten through college and its questionable connection with the job market. The implications of this data are quite radical so I'm going to take pains to ground it in the most conservative society on earth, the mountain world of Switzerland. You all remember Switzerland: that's where people put their money when they really want it to be really safe.

The Swiss just like us believe that education is the key to their national success, but that's where our similarity ends. In 1990 about 60% of American secondary school graduates enrolled in college, but only 22% did in Switzerland; in America almost l00% of our kids go to high school or private equivalents, but only a little over a fifth of the Swiss kids do. And yet the Swiss per capita income is the highest of any nation in the world and the Swiss keep insisting that virtually everyone in their country is highly educated!

What on earth could be going on? Remember it's a sophisticated economy which produces the highest per-capita paycheck in the world we're talking about, high for the lightly-schooled as well as for the heavily schooled, higher than Japan's, Germany's or our own. No one goes to high school in Switzerland who doesn't also want to go to college, three-quarters of the young people enter apprenticeships before high school. It seems the Swiss don't make the mistake that schooling and education are synonyms.

[mountn man]

Yes, you are correct. Our current generation of parents were so ill-educated themselves that they are incapable of homeschooling. This is too bad. It is too bad that not all parents are good parents and some of their children find themselves in orphanages

Put 30 assorted kids in a class room, some with good behavior, others not so, and others even worse. Given the fact that the teacher spends part of the class time orginizing and "controlling" the class. Then figure in that for a 60 minute class, the teacher spends 5-10 discussing non related stuff. Add 5-10 minutes to transition between each class. That could eliminate 2 hours of "education" time every day. Add to that 1/2 hour for lunch, you've lost 2-1/2 hours. If you have a 7 hour day, you've lost 35% of your time.

Back to individual classes. If a teacher has 45 minutes in each hour of actual teaching time, they probably spend 20-40 minutes presenting the days material. Lets average that to 30 minutes. That leaves 15 minutes in every class for the teacher to spend with 30 kids individually. Now obviously some will grasp things right away and others won't. What happens to those that don't?

Now lets add something else to the equation. These kids for the most part are strangers to the teacher. No matter how altruistic a teacher might be, when all is said and done, a parent has more concern for the well being of their own child, than a teacher does.

So lets compare the homeschool classroom verses the school classroom. A homeschooling parent has 1-(15?) kids in class at any one time. Versus a school teacher who might have 30. A homeschooling parent of multiple kids might actually have assistance from one of the other kids, where a sibling might actually "tutor" another sibling. A homeschooling parent moves the child along at the childs speed, making sure the child understands and comprehends the course material. The parent can spend more time or less time on a particular area, depending on the needs of the child, versus the clock on the wall or the calendar. Maybe a child needs 65 minutes of intensive instruction 1 day on math, but only 20 minutes on history.

Most homeschooling parents study the material themselves, to make sure they can teach it to their own kids. Add the parental love factor, and I'd put most parents teaching their own kids, up against a schoolteacher any day.

Granted there are "some" parents who don't belong teaching anything. But there are also teachers who don't belong teaching either. Overall, I think most parents are capable of teaching their own kids thru HS. But don't confuse capability with responsibility. Without responsibility, the most educated parent is nowhere near as capable, as a parent with limited education but vast responsibility.

[groanup]

He also as much as admitted that the REAL reason they wanted ALL these kids in school was the $3,000.00 per kid per year

I can tell you from experience that this is the truth.

Thanks for posting that story. I seem to remember it though I'd be surprised if it got much publicity in the Al Jazeera Constitution.

[Tax-chick]

Thanks for the suggestions!

[Quix]

Great article.

I encourage folks to read it at the site and to make copies to give out.

Just don't tell my boss.

[wintertime]

Well, I'm afraid that despite your best intention you shortchanged them. Hopefully they'll make up for it.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

I can see that you are very dedicated to your educational philosophy. In a free market system of education you will be free to join with other parents and form a school that adheres to your worldview.

I would object to the imposition of either your or my philosophy on other families by government police force.

Graduates of a major university, with B.S. degrees in mathematics is not, in my opinion being short changed. The older of the two at 20 had a masters in mathematics. And the oldest is excelling in his fields of interest.

[wintertime]

Anyway, she graduated at age 19 with a two BS degrees, one in Physics, one in Math - and is now on her way to a masters.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

Congratulations!

One other benefit of send my kids to college early was that they were not influenced by the high school fashions or culture. They had delightful friends who were good students and goal directed in their personal lives.

[wintertime]

The biggest problem is that most people can't imagine that education can be done in any other way.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Then homeschoolers must be an "in your face" shock.

[wintertime]

The only way to change things for the better is to stop using public schools.

Hopefully, as homeschooling increases, more parents will see the wisdom of removing their children from government schools.

Government schools need a few things: Students, money, and votes. Homeschoolers rob the governemnt schools of all 3.

[after dark]

Do you care if "retards" and "dullards are home schooled?

[after dark]

I disagree with the assertion that drills are not necessary for learning. Much can be gained by memorizing poetry and bible verses. Math drilling is the best way to learn basic math facts. In order to be successful in business occupations people must be good in math and accounting.
I do agree with the assertion that most kids would be better educated if they were allowed to train for real jobs at an earlier age. The vocational classes at my high were a joke. Everyone who graduated from the high vocational program was obliged to get two more years of training from a real vocational program.They should have saved the poor kids time and money and sent them to real vocational schools.

[GSlob]

As far as is known to me [I could not track them all, but heard about several], the graduates of the class I was observing could now be found as full professors at major universities around Europe, and a couple are in the United States, teaching in Ivy League. This is the level their education was aiming at. These visualization exercises and other more or less neat tricks were not wasted, after all.

[after dark]

Do you care if "retards" and "dullards" are home schooled?

[GSlob]

"Do you care if "retards" and "dullards" are home schooled?"
Not in the least. Let them be schooled in whatever way possible [albeit the cheaper the better], since I do not expect much [if anything] from them - if they keep out of trouble and off the dole, it's good enough. I am much more concerned about the gifted children, for these are the seed corn of the civilization.

[usmom]

You are right on about the wasted time/little time spent on actual teaching and learning in school. People marvel when I tell them that 'school' for us takes about 4 hours for my older children and only 1-2 hours for my K/1st grader. They point to that and say 'see, you can't possibly be teaching them enough in so little time when kids are school 7-8 hours'. Yes, they may be in school for 7-8 hours, but are they actively learning that whole time? I don't think so! Add to that all the teacher's conventions, half-days, field trips, assemblies, parties, excitement before and settling down after holidays and vacations and it becomes even more ridiculous. It may take take my kids half the hours, but those hours are spent in intensive, one-on-one learning and active study- not the bus, in the halls, on the playground, in the lunchroom, etc... I happen to know that the last 2-4 weeks of school before summer is a waste- nothing but filed trips, athletic days, parties and wrapping up loose ends. My kids were doing actual work that whole time. We review and do 'school-lite' all summer and start back in earnest in August without missing a beat.

[wintertime]

"as many styles of schooling as there are human dreams."
Gatto

In a free market there will be as many styles of schooling as there are human dreams.

In a free market, the system of age segregating brilliant children, keeping them from interacting with those working in the field, confining their math exposure to merely one professor,,,well...it will either win or fail.

As for our family, we are not impressed with the Ivy League. The only people impressed with an Ivy League education are other Ivy League grads. It's a mutual admiration society.

[after dark]

Thank you ,for clarifying your position.I think parents should run like hell , regardless of the label their kids are wearing, from schools in which their kids are not being educated or from schools which push perversion . Sad to say, most parents would never homeschool their kids.

[GSlob]

I was talking not about Ivy grads, but about Ivy faculty - it is a most difficult task to get there. Selection process like 600-800 applicants for one entry level slot; or one has to be an already well established senior scientist to get there - not as a student but as a professor. Educating people capable of doing it is what I have been talking about.

[Clintonfatigued]

"Sad to say, most parents would never homeschool their kids."

That's because they've never been exposed to an example of successful (academically & socially) homeschooling. If more parents try it out and more current homeschoolers befriend neighbors who don't homeschool, more parents may be open to the idea.

Have you heard of the phrase, "Rome wasn't built in a day"?

[stevestras]

Just marking my spot here as I am interested in this subject.

Honestly, you don't think homeschooled children miss out on the socialization with other kids? Athletics and friendships are important, I'm not sure how this can be compensated for when homeschooling young children.

[after dark]

>"Have you heard of the phrase, "Rome wasn't built in a day"?"

Oh, yes! I have heard that many times. I have never found much comfort in the saying ,but I do not disagree with you. Eventually parents will realize that ultimately they are the only ones who care if their kids become well educated.