I’ve been thinking much about Dina’s last post on motivation, and my stewing led me back to something I read along time ago (like four years) in graduate school. If you’ve never read this, check this piece out by John Taylor Gatto, “The Six-Lesson Schoolteacher“. My favorite quote:
The third lesson I teach you is to surrender your will to a predestined chain of command. Rights may be granted or withheld, by authority, without appeal. As a schoolteacher I intervene in many personal decisions, issuing a Pass for those I deem legitimate, or initiating a disciplinary confrontation for behavior that threatens my control. My judgments come thick and fast, because individuality is trying constantly to assert itself in my classroom. Individuality is a curse to all systems of classification, a contradiction of class theory.
I’ll be writing more about this soon, when I get some time over break. Maybe.
I love how fresh and timely this essay is. Clearly the author is deeply aware of the impact of NCLB. When was it written again? May? Oh…1991? Seventeen years ago?…
Yeah, it’s funny how things haven’t changed (have become worse?). For those that might be interested in Gatto, check out his latest work:
http://www.johntaylorgatto.com/fourthpurpose/index.htm
He basically argues that schooling, as it’s currently constructed, has always been to create compliance, not to teach the love of learning. That might be for another day though…
Howdy folks.
An educational philosophy that espouses a love of learning is hard to argue with. To play devil’s advocate, however, it can be a very tall order given the model most of us are forced to work within – that is – the public school model. It is one in which everyone MUST attend whether they want to or not. In the face of such realities, it is easy for me to see how one can/must resort to using some “tactics” that will help create at least a semblance of an atmosphere where at least a modicum of learning CAN take place.
Thoughts? Comments?
Pete Sar