Dumbing Us Down, by John Taylor Gatto (1 of 2)

	Duration: 10:31 minutes Upload Time: 2007-06-18 00:59:56
Book report on Gatto's "Dumbing Us Down"
Comments
4GodinVA  2008-04-04 13:12:31 Thanks for an enlightening review of Gatto's book and philosophy. Unfortunately, some of the comments below come from philosophically deprive public school grads. I believe that if the philosophy of a school is correct -- the education and training of human beings to become morally upright and thinking adults -- then even a few flaws in the system won't have a lasting impact on the lives of the students. The gov't schools operate on a philosophy straight out of hell! Poor kids. __________________________________________________
bill0756  2008-04-03 07:31:49 You've picked out ONE Gatto point, but Ill address it. Where is it proven that 45 minutes(or however long a school session is) is the ideal length for learning?? I think one of Gatto's points is that the sessions are not tailored per student. Children's breadth of learning relates to thier ability to tie unrelated subjects together,...are they allowed to bring one subject into another?...I'd say Gatto is right and they aren't. Children now are strictly forced into performance on demand. __________________________________________________
docmoriarti  2008-03-22 16:13:41 I am gonna have to disagree with the short lessons being a problem. Specialization is useful for adults because their brains are less agile... this is not an empty statement. I can back it up scientifically. Children can switch context much more easily and need to learn a wide breadth of information. Adults are better served by educating themselves more narrowly but to greater depth. One easy way to show this is how children can learn multiple languages and effortlessly switch between them. __________________________________________________
bigsloe  2008-03-19 21:38:31 WHAT A DOUCHE __________________________________________________
polyzygote  2008-03-10 13:38:51 you have no idea what you are talking about so i won't even bother with criticism. finish the book and do some additional research and then come back and try again. i.e. go do your homework :) __________________________________________________