"The Seven-Lesson School Teacher"

I just read an excellent article by John Taylo Gatto,NY State School Teacher of the Year,1991.

It's called "The Seven-Lesson School Teacher"

This is what he says those "Seven Lessons" amount to...

1.Confusion
2.Class Position
3.Indifference
4.Emotional Dependency
5.Intellectual Dependency
6.Provisional Self-Esteem
7.One Can't Hide

Surely America wouldn't be in the mess we're in if not for the deliberate "dumbing down" of society,which has been said over and over again. So,while this isn't news,the article does a great job of telling us how it is done and why!

Thought some of you may appreciate it. Those with children in school,you won't like to hear these things,but maybe you can do something to reverse the damage once you see what it is that is being done.

If any of you would like to comment on your own education and how that worked out for you,I think it might make for a good discussion! (A good break from World Chaos for a minute or two!)

I'll just end with a quote:
From
www.informationliberation.com...
(Some other related videos can be found at this page,just scroll down a bit:
www.informationliberation.com...)

After an adult lifetime spent teaching school, I believe the method of mass-schooling is its only real content. Don't be fooled into thinking that good curriculum or good equipment or good teachers are the critical determinants of your son's or daughter's education. All the pathologies we've considered come about in large measure because the lessons of school prevent children from keeping important appointments with themselves and with their families to learn lessons in self-motivation, perseverance, self-reliance, courage, dignity, and love -- and lessons in service to others, too, which are among the key lessons of home and community life.

Thirty years ago [in the early 60s] these things could still be learned in the time left after school. But television has eaten up most of that time, and a combination of television and the stresses peculiar to two-income or single-parent families have swallowed up most of what used to be family time as well. Our kids have no time left to grow up fully human and only thin-soil wastelands to do it in.

A future is rushing down upon our culture which will insist all of us learn the wisdom of non-material experience; a future which will demand as the price of survival that we follow a path of natural life economical in material cost. These lessons cannot be learned in schools as they are. School is a twelve-year jail sentence where bad habits are the only curriculum truly learned. I teach school and win awards doing it. I should know."

Being a member of ATS, a conspiracy site, I feel that this subject is probably the 'Mother of all Conspiracies'. The trickle down effect of today's education leads people into not being imaginative, self thinkers and just using good 'ol common sense.
Before I get into my own personal observations, I want to let the younger generation know that this is not an "I remember when..." story. I went to HS in the mid 70's and as far as further education goes, I did go to a '4hrs/night, 4 nights/week for 6 months' technical trade school in 1980 for HVAC.
My sister, who is two years older than myself, has a PHd in clinical Phsycology and a BS in Veterinary Science and teaches biology, physiology, and human anatomy here at 'Eastern New Mexico University'.
A few years back, I went over to her house to ask her about something or another and she was sitting at her computer typing. Well not to be rude and interupt her in the middle of her task, I just stood by her desk glancing around and looked at some papers on it, which turned out to be some sort of test from one of her students on Biology.
I glanced over some of the questions which were on the subject of plants. They asked such questions as 'What is the pistel and stamen and what are their purposes? What is the difference in meiosis and mitosis? etc..'. I was answering these in my head when she finished and I asked her what the test was for and she told me it was their final exams. I couldn't believe it. All these questions were from hers and mine 9th grade Biology class in HS. Which at that time was a required course to pass to be able to graduate HS. She explained to me that she has to follow the criteria set by the University.
College has always been explained to me as a place for advance learning and further studies, not a second term of HS. On let's say a 4 year BS, how much of that time is spent on teaching you what you should already know instead of 'advancing' your knowledge?
Have you noticed more and more subjects are going online?
Anatomy??...You're looking at professionally made images on a computer screen and have no actual confrontation with body parts. Which I think, that if an Emergency Tech or Nurse were to have to work on me after let's say a 'car wreck', the last thing I want to hear is "What's this?" because my insides might not look like what they saw on their computer monitor.
Another point- 'Malpractice Insurance'
What is this about? A Doctor doesn't even need to be held liable for their supposedly 'Expertise' when dealing with your body and your self being.

www.expertlaw.com...
•What Is Medical Malpractice?
•Informed Consent
•Medical Error Without Harm
•The Impact of Tort Reform
•The High Cost of Malpractice Litigation
•Finding A Good Lawyer
•A Long, Difficult Process

Okay all, sorry for the rant. I feel better now..

reply to post by geo1066


I like that..."The Mother of All Conspiracies"!

That certainly made the undermining of our government and way of life easier,didn't it?

I hate to say how ignorant I was of all this up to a couple of years ago.

If there was a Conspiracy degree,I'd have a PhD by now!(Thanks to my On Line Education!)

Medical Degree? Now that's a scary thought!

I'm not sure whether this is totally on topic, and if not, please remove.

I work in the Beaverton School District in Oregon. i have two neices who attend school within the district. This is a letter I wrote yesterday, to the administration of the school the older of the two neices goes two, after she left school in tears the previous day. I have removed all the names.

Mr. ******,

My name is ***** *****. I am an I.A. at Stoller Middle School, a former student at Aloha High School, and am the uncle of a current student, ***** *****.

It is ***** who will be the subject of this e-mail.

***** has struggled for the last couple of years. She has made some bad choices, and gotten herself into some trouble. She was removed from Aloha High last year, began the school year at the Health and Sciences school this year, and then worked her way back to Aloha this semester.

We have been working extremely hard to get her life back on track. She has gone to therapy, has taken responsibility for her actions, and has done what is necessary to correct her path in life. Which is why I find the current situation so troubling.

As soon as ***** came back to Aloha, she began to be harassed by certain students. I advised her to walk away and ignore them. She was then offered heroin. I told her to tell an administrator. A knife was then presented in front of her, at school. Again, I told her tell an adult.

Then, yesterday(1/12), she left school crying because she was harassed by an assistant principal, **** *****, after approaching Ms. ***** about the situation.

Now it's time for me to get involved.

I find it extremely troubling that the administrators seem totally unconcerned with the safety of the students of that school.

Furthermore, it is unbelievable to me that an assistant principal, whose soul purpose is the well being of the children under their care, would call a child who was coming to them for help a liar, a bad kid, and tell her that she has an anger problem and needs counseling.

I truly hope this matter can be rectified, but in the preperation that it is not, I have already begun the following actions:

-A complaint will be filed with the Oregon School Board Association

-I have contacted both the Lars Larsen Show, and Fox News 12, to inquire whether they would be interested in doing a story on heroin, methadone, ecstasy use within the school, all of which she has been offered in her brief time back there, and the school apparently lacking concern about weapons within it's walls. Both have assured me that they will have a representative contact me to inquire further.

-I have contacted an attorney, who confirmed that it is not legal for a school administrator to harass a student in this way, especially speaking about that student's private and confidential counseling. The attorney happens to be my future father in law, so I can promise I have close contact with him.

I do not wish to take this matter any further. All that I want is for my niece to be treated like any other student, and not the 'bad kid' that the Assistant Principal has labeled her as. Furthermore, I wish for the safety of all these children to be given more attention, as it is the most important aspect of what we do.

I have nothing but the utmost respect for you Mr. *** ********. You were a great teacher when I went to Aloha, are an extremely caring man, and, from what I understand, a great principal.

I cannot impress upon you enough, however, how seriously I take this matter. I have another niece who will be going to Aloha, and I will not watch her go through these same things. I will not allow my nieces to become statistics, left behind by a school that chose to look the other way.

I demand that an apology be issued, by Ms. *****, to *****, in regards to her actions. This is the first step in rectifying the situation.

I do not see how we can ask children to be responsible for their actions, if the adults around refuse to do so.

I await your response,
***** *******

reply to post by captaintyinknots


That's a pretty strong letter! Well done!

I hope it brings the results you're after.

If not,any thought to the niece being able to be homeschooled? There'd be no more of those kinds of distractions-and leave plenty of time for healthier pursuits,as well.

Good luck to your nieces!

Originally posted by On the Edge
reply to post by captaintyinknots

 

That's a pretty strong letter! Well done!

I hope it brings the results you're after.

If not,any thought to the niece being able to be homeschooled? There'd be no more of those kinds of distractions-and leave plenty of time for healthier pursuits,as well.

Good luck to your nieces!

homeschooling, unfortunately isnt an option at the moment, because my neices mother isn't exactly a good parent.

I truly plan on following this through until the end. It is unbelievable to me the state our education system is in. Labeling, harrassing, proficiency grading..
School isnt about educating students anymore. It is about creating good worker bees.

reply to post by captaintyinknots


Well,the girl is lucky to have you on her side.

Hopefully this experience all helps to make her a stronger person in the end!

As I remember,learning anything academic was the last thing on my mind in school.

About everything I learned from going to school had been accomplished by the sixth grade-from there on it became a blur.

I read a book I think by the same person called "Dumbing us Down," talking about how public education was really teaching kids to be stupid and have short attention spans, and to not really think critically but just accept ready information.

Was a great book, enough so that even if I don't remember the author correctly, I can still agree with the premise of this thread.

Kinda makes me wish we could open all the doors to the schools and tell all the children to "Run! Be free!"

reply to post by On the Edge


If TPTB want you to think a certain way, it's called 'Educating the Public'.

How about we just educate ourselves! Enough said..

reply to post by geo1066


That's what we should all do,I agree! But first people have to realize they don't know so much in the first place!

I guess that's where we come in,to give people some direction when we can. To get them to realize everything isn't as it seems.

The world is bringing that more into focus daily,I think. When all the systems people have relied on start to fail,they will want to know "Why?"

That's a great question to start with! Followed by "Who? How? When?..."

Originally posted by On the Edge

...But first people have to realize they don't know so much in the first place!...

I'm sorry but the first thought I had when I read that was that old saying, "Hire a teenager while they still know everything!"

Anyways how true your statement is but I really do think that the sheep are s-l-o-w-ly starting to wake up. People are more outspoken about current affairs and such now (I'd say about the last year) compared to say 5 years ago when you dared not say anything in public about such things as our government. Would you tend to agree? Or am I just a overly positive person

psst... Nothing is going to happen on 12/21/2012