Colombo and Gatto

I thought that the Colombo and Gatto reading were similar based on the theory of thinking critically and managing ourselves. The idea of thinking critically spoke out to me because it made me step back and take a look at how I learn. I realized I was one of the students that just memorized the work to pass the test, and by the time the weekend came I'd forget what I learned. But, with the skill of questioning and applying what you learn to real situations, your overall knowledge expands and allows you to maintain what you learned. Opening our minds and looking past "obvious meanings" creates so much more for us to understand and think about, also allowing us to learn to accept others.

I felt that the differences between the two articles were that the Colombo reading seemed to focus on how cultural myths hold power on us, and how they hold us back from opening our minds. And the Gatto reading focused on the schools, and how they hold us back. I think I enjoyed the Colombo reading a bit more just because the Gatto reading seemed preferential to the idea of schools being meant for "conformity" and "to reduce individuals to the same safe level". He didn't really give another view in the article. Also I felt like the Colombo reading was a bit more encouraging in making us become critical thinkers, whereas the Gatto reading made me feel like we've been stuck in this prison-like system called school. 

Overall, I feel like a got quite a bit out of both readings. The Gatto reading allowed me to see that being bored is all based on me. I need to not waste time, but really focus and make an effort to learn. The Colombo reading made me think about opening my mind wider, and looking at different views instead of just the ones I grew up to believe.

Olivia F.

Reading Response #1

Leah Bodenhamer

In Response to Gatto’s “Against School” Essay

Though John Taylor Gatto’s essay overall had a powerful effect on me and my view of public schooling or any mass factory-like schooling, the part that stood out the most to me was Gatto’s elaboration on our nation’s maturity level as a whole. “Maturity has by now been banished from nearly every aspect of our lives” (Gatto, pg. 6). Not only have our children’s childhoods been extended another three of four years (forever trapping us in the cell of mediocrity?), according to Gatto, but our adult lives have been made so luxurious and overly simplified that it seems the extent of human development has been stunned by the boredom and thusly reduced to the mentality, in some respects, of a child. Divorce laws, credit regulations, and the internet all propose an annulment of independent responsibility, motivation, or sustainability.

To be mature is to exhibit an advanced state of emotional and mental evolution, or in other words, to be adult-like. Interestingly enough however is how our modern view of “adult” seems to become younger and younger in nature. Adults seem to be less interested in growing old, squeezing into smaller jeans, spending increasingly more money on anti-aging remedies, and generally obsessing over being young. In my life experience, to be considered a “hip” parent, many adults believe they need to be up-to-date with the lame jejuneness of the youth’s entertainment such as reality TV and cyber networking. My father’s girlfriend seems to exemplify more reckless and teenage-like behavior than my 18 year old peers. It hardly seems our own fault considering the media’s ever-present hum in every citizen’s ear. TV shows, commercials, magazines, billboards, newspapers, advertisements and any other method of imposing static idealism have become so prevalent in day to day life that its power is far beyond our awareness. The media also plays a key role in our decreasing respect for each other, particularly in intimate relationships, which further cements the notion of our nation’s mental de-evolution.

Gatto sucks.

I didn’t really like Gatto’s article Against School. When I was reading it, it all seemed very pessimistic and one-sided. It reminded me of when my brother starts to spout off about conspiracy theories. I’ve had some teachers like the one’s Gatto describes, they seem bored with their jobs, bored with the kids, and they don’t really seem to care but I’ve also had the kind of teachers that Gatto doesn’t seem to think exist; teachers that have said ‘forget memorizing textbooks, you’re here to learn’, the kinds of teachers that students can connect with and feel encouraged by. One of them sticks out to me particularly, the late great Quinn. When I was reading this article I was reminded of him a lot because we once spent a whole class period talking about the flaws of the public education system. I think that when Gatto was writing this article he left out the fact that there are teachers like Quinn that don’t try to act superior and teach everyone to be sheeple following the herd. I think that by the time Gatto wrote this article he had become jaded by his own battles working for public schools. In the beginning of the article he said that he got to know boredom well as a teacher and it sounds to me that if he knew boredom so well he was one of the teachers that he complains about throughout the article. Apparently he needs to learn from Gandhi and be the change he wants to see in the world, rather than just conforming and complaining about it once your retirement is safe.
-Jenny S.

Against School

Out of the three articles I’ve read so far in this class, Gatto’s Against School has stood out to me the most. I related to a lot of the points he made in his article for example, “They said the work was stupid, it made no sense, that they already knew it.” I recall me saying almost those exact words to my parents when they asked how my day at school had been during my freshman and sophomore years in high school. I felt like I had been taught the same things over and over ever since middle school except there was a difference. In my middle school, most of the teachers were enthusiastic and seemed to be so excited to teach their students, while in my high school the teachers gave me the impression that they were only there because it was their job and they didn’t truly want to be there. They were programmed to teach what was required and to assign the projects that went along with it. Though there were teachers that didn’t give me that impression, I had a handful that did which lead a lot of students to become bored and uninterested, including myself.

After reading the quote “If I was bored it was my fault and no one else’s” I came to realize that in certain situations it was true for me, but there were times where no matter how hard I tried to be interested in the subject, it was just impossible whether it was because of the way the instructor taught, or the material itself. I feel that avoiding being bored in college is a lot easier that in high school. You can choose your classes based on what you’re interested in, while in high school you were forced to take certain classes that you had no interest in. Though it may seem difficult to not be bored in a class, I feel that if you make the most of it and participate and listen to what the instructor has to say instead of completely tuning them out, you’ll get more out of it.

-Katie C.

against school

Gatto’s article was an influential read to myself for many reasons. One reason was that it made me feel like every choice I have made up to now in my life had been made for me. Which wasn’t a very comforting feeling at all, but the more I had thought about it the more I could luckily disagree with the article.

Although I can’t know for sure, I feel safe to assume Gatto’s experience in public education had to be completely different from my own simply because I had an enjoyable time. He described public schooling as a mentally crippling process for ones future in the “real world.” I can definitely agree with that in some areas but who’s to say that teaching something else would make a difference of what the students would absorb. I had a good time in schooling because I let myself have fun and take in what I wanted to learn. People are going to be successful and unsuccessful regardless of their schooling because they will always have a choice to take in whatever they want out of what they’re being taught.

-Corbin B.

against school

As I was reading Gatto's “Against School” I was relating a lot with what Gatto was saying about schools. My experience with Oregon public schools was not a good experience. Given the fact that I moved away from the high school I had most of my high school experience at and transferred to a redneck town, Springfield, Oregon my senior year, my high school experience was a lot worse than the average teenager in high school.

“If I was bored it was my own fault and no one else's.” That line really stuck out to me because when I was in my classes, before I realized that school is good and that I need to learn what the teacher is trying to teach the class, I would sit in class super bored and I would text, and draw on my paper, getting low grades, thinking that this schooling was a waste of my time. I had the same experience as Gatto. My mother asked me how my day at school was and I replied “boring” and she told me that it was only boring because I made it boring, and that if I took an interest in what I am being taught then it would be less boring. I took that to heart and started paying attention in class and started getting better grades.

At Springfield High School it was like I was an alien on a different planet. Everyone at that school was brain washed to be a cheerleader or a football player, or to hate anyone that is different or an outsider. Even in the classroom I felt this brain washing vibe from all the teachers/students/administrators. When I signed up for classes they were classes like auto, home economics, and weight lifting/ health. There weren't any real academic classes or if there were I didn't find any or they were kept a secret from me. What I am trying to get at is that the kids at this school were being schooled to have a perfect home, make money, breed, and die. There wasn't any encouragement to stretch farther and be something better than average. At my school in San Diego (University City High School) I was in the Visual Arts and Technology class where we students were challenged to be more than average and not just conform to what is “right” and normal.

-Raven p.

Reading Response #1

I think the year is starting off well, everything we have read I was able to relate to in some way and compare the text to situations in my own life. Of the three readings Gatto stood out the most to me, all of his major points I could relate to in some way and his wording was easy for me to understand making the concepts he was talking about easier to break down. When we broke down into small groups to discuss the reading I brought up a quote my history teacher from the year prior had up on her whiteboard throughout the year, “If you are bored you are boring.” It’s simple and completely relates to the first subject of Gatto’s piece. I fully agree with the idea, you can always combat boredom in some way. Even in a class where the subject matter may not be exactly to your liking if you find one part you can take an interest in you can fight the urge to fall asleep or text your friend who is sitting two seats away.

The above mentioned teacher was always looking for new ways to get the class involved, which brings me to Ferire’s ideas on the educational style of banking. We rarely took notes and commonly had group discussions and debates where we were encouraged to speak our minds and at times take a side we wouldn’t unless being prompted. It made the class think in a way they wouldn’t normally and broadened our learning experience by teaching us to think for ourselves and outside of our normal realm of thought. Having her teach history in that way was interesting and made me stop to think about the actual necessity of the banking system. History classes are typically taught in a banking nature, you are given text to read and dates to memorize. But if you can take a class like that and change it up to teach the basic background but allow room for people to grow as critical thinkers, shouldn’t you take that opportunity? To me it seems like an easier answer, yes!

~Ariel M.

Noelle Melberg

All four years of high school, and the two years I spent in middle school appeared to be a situation that I and numerous other students did not take seriously. Why were teachers giving me the answers to the tests? Was memorization the key to learning new information? Education is what you choose to make of it. According to John Taylor Gatto, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln all did not go to a public school to receive their education. These particular individuals were dedicated to make something of themselves and were going to reach their highest potential without anyone standing in their way. The quote the class was discussing stood out the most to me, “if you are bored, you are boring.” You choose your own method of education and if you want to learn, you will strive to reach your potential at its highest rate.
I believe that if you want to learn, then you will strive to reach the education you desire. Teachers cannot force you to participate in school activities, complete your homework in time, or come to class to receive your education. In high school, parents forced their kids to go to school and “do their work.” Not all students did this and would rather socialize with friends, not take things seriously and possibly not even show up to school. Laziness was an aspect I personally experienced growing up through public schools. When I wasn’t paying for school, I felt like my effort did not have to necessarily be at its highest. Education is the key aspect that builds you and creates who you are, if you choose to be bored and not participate, you will turn out being less than what you were capable of becoming.

Noelle M.

I really enjoyed Gatto’s AGAINST SCHOOL; I had never known people had such strong feelings toward the school system. While reading this piece I kept thinking to myself “wow I’m a product of everything that he disagrees with “, which started to get me thinking about what if’s? What if I grew up in a time when it was common to not attend a high school? What if school wasn’t five days a week, nine months a year, for twelve years? Would I be educated? Up until about three days ago when I read this article I always looked at school as the key to education, to be educated meant to attend school and the more school the more education. I strongly disagree with my initial thoughts, now I see education as a hobby in a way, I mean you could go to school and gain basic knowledge but being educated means digging deeper it’s not just about passing tests it’s about being motivated enough to take that extra step and gain knowledge through curiosity, risk, and even failure. At one point he says something along the lines of public school adding two to six years to your childhood and for me that’s hard to grasp. I couldn’t even begin to picture myself anywhere near mature at the age of fifteen or consider myself an educated person at that matter.

Devon D.

The biggest problem I had with Gatto’s article was similar to what one of the guys in class had brought up. If this document has been viewed by millions then why has nothing changed? Doesn’t what he is saying mean that were doing it all wrong? And if so, it’s been six years and nothing has been modified. Gatto makes an endless number of valid points and I have been convinced he is generally on the right track. I don’t like school any more than then next guy but how can the “oppressors” read this and not be influenced into switching up something in the “prisons” we call school.

A lot of what we have been reading has been a tad repetitious, but it all works toward explaining his views more thoroughly. He makes us humans seem like a bunch of dumb idiots for following what the rest of the world has done for hundreds of years. It’s not like we’re failing as a race. We do very well for ourselves because of how school has trained us to go about life. Some people are born smarter and some end up going into remedial classes to perfect their imperfections. Does that not seem like a good idea? We are shifted around into different groups of intelligence for a reason. The smart people have business to get done. By that I mean they are the ones that end up responsible for all of the huge leaps forward we have every decade or so. Inventors, astronomers, scientists, teachers, lawyers, and many more that help us to develop and run a successful society that as we can see today has done a pretty damn good job.

-Quinn P.