Difficulty paper #3, Gatto

In Gatto's article

"How public education cripples our kids, and why" he attempts to demonstrate to the reader why American public schools operate the way that they do. I enjoyed reading his article, there was a humorous though serious tone and he certainly asks appropriate questions. This line stood out to me: "...we could easily and inexpensively jettison the old, stupid structures and help kids take an education rather than merely receive a schooling." The research he's done shows that the American public school system is a bit suspect and that it follows the Prussian model of producing average, "manageable" people.

I feel that if he so strongly believes that our educational system is failing us --which I don't necessarily disagree with--then he should have suggested ways for change, other than this approach: Parents need to be involved in their child's education. Yes, and I think this is common knowledge. Parents should push their child to ask questions, to critically and independently think, and to go above and beyond what is required of them by school.

While Gatto had adequate and supportive research I think he could have provided more examples to change the current system rather than only critiquing it. I think it would have strengthened his argument. With that said, i think public school can be both fantastic and horrible. It depends many factors such as money, location, size/population of the school, etc. There are brilliant teachers out there that believe in what they do, that want to make/leave an impression on the child, that pushes the child to "think outside the box".