Weapons of Mass Instruction - John Taylor Gatto

Weapons of Mass Instruction, is a book written by John Taylor Gatto, that 5touches extensively on what he considers to be negative aspects of the public school system. Gatto sees the compulsory public schooling as a tool used in orchestrating the development of a mediocrely minded population that is highly manageable due to the lack of ability to think for oneself. Gatto can be quoted saying, “we have been taught (that is, schooled) in this country to think “success” is synonymous with, or at least dependent upon, “schooling”, but historically that isn't true in either an intellectual or a financial sense” (Gatto 2010, p. xv). Throughout this critical analysis I will touch base on Gatto’s ideologies, as well as my own reflections on today’s education system and its many pitfalls. This book is a result of Gatto’s experience teaching in the public system and he goes on to state that, “after 30 years in a public school classroom serving this creature, when I quit teaching in 1991 I promised myself I would bear witness to what I had seen and, forgive me, done. This book is my way of keeping that promise.” (Gatto 2010, p. 14)

Gatto certainly believes that everything we thought we knew was right about school is actually wrong. (Gatto 2010, p.60). According to Gatto, the reality is “our schools today are laboratories of experimentation on young minds, drill centers for the habits and attitudes that corporate society demands” (Gatto 2010, p. xxii). In other words the true purpose of school is successfully dumbing down our population so we can’t think for ourselves, and so we can be controlled with ease. I can relate to him by thinking back to high school when students would speak out against teachers by asking why we had to learn certain material. Not once do I recall a teacher offering any answer other than “its just the way it is, and it is part of the curriculum.” Some teachers would even go as far as to instruct students to leave the classroom if they dared to ask