Reddit reviews Weapons of Mass Instruction: A Schoolteacher's Journey through the Dark World of Compulsory Schooling

I'm in the middle of a good book that talks about how much of school is more about training conformity and obedience than about creating properly trained critical thinkers.

Mindless application of the rules in a situation like this seems like a great example of that kind of approach. I read this situation like a good teacher being pushed out for political reasons.

Books on the subject:

In the slums of India, homeschooled education outdoes the private education
The Beautiful Tree
(http://www.amazon.com/Beautiful-Tree-Personal-Educating-Themselves/dp/1933995920)

Literacy rates went down since public education was introduced and much much more (written by an award winning teacher who left the system)
Weapons of Mass Instruction
http://www.amazon.com/Weapons-Mass-Instruction-Schoolteachers-Compulsory/dp/0865716315

http://www.sonorannews.com/archives/2010/100707/commnews_homeschool.html

Here is the difference we see in our homeschool:

Class size: Most teachers I've talked to say the ideal class size is about 6 kids. That's the maximum we allow in our homeschool (mini-school, as we take in neighbor kids at times). With 6 kids, they all get independent attention.

Curriculum: Instead of a massive one-size fits all, we can tailor the message to each student. One kid loves dance, so she gets math problems related to dancing. Another loves car engines, so they get car engine math. Both care about math.

The big one everyone will bring up: Socialization
I know this may be hard to believe, but we don't lock our students in the basement and teach them about jezzus all day and the evils of evolution. We do co-ops with many other families in the area. Other home schooled kids are used to being treated like adults and making decisions. The result, my kids have never yet had their heads flushed in a toilet. They don't struggle with making friends, and they look at bullies as bizarre and rare things that they can walk away from.

How socialized are the kids in school really? They only interact with kids in their grade (home school kids often learn along side teenagers and little kids and see that everyone has valid opinions. My kids don't discriminate based on age with who they play with in the neighborhood, making them popular).

Time benefits: We don't have to wait in lines, fold our arms and put our heads on our desks while each child brings their test up to the front. The result is that we can teach in 4 hours what regular school does in 8.

Field trips: Public schools can only afford about one or two a year. We do one or two a month. Including private interviews with restaurant owners, ballet dancers, and leads in plays. The Zoo specially arranged so my daughter could see the cougars fed (she loves cougars).

Hall-Pass: My kids can make up their own minds when they go potty, and no one stops them. The concept that an adult would remove your right to a basic biological function is just bizarre to them.

The only real problem with private schooling is a parent needs to stay home and want to teach, but as long as you have that, there is no reason in the world that kids couldn't learn way more with a little support than in a false, forced environment where conformity and factory-like working conditions are the norm.

I understand not everyone has the luxury to do this and that makes me sad, but the idea that public school is superior than a caring, attentive adult and a small class size is bizarre to me.

Hehe. Right, I just have to.

Weapons of Mass Instruction

Dumbing Us Down

The Homework Myth

;]

He's a bit opinionated, something I feel stems from his deep involvement in the issue. Read him and find out.

His biggest book is available online.

Alfie Kohn might be of some interest as well.

Is he though? Much of it speaks true, but clearly that's not enough. Especially on reddit, and I'm not the one to argue for all of this, I've done enough of that and no one cares.

Oh, wait, I'll throw in some Chomsky.

yes.

http://www.amazon.ca/Weapons-Mass-Instruction-John-Gatto/dp/0865716315