''Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling'' () is a non-fiction book written by American teacher and political libertarian

John Taylor Gatto John Taylor Gatto (December 15, 1935 – October 25, 2018) was an American author and school teacher. After teaching for nearly 30 years he authored several books on modern education, criticizing its ideology, history, and consequences. He is b ...

. It has sold over 200,000 copies and consists of a multitude of speeches given by the author. The book proposes that radical change is needed to the American educational system to turn around the negative

socialization In sociology, socialization or socialisation (see spelling differences) is the process of internalizing the norms and ideologies of society. Socialization encompasses both learning and teaching and is thus "the means by which social and cul ...

that children receive.

Main thesis

Gatto asserts the following regarding what school does to children in '' Dumbing Us Down'': # It confuses the students. It presents an incoherent ensemble of information that the child needs to memorize to stay in school. Apart from the tests and trials, this programming is similar to the television; it fills almost all the "free" time of children. One sees and hears something, only to forget it again. # It teaches them to accept their

class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differentl ...

affiliation. # It makes them indifferent. # It makes them emotionally dependent. # It makes them intellectually dependent. # It teaches them a kind of

self-confidence Confidence is a state of being clear-headed either that a hypothesis or prediction is correct or that a chosen course of action is the best or most effective. Confidence comes from a Latin word 'fidere' which means "to trust"; therefore, having ...

that requires constant confirmation by experts (provisional self-esteem). # It makes it clear to them that they cannot hide, because they are always supervised. He also draws a contrast between communities and "networks", with the former being healthy, and schools being examples of the latter. He says networks have become an unhealthy substitute for community in the United States. Gatto's book aimed to inspire education advocates and the inception of

Praxis test {{Education in the U.S. A Praxis test is one of a series of American teacher certification exams written and administered by the Educational Testing Service. Various Praxis tests are usually required before, during, and after teacher training c ...

s. This testing measured academic competence and knowledge of specific subjects required for teaching. Praxis tests are taken by potential educators as part of certification required by state and professional licensing entities.

References

External links

Full text
at

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

Reviews
at The Odysseus Group website Books about education 1992 non-fiction books {{edu-book-stub