In this book, the noisy gadfly of U.S. education takes up the question of damage done in the name of schooling. Again he touches on many of the same questions and finds the same answers. Gatto is a bold and compelling critic in a field defined by politic statements, and from the first pages of this book he takes even unwilling readers along with him. In Weapons of Mass Instruction, he speaks movingly to readers' deepest desires for an education that taps their talents and frees frustrated ambitions. It is a challenging and extraordinary book that is a must read for anyone navigating their way through the school system. - Ria Julien - Winnipeg Free Press

John Taylor Gatto's Weapons of Mass Instruction focuses on mechanisms of familiar schooling that cripple imagination, discourage critical thinking, and create a false view of learning as a by-product of rote-memorization drills. Gatto's earlier book, Dumbing Us Down, put that now-famous expression of the title into common use worldwide. Weapons of Mass Instruction promises to add another chilling metaphor to the brief against schooling.

Here is a demonstration that the harm school inflicts is quite rational and deliberate, following high-level political theories constructed by Plato, Calvin, Spinoza, Fichte, Darwin, Wundt, and others, which contend the term education is meaningless because humanity is strictly limited by necessities of biology, psychology, and theology. The real function of pedagogy is to render the common population manageable.

Realizing that goal demands that the young be conditioned to rely upon experts, remain divided from natural alliances, and accept disconnections from the experiences that create self-reliance and independence.

Escaping this trap requires a different way of growing up, one Gatto calls open source learning. In chapters such as A Letter to Kristina, my Granddaughter; Fat Stanley; and Walkabout: London, this different reality is illustrated.

John Taylor Gatto taught for thirty years in public schools before resigning from school-teaching in the op-ed pages of The Wall Street Journal during the year he was named New York State's official Teacher of the Year. Since then, he has traveled three million miles lecturing on school reform.

Gatto is a former teacher who now acts as an advocate for school reform, and in this volume he characterizes compulsive school systems as mechanisms that "cripple imagination and discourage critical thinking." Written for general audiences, this book maintains that public education is designed to create graduates who are submissive to society, and he uses case studies and stories to illustrate examples of famous drop-outs who were able to succeed as well as instances where the school systems failed in spectacular ways. The author concludes by asking students to refuse to participate in standardized testing as part of an "open conspiracy" to inspire reform. Distributed by Consortium Books Sales and Distribution. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

In this new work, the author of "Dumbing Us Down" focuses on mechanisms of familiar schooling that cripple imagination, discourage critical thinking, and create a false view of learning as a by-product of rote-memorization drills.

John Taylor Gatto's Weapons of Mass Instructionfocuses on mechanisms of familiar schooling that cripple imagination, discourage critical thinking, and create a false view of learning as a by-product of rote-memorization drills. Gatto's earlier book, Dumbing Us Down, put that now-famous expression of the title into common use worldwide. Weapons of Mass Instructionpromises to add another chilling metaphor to the brief against schooling.

Here is a demonstration that the harm school inflicts is quite rational and deliberate, following high-level political theories constructed by Plato, Calvin, Spinoza, Fichte, Darwin, Wundt, and others, which contend the term "education"is meaningless because humanity is strictly limited by necessities of biology, psychology, and theology. The real function of pedagogy is to render the common population manageable.

Realizing that goal demands that the young be conditioned to rely upon experts, remain divided from natural alliances, and accept disconnections from the experiences that create self-reliance and independence.

Escaping this trap requires a different way of growing up, one Gatto calls "open source learning."In chapters such as "A Letter to Kristina, my Granddaughter"; "Fat Stanley"; and "Walkabout:London,"this different reality is illustrated.

John Taylor Gattotaught for thirty years in public schools before resigning from school-teaching in the op-ed pages of The Wall Street Journalduring the year he was named New York State's official Teacher of the Year. Since then, he has traveled three million miles lecturing on school reform.

John Taylor Gatto was a teacher in New York for 26 years before quitting in 1991. He is a tireless advocate for school reform, has won numerous awards and his earlier book, Dumbing Us Down, has sold over 100,000 copies.