Although teachers do care and do work very, very hard, the institution is psychopathic-it has no conscience. It rings a bell and the young man in the middle of writing a poem must close his notebook and move to a different cell where he must memorize that humans and monkeys derive from a common ancestor.
John Taylor GattoWhat's gotten in the way of education in the United States is a theory of social engineering that says there is ONE RIGHT WAY to proceed with growing up.
John Taylor GattoGod was pitched out of forced schooling on his ear after WWII. This wasn't because of any constitutional proscription-there was none that anyone had been able to find in over a century and a half-but because the political state and corporate economy considered the Western spiritual tradition too dangerous a competitor. And it is.
John Taylor GattoI donโt think weโll get rid of schools any time soon, certainly not in my lifetime, but if weโre going to change whatโs rapidly becoming a disaster of ignorance, we need to realize that the institution โschoolsโ very well, but it does not โeducateโ; thatโs inherent in the design of the thing. Itโs not the fault of bad teachers or too little money spent. Itโs just impossible for education and schooling to be the same thing.
John Taylor Gatto