Different Kind of Teacher : Reflections on the Bitter Lessons of American Schooling

by Gatto, John Taylor

• ISBN13: 9781893163218
• ISBN10: 1893163210
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-01-01
• Publisher: Berkeley Hills Books

Summary

Gatto analyzes the roots of the modern American education system, outlining prescriptions for revitalizing the system, advocating greater emphasis on critical analysis, creativity, practicality, and real-world exposure in the curriculum. He calls on educators and administrators to acknowledge student's need for a spiritual and ethical framework upon which to build a good life.

Table of Contents

Introduction	7	(15)
Part One: Schoolrooms Speak Bluntly
The Curriculum of the Family	15	(6)
Why Do Bad Schools Cost So Much?	21	(11)
A Year With John Taylor Gatto	32	(3)
We Can't Afford School Reform	35	(14)
Part Two: Analyzing the System
Universal Education	49	(11)
Confederacy of Dunces: The Tyranny of Compulsory Schooling	60	(23)
How Public Are Our Public Schools?	83	(20)
Nine Assumptions and Twenty-One Facts	103	(13)
School Books and the Hidden Curriculum	116	(17)
Horatio Alger's Country: The Mysterious Origins of American Adoption	133	(25)
A Different Kind of Teacher	158	(13)
Part Three: The Search for Meaning
In Defense of Original Sin: The Neglected Genius of American Spirituality	171	(14)
Beyond Money: The Purpose of Learning (and Life)	185	(15)
What Really Matters?	200	(13)
The Art of True Conversation: A Letter to My Daughter	213	(12)
The Educated Person	225	(4)
Sources	229