John Taylor Gatto (born John Gatto) is an American retired school teacher of 30 years and author of several books on education. He is an activist critical of compulsory schooling and the hegemonic nature of discourse on education and the education professions. A teacher writes on a blackboard in an American college. ... Hegemony (pronounced or ) (Greek: ) is the dominance of one group over other groups, with or without the threat of force, to the extent that, for instance, the dominant party can dictate the terms of trade to its advantage; more broadly, cultural perspectives become skewed to favor the dominant group. ...

Gatto was born in the Pittsburgh area steel town of Monongahela, Pennsylvania. In his youth he attended public schools throughout the Pittsburgh Metro Area including Swissvale, Monongahela, and Uniontown as well as a Catholic boarding school in Latrobe. He did undergraduate work at Cornell, the University of Pittsburgh, and Columbia, then served in the U.S. Army medical corps at Fort Knox, Kentucky, and Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Following army service he did graduate work at the City University of New York, Hunter College, Yeshiva, the University of California, and Cornell. City nickname: The Steel City Location in the state of Pennsylvania Founded 1758 Mayor Tom Murphy (Dem) Area  - Total  - Water 151. ... Monongahela is a city in Washington County, Pennsylvania, United States and is part of the Pittsburgh Metro Area. ... The Pittsburgh Metro Area is the U.S. Census defined seven county region surrounding the city of Pittsburgh in southwestern Pennsylvania, United States of America. ... Swissvale is a borough located in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania nine miles (14 km) east of downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. ... Monongahela is: The name of a river in the United States of America: see Monongahela River A place in Pennsylvania: see Monongahela, Pennsylvania A kind of soil found in the Eastern United States The tribe of Native Americans who were the first human inhabitants of Western Pennsylvania, and whose name... Uniontown is a city in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, 50 miles (80 km) south by east of Pittsburgh. ... Latrobe is a city located in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. ... Cornell redirects here. ... The University of Pittsburgh is a state-related, doctoral/research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. ... The Army is the branch of the United States armed forces which has primary responsibility for land-based military operations. ... The U.S. Bullion Depository at Ft. ... Official language(s) English[1] Capital Frankfort Largest city Louisville Area  Ranked 37th  - Total 40,444 sq mi (104,749 km²)  - Width 140 miles (225 km)  - Length 379 miles (610 km)  - % water 1. ... Fort Sam Houston is a U.S. Army post in San Antonio, Texas. ... Official language(s) English (de facto) See also languages of Texas Capital Austin Largest city Houston Area  Ranked 2nd  - Total 268,581 sq mi (695,622 km²)  - Width 773 miles (1,244 km)  - Length 790 miles (1,270 km)  - % water 2. ... The City University of New York (CUNY; acronym: IPA pronunciation: ), is the public university system of New York City. ... Hunter College of The City University of New York See also: Hunter College High School Hunter College of The City University of New York (known more commonly as simply Hunter College) is a senior college of the City University of New York (CUNY), located on Manhattans Upper East Side. ... Yeshiva or yeshivah (IPA: ) (Hebrew: ישיבה pl. ... The University of California (UC) is a public university system in the state of California. ...

He worked as a writer and held several odd jobs before borrowing his roommate's licence to investigate teaching. He was named New York City Teacher of the year in 1989, 1990, and 1991, and New York State Teacher of the Year in 1991[1]. In 1991, he wrote a letter announcing his retirement, titled I Quit, I Think, to the op-ed pages of the Wall Street Journal, saying that he no longer wished to "hurt kids to make a living". He then began a public speaking and writing career, and has received several awards from libertarian organizations, including the Alexis de Tocqueville Award for Excellence in Advancement of Educational Freedom in 1997. He promotes homeschooling, and specifically unschooling. After learning from another teacher named John Gatto that he was regularly confused with him, he added Taylor to his name. 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1990 (MCMXC) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Wall Street Journal is an influential international daily newspaper published in New York City, New York with an average daily circulation of 1,800,607 (2002). ... See also Libertarianism and Libertarian Party Libertarian,is a term for person who has made a conscious and principled commitment, evidenced by a statement or Pledge, to forswear violating others rights and usually living in voluntary communities: thus in law no longer subject to government supervision. ... The Alexis de Tocqueville award can refer to a number of awards named after the prominent Frenchman who wrote Democracy in America. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Homeschooling – also called home education or home school – is the education of children at home rather than in a public or private school. ... Unschooling is a form of education in which learning is based on the students interests, needs, and goals. ...

Inspired by Ken Burns's Civil War, Gatto is currently working to produce a 3-part documentary about compulsory schooling, titled The Fourth Purpose. Kenneth Lauren Burns (born July 29 [1] [2], 1953) is an American documentary filmmaker. ... The Civil War was a highly popular and acclaimed PBS documentary about the American Civil War created by Sam Sim, and released on PBS in September 1990. ...

Works

• Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling (1992).
• The Exhausted School (1993).
• A Different Kind of Teacher: Solving the Crisis of American Schooling (2000). ISBN 1-893163-21-0
• The Underground History Of American Education (2001). (Complete Text Online)
• Against School: How Public Education Cripples Our Kids, And Why (2003). Originally published in Harper's Magazine. (Complete Text Online)

Media:rofl. ... 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... This article is about the year 2000. ... The Underground History of American Education: A Schoolteacher’s Intimate Investigation Into the Problem of Modern Schooling is a critique of the U.S. education system by John Taylor Gatto. ... 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... An issue of Harpers Magazine from 1905 Another issue, from November 2004 Harpers Magazine (or simply Harpers) is a monthly general-interest magazine covering literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts from a progressive, moderate left perspective in a fashion often not found in the ordinary news...

See also

• Hidden curriculum
• Total institution
• Critical pedagogy

The concept hidden curriculum expresses the idea that schools do more than simply transmit knowledge, as laid down in the official curricula. ... Total institution as defined by Erving Goffman, is an institution where all the aspects of life of individuals under the institution is controlled and regulated by the authorities of the organization. ... Critical pedagogy is a teaching approach which attempts to help students question and challenge domination, and the beliefs and practices that dominate. ...

External links

• Official Website
• Kinza Academy, Homeschooling with the Classics. Gatto is on the Advisory Board for Kinza Academy.
• Altruists.org download audio files of some of Gatto's talks
• Video of Gatto interview, broken into topic sections

Writings and lectures

• "The Six-Lesson Schoolteacher" - Fall 1991 issue of Whole Earth Review
• A set of quotes from Gatto and links to original essays
• Speech at a home schooling Conference by Radio for Peace (mp3)
• Collection of Gatto Files, mainly mp3s
• "Institutional Schooling Must Be Destroyed"
• "The Tyranny Of Compulsory Schooling"
• "The Public School Nightmare:Why fix a system designed to destroy individual thought?" by John Taylor Gatto" article published by Diablo Valley School
• "Why Schools Don't Educate"
• "Lectures July 4th weekend annually in Troy, NY"