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dumbing_us_down [2012/01/13 21:11]
will [The failure of central authority]
dumbing_us_down [2019/11/08 10:39] (current)
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 "[[wp>Dumbing Us Down]]: the Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling", [[wp>John Taylor Gatto]], [[wp>2005]] (first ed. [[wp>1992]]), [[wp>New Society Publishers]], ISBN 978-0-86571-448-9 "[[wp>Dumbing Us Down]]: the Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling", [[wp>John Taylor Gatto]], [[wp>2005]] (first ed. [[wp>1992]]), [[wp>New Society Publishers]], ISBN 978-0-86571-448-9
  
-//Dumbing Us Down// is a collection of five essays, often themselves based on lectures.  The essays weren't written with a cohesive objective in mind, and as a result individual essays will tackle a point very concisely, but essentially repeat a statement that is made elsewhere.  A better abridgement might restructure the entire work so as to avoid this repetition, but that would be of less use to a reader that intends to use this to locate the most interesting essay or segment to read in full.+//Dumbing Us Down// is a collection of five essays, often themselves based on lectures.  The essays weren't written with a cohesive objective in mind, and as a result individual essays will tackle a point very concisely, but often repeat a statement that is made elsewhere.  A better abridgement might restructure the entire work so as to avoid this repetition, but that would be of less use to a reader that intends to use this to locate the most interesting essay or segment to read in full.
  
 The standard of citation is more what you'd expect from speeches than essays.  Sometimes sources are referred to broadly; specific documents are never mentioned.  Herein, notes have usually been included where statistical assertions have been made concerning their origin and justification. The standard of citation is more what you'd expect from speeches than essays.  Sometimes sources are referred to broadly; specific documents are never mentioned.  Herein, notes have usually been included where statistical assertions have been made concerning their origin and justification.
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 > Two institutions at present control our children's lives: television and schooling, in that order. ---p25 > Two institutions at present control our children's lives: television and schooling, in that order. ---p25
  
-^Activity               ^ Time (hours)    ^^  +^Activity                Time (hours)    ^^  
-|weekly total           | 168             || +|weekly total            168             || 
-|of which:                               ||| +|of which:                                ||| 
-|sleep                  | 56              || +|sleep                  |  56              || 
-|television             | 55              || +|television              55              || 
-|school                 | 30      | 45     +|school                  30      |  45    
-|preparation and travel | 8       | :::    +|preparation and travel |  8        :::   
-|homework               | 7       | :::    +|homework                7        :::   
-|eating                 | 3               || +|eating                  3               || 
-|**remaining time**     | **9**           ||+|**remaining time**      **9**           ||
  
 These dominant influences create dependency and there is no remaining time to enable children to learn any degree of self-reliance. These dominant influences create dependency and there is no remaining time to enable children to learn any degree of self-reliance.
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 ===== IV  ===== ===== IV  =====
  
-Institutions invariably protect their own interests over and above the goals for which they are created.  Educational institutions are no exception.+Institutions invariably protect their own interests over and above the goals for which they are created.  Educational institutions are no exception. 
  
 > It was this philistine potential --- that teaching the young //for pay// would inevitably expand into an institution for the protection of teachers, not students --- that made Socrates condemn the Sophists so strongly long ago in ancient Greece. > It was this philistine potential --- that teaching the young //for pay// would inevitably expand into an institution for the protection of teachers, not students --- that made Socrates condemn the Sophists so strongly long ago in ancient Greece.
dumbing_us_down.1326489119.txt.gz · Last modified: 2019/11/08 10:39 (external edit)