![]() The school thanked him for the offer but told him there was no room on their schedule. ![]() ![]() Once, he approached a local school to tell them that, as a former plumbing instructor, he could give a talk to a class of children on where their drinking water comes from, how it's cleaned up, and where it goes after it's used. It has sold over 200,000 copies and consists of a multitude of speeches given by the author. For that reason alone, Dumbing Us Down is an intriguing book. But my father has also run up against the hardheaded bureaucracy John Gatto criticizes so explosively. Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling (ISBN 086571231X) is a book by teacher John Taylor Gatto. Book Review: Dumbing Us Down (Gatto) Zachary Garris John Taylor Gatto is a critic of America’s public school system who comes from an interesting perspective, as he taught in New York City’s public schools for over 30 years. I hope I still have that kind of passion in my eighties. At eighty-eight, having retired from teaching plumbing in a trade school, he taught courses in a local school to adults who wanted to learn how to use computers. I learned it through apprenticeship with him. ![]() With my father's blood in me, I've been a teacher for forty years and have always loved the role. He believed in what John Gatto calls "self-teaching." He knew I could learn this relatively simple skill on my own. In his typical fashion, he said, "Pick up the ball and roll it fast toward the center of those pins." That's all. ![]() When I was in my forties, he taught me how to bowl at his local bowling alley. He's the kind of man who can spot a potential learner from a distance and go into action. ![]()
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