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IPFS News Link • Defending Archimedes

Seven Lessons Taught in School

• John Taylor Gatto
Twenty-six years ago, having nothing better to do at the time, I tried my hand at school teaching. The license I hold certifies that I am an instructor of English language and English literature, but that isn't what I do at all. I don't teach English, I teach school -- and I win awards doing it.       Teaching means different things in different places, but seven lessons are universally taught from Harlem to Hollywood Hills. They constitute a national curriculum you pay for in more ways than you can imagine, so you might as well know what it is. You are at liberty, of course, to regard these lessons any way you like, but believe me when I say I intend no irony in this presentation. These are the things I teach, these are the things you pay me to teach. Make of them what you will. 1. CONFUSION 2. CLASS POSITION 3. INDIFFERENCE 4. EMOTIONAL DEPENDENCY 5. INTELLECTUAL DEPENDENCY 6. PROVISIONAL SELF-ESTEEM 7. ONE CAN'T HIDE