Mr. Gatto became a teacher 26 years ago because he had nothing better to do so he decided to try schoolteaching. He claims that his certified license states that he is a english and a literature teacher but he does not teach either but instead teaches school. I feel like what he means by this is that he is teaching lessons to the student for their future. I can conclude this because the seven lessons he teaches all state rules for the children which will benefit them when they are older. The first of the seven lesson states that he teaches confusion. He writes that he was the students to find the meaning in the content that is being taught even though it may be out of order. The second lesson he teaches is the class position. He teaches them that everyone has a position in the class and that you could never get out of the class. The third lesson is the one of indifference, which states that the students should go from one topic to the next and should not take into consideration that much. The fourth lesson is labeled as emotional dependency. In this he claims that the students do not have rights in school. The fifth lesson which i kind of agree with is the one of intellectual dependency which states that we can’t make decisions without taking advice from people who are smarter than us. He writes “Successful children do the thinking i assign thjem with a minimum of resistance and a decent show of enthusiasm” (176). I agree with this because without having any knowledge, one can not succeed and the best place to get your knowledge would be from someone that knows what they are talking from. The sixth lesson he teaches is provisional self-esteem. I think that this means that a child should base their self-respect on what the experts state about him/her. The final lesson he teaches is that one cannot hide. In this lesson he is trying to tell the reader that there is no such thing as privacy.
He feels that school is a system that provides a social order. I agree with this because as kids attend school they learn the do’s and don’ts of their society which forms the structure. He further states that there is no such thing as a national curriculum because the seven lessons he has presented in his essay are part of the curriculum.
I agree with mostly all of Mr.Gatto’s seven lessons. I think throughout elementary and high school most of the lessons apply. I think the major one that probably applies to all of us is confusion. I think all schools mostly teach out of context, and as soon as the bell rings, everyone just runs out. The next day something different is being taught, and what you learned yesterday you would only need it for a test. As soon as that test finishes you would just forget what you have learned.