Gatto’s opinion on the effects of schooling is extremely intense. In “Against School”, he stirs up a discussion on whether ‘boredom’ is the perfect term to describe the experience of modern day students. From his personal experience, most students feel bored with the education system and think their teachers do not seem to understand their subjects and probably aren’t interested in learning more (Breton and Largent 25). Gatto brings up the question of who should be blamed for the critical mess in the education system. Ideally, teachers often appear bored and keep blaming their students for feeling disinterested in taking their studies seriously (Breton and Largent 157). He offers a solution to boredom and encourages students to amuse themselves in the classroom. Also, he encourages teachers to provide students with adequate education rather than stirring regular schooling.
Gatto also scrutinizes whether the existing school system is meant to spearhead forced schooling. He goes ahead to compare the school system to the Prussian culture and refers to it as an educational system that is meant to nurture mediocre intellects. With such an educational system, students are denied the opportunity to develop appreciable leadership skills. Also, he states that most people connect ‘successes to ‘schooling’. According to him, important people like Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson never subjected their lives to the strenuous schooling system, but still made it in life (Breton and Largent 241). In addition, Gatto believes that schools were designed to make good citizens at their personal best.
Gatto thinks that the public school system is designed to fulfill the major covert functions of a school. He outlines the covert functions by revisiting Alexander Inglis’s basic functions of a modern school.