Readers'
Praise for John Gatto's A Different Kind of
Teacher
"Gatto is an
inspiring author and teacher... He probes for solutions to
difficult educational problems with an eye to how things are, how
they could be, and what needs to be done to reach new goals. This
volume is an eye opening to those inside and out of education.
Recommended at all levels." - CHOICE
"Provocative,
stimulating, evocative, and consistent: such is this collection of
comments clarifying the ills of American public education and
ideas for solving them .... Written in an informative,
easy-to-understand, and prophetic style, this work nicely
complements Gatto's other titles." - Library Journal
"I
happen to agree with damn near every semi-colon and comma that Mr.
Gatto has written" - Tom Peters, author of In Search of
Excellence and The Brand New You
"John Gatto's
writing is like a Jackson Pollock painting - a streak of history
here, a splash of humor there, three drops of statistics. Every
sentence is filled with passion. You have to work hard to
understand what John Gatto is getting at, but the reward is an
invitation to an endless adventure; the search for meaning in
life' - Education Revolution
Introduction
On July 25, 1991
The Wall Street Journal published an op-ed contribution from a
veteran Manhattan public school teacher, John Taylor Gatto. The
short, passionate essay, "I May Be a Teacher But I'm Not an
Educator," written by a man recently named New York State Teacher
of the Year and, for the third consecutive time, New York City
Teacher of the Year, grabbed the attention of disillusioned
parents, students, and teachers across the country, while serving
as a shot across the bow for educational functionaries locked in
the inertia of mediocrity.
Shortly after
publication of this essay, Gatto resigned from his position as a
seventh grade teacher at Booker T. Washington School on W. 107th
Street, and in the decade since has been among the country's most
penetrating, wise, irritating, informed, provocative, and
prophetic voices in the fierce debate over education reform. His
earlier book, Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory
Schooling,his dozens of published essays, and the hundreds of
talks he has given - from The White House to homeschool coffee
hours; from Bath, Maine to Beijing - have had a profound influence
on the reinvention of our schools, and on the lives of hundreds of
thousands, if not millions, of school children.
A Different Kind
of Teacher brings together sixteen key essays and speeches
produced by Gatto between 1990 and 1999. "Part One: Schoolrooms
Speak Bluntly" includes three pieces written while he was still an
active classroom teacher, and a short article written by one of
his students, offering a glimpse at how Gatto translated his
theories of education into the school setting. These writings, and
the contexts in which they were presented, show the essence of
Gatto's ideas on teaching practice, the real-world situations in
which they were forged, and some of the institutional opposition
one inevitably faces in implementing them.
"Part Two:
Analyzing the System" includes seven papers written in the period
after Gatto's resignation from public school teaching. They
represent a critique of American schooling, filled with insights
gleaned from three decades in the classroom combined with years of
research into the history and philosophy of Western education.
Although most readers will find his discoveries disturbing, the
information Gatto has compiled here is arguably indispensable for
understanding and repairing the pedagogical traditions we have
inherited.
One essay in this
section: "Horatio Alger's Country: The Mysterious Origins
ofAmerican Adoption," may at first glance appear to stray from the
central subject of this collection. The relevance of this
historical rumination, however, will be apparent to those who read
it with the same openness and curiosity that Gatto brought to
writing it.
"Part Three: The
Search for Meaning" describes some of the results of Gatto's
search for the purposes and goals of education and life. Although
this section comes last in the book, the effort it records comes
first in any serious exploration of what and how we teach our
children. The conclusions Gatto arrives at will ring profoundly
true with many. To others, they might at least show the way to
find one?s own contrary answers.
Although A
Different Kind of Teacher is divided into three parts, each
piece is driven by a similar search for solutions to difficult
problems. Ideas and examples recur in new contexts that illuminate
fresh perspectives. This book will have served its purpose if it
functions like the best conversations, as Gatto describes them -
if it helps readers to see more dearly what the American system of
education really is, what it ought to be, and what steps can be
taken to reach that goal.
The publishers
would like to thank Tom Whelan for first bringing John Gatto's
work into our sights; Jerry Brown, whose broadcast conversation
with Mr. Gatto a few years ago convinced us of the power of his
ideas; and Barbara Whiteside, without whose encouragement this
book would never have happened.
