Weapons of Mass Instruction: A Schoolteacher's Journey Through the Dark World of Compulsory Schooling

John Taylor Gatto's earlier book, Dumbing Us Down, introduced that now-famous expression into common vernacular. Weapons of Mass instruction adds another chilling metaphor to the brief against conventional schooling. In it, he demonstrates that the harm school inflicts is rational and deliberate. The real function of modern pedagogy, he argues, is to render the population manageable. Filled with examples of people who have escaped the trap of compulsory schooling, Weapons of Mass Instruction shows us that the realization of personal potential requires a different way of growing up and growing competent, one Gatto calls “open-source learning”.

Urgent and controversial, this book will appeal to any who harbor doubts about the current education system.