Gatto's earlier book, Dumbing Us Down, introduced the now-famous expression of the title into the 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 pedagogy, he argues, is to render the common population manageable.
Filled with examples of people who have escaped the trap of compulsory schooling, Weapons of Mass Instruction shows us that the realisation of personal potential requires a different way of growing competent, one Gatto calls "open-source learning".
Urgent and controversial, this book will appeal to any who harbour doubts about the current education system.
