
Weapons of Mass Instruction
A Schoolteacher's Journey Through the Dark World of Compulsory Schooling
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Narrated by:
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Michael Puttonen
About this listen
John Taylor Gatto's Weapons of Mass Instruction focuses on mechanisms of traditional education which cripple imagination, discourage critical thinking, and create a false view of learning as a byproduct of rote-memorization drills. 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.
Gatto demonstrates that the harm school inflicts is rational and deliberate. The real function of pedagogy, he argues, is to render the common population manageable. To that end, young people must be conditioned to rely upon experts, to remain divided from natural alliances and to accept disconnections from their own lived experiences. They must at all costs be discouraged from developing self-reliance and independence.
Escaping this trap requires a strategy Gatto calls "open source learning" which imposes no artificial divisions between learning and life. Through this alternative approach our children can avoid being indoctrinated-only then can they achieve self-knowledge, good judgment, and courage.
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Story
In Free to Learn, developmental psychologist Peter Gray argues that our children, if free to pursue their own interests through play, will not only learn all they need to know but will do so with energy and passion. Children come into this world burning to learn, equipped with the curiosity, playfulness, and sociability to direct their own education. Yet we have squelched such instincts in a school model originally developed to indoctrinate, not to promote intellectual growth.
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Tremendous
- By Alan Timothy Lester on 09-18-18
By: Peter Gray
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Unschooled
- Raising Curious, Well-Educated Children Outside the Conventional Classroom
- By: Kerry Mcdonald, Peter Grey PhD
- Narrated by: Lesa Lockford
- Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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In a compelling narrative that introduces historical and contemporary research on self-directed education, Unschooled also spotlights how a diverse group of individuals and organizations are evolving an old schooling model of education. These innovators challenge the myth that children need to be taught in order to learn.
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Not for parents
- By online shopper on 05-24-20
By: Kerry Mcdonald, and others
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Why Are You Still Sending Your Kids to School?
- The Case for Helping Them Leave, Chart Their Own Paths, and Prepare for Adulthood at Their Own Pace
- By: Blake Boles
- Narrated by: Blake Boles
- Length: 6 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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For some kids, school offers a positive and engaging experience. For others, it's a boring, stressful, and frustrating waste of time. If your child is in the second category, why keep tormenting them? Instead, why not help them find an educational environment where they feel genuinely motivated, excited, and empowered? In this eye-opening book, Blake Boles makes the case for leaving conventional school and taking one of the many alternative paths through K-12 that exist today.
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eye opening/ must read for every parent
- By Angelika on 07-01-20
By: Blake Boles
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How Children Learn (50th anniversary edition)
- By: John Holt
- Narrated by: Matthew Kugler
- Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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This enduring classic of educational thought offers teachers and parents deep, original insight into the nature of early learning. John Holt was the first to make clear that, for small children, "learning is as natural as breathing." In this delightful yet profound book, he looks at how we learn to talk, to read, to count, and to reason, and how we can nurture and encourage these natural abilities in our children.
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So many truths and treasures!
- By Amazon Customer on 05-20-19
By: John Holt
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Unschool Yourself First
- A Parent's Gateway to Self-Directed Learning
- By: Mark Beaumont
- Narrated by: Patrick Smith
- Length: 2 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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If you are considering the unschooling path for your child or know someone who is, this is the best book to get you started; in fact, this book was made specifically for you, the parent who is on the fence regarding this philosophy and method of education.
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Amazing
- By Kayla Sickler on 03-23-22
By: Mark Beaumont
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Hold On to Your Kids
- Why Parents Need to Matter More than Peers
- By: Gordon Neufeld, Gabor Maté MD
- Narrated by: Gabor Maté MD, Daniel Maté
- Length: 14 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Dr. Neufeld and Dr. Maté explore the phenomenon of peer orientation: the troubling tendency of children and youth to look to their peers for direction—for a sense of right and wrong, for values, identity and codes of behavior. But peer orientation undermines family cohesion, poisons the school atmosphere, and fosters an aggressively hostile and sexualized youth culture. It provides a powerful explanation for schoolyard bullying and youth violence; it is an escalating trend that has never been adequately described or contested until Hold On to Your Kids.
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Very very disappointed
- By CristinaPG on 01-11-20
By: Gordon Neufeld, and others
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The Enchanted Hour
- The Miraculous Power of Reading Aloud in the Age of Distraction
- By: Meghan Cox Gurdon
- Narrated by: Meghan Cox Gurdon
- Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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A Wall Street Journal writer’s conversation-changing look at how reading aloud makes adults and children smarter, happier, healthier, more successful, and more closely attached, even as technology pulls in the other direction.
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advice to take to heart
- By Brian on 04-30-20
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The Wild and Free Family
- Forging Your Own Path to a Life Full of Wonder, Adventure, and Connection
- By: Ainsley Arment
- Narrated by: Emily Ellet
- Length: 6 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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As parents, we dream of creating a magical childhood for our kids, yet it can be so easy to slip into autopilot. Ainsley Arment-- a mother of five, founder of the thriving community Wild + Free, and bestselling author-- is no stranger to the barrage of decisions, opportunities, and daily tasks that each day brings. But what Ainsley has discovered is that the magic of life isn’t found in the hustle and bustle of constant activity but in the intentional ordinary decisions of our days.
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Judgmental despite what the author claims
- By Jenna on 01-16-24
By: Ainsley Arment
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Teach Your Own
- The Indispensable Guide to Living and Learning with Children at Home
- By: John Holt, Pat Farenga
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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In 2019, there were more than two million children being homeschooled. That number doubled during the pandemic and is now likely to continue increasing as more parents worry that school might not be the best place for their children to learn and grow. Teach Your Own helped launch the homeschooling movement; now, its timeless and revolutionary message of recognizing the ways children come to understand the world has been updated for today’s environment.
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Loved it
- By Megan on 01-19-22
By: John Holt, and others
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Raising Free People
- Unschooling as Liberation and Healing Work
- By: Akilah S. Richards, Bayo Akomolafe PhD - foreword
- Narrated by: Akilah S. Richards
- Length: 5 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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No one is immune to the byproducts of compulsory schooling and standardized testing. And while reform may be a worthy cause for some, it is not enough for countless others still trying to navigate the tyranny of what schooling has always been. Raising Free People argues that we need to build and work within systems designed for any human to learn, grow, socialize, and thrive, regardless of age, ability, background, or access to money.
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Reset your brain
- By Muhajiba on 12-27-24
By: Akilah S. Richards, and others
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Medical Gaslighting
- How to Get the Care You Deserve in a System That Makes You Fight for Your Life
- By: Ilana Jacqueline
- Narrated by: Lori Prince
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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For women, the possibility of experiencing medical gaslighting—having a healthcare provider dismiss or ignore their concerns without considering appropriate testing or creating a treatment plan—has always been a very real and present danger, with consequences ranging from self-doubt and emotional stress to delayed diagnosis and death. And being a woman of color, transgender, or disabled only compounds the risk. In Medical Gaslighting, you’ll equip yourself with the tools you need to be fully heard at every step of the process.
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This should be required reading
- By Amazshop .222222 on 10-02-24
By: Ilana Jacqueline
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The Opt-Out Family
- How to Give Your Kids What Technology Can't
- By: Erin Loechner
- Narrated by: Lisa Larsen
- Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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We've all heard the mind-boggling statistics about technology and social media use. The numbers don't lie; our obsession with smartphones and social media is slowly eroding the very essence of our homes and families. We see it. We feel it. We know it. So what do we do about it? Spoiler alert: Forget parental control apps, time limits, or reward charts. This revolutionary path takes us into the heart of the beast itself: the social media algorithm.
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Narrator Sounds like AI
- By ghfecx on 06-17-24
By: Erin Loechner
What listeners say about Weapons of Mass Instruction
Highly rated for:
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- Tyrone Turner
- 04-26-24
Credible author
This message is sorely needed today. I appreciated the author's anecdotes and historical connections. As a teacher, he has given me a lot to think about.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Justice
- 11-15-19
heartbreaking to become aware
It's heartbreaking to become aware of all the BS government schools have done and to have lived through much of it. JTG has done so much to expose this in his books. if you are a teacher, parent or student, this will open your eyes
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- Anonymous User
- 12-04-19
best book to understand life in modern USA
Great book that everyone should read. it gives you the tactics and the whole picture of the public school indoctrinating that is going on today
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- Amazon Customer
- 11-30-24
Required Reading!
Not only gives a background of the history of modern institutional schooling, but solutions about what to do about it.
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- Joshua Bradley
- 05-03-24
eye opening
I love how the author is not just saying an opinion from the outside but really gives a perspective from the internal workings and the dangers of what the school system has become.
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- Alan
- 09-20-13
Makes you think
This book does a great job of presenting an alternative view of our education system. The author causes the listener really think about what they learned or did not learn in school.
If you have ever wondered why education does not improve considering all the money the government throws at it....this book is for you.
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11 people found this helpful
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- Robert Hall
- 03-24-15
Latest missing scroll of our era, no equivalent
Awesome! Life changing masterpiece, thanks SIR. This should be legal evidence against the government school system.
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3 people found this helpful
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- M. B. Fishpaw
- 07-26-15
John Gatto knows!!!
This is an excellent listen, I only wish that John could have read it himself (sans his stroke) yet the narrator does an excellent job himself. Now we have Common Core in most states. My granddaughter's are taught this way & it frightens me so much! If I can say anything in regard to CC it would be "I'd prefer them not to!"
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2 people found this helpful
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- Mike
- 07-23-16
Warning: Do not read this book. You won't be able to send your kids to school again!
This is an incredible book! The author has certainly done his research and presented the information in such an enlightening manner. There is so much truth in this book that it's scary! Don't hesitate, just download and listen!
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- Ion Mura
- 04-14-22
How wasn't this book censored from audible&amazon?
I wonder how this wasn't censored yet?
It picks many great subjects some of which are:
- Class interests, and upper-class efforts to keep the things they are for all next generations through schooling
- Schools (apart from some exceptional teachers) don't have the mission to teach people how to think critically because that is inconvenient and dangerous for people in power, but schools rather play the role of propaganda, like other mass media tools
- to condition kids for executing unquestionably and obediently orders from above, be consumers, not creators later in society
Besides mentioned above some other schooling roles are:
- to park kids while their parents work
- to stuff their heads with unimportant information/facts/subjects so they have no energy, time, and understanding to tackle really important subjects that will make a huge difference in their lives later
Read it, make your own conclusions, and share it with others - maybe this will speed up the overhaul of "schooling" and transform it into true education.
On performance - it could be slightly improved in pronunciation, or speaking style, I had to listen to it at a slower speed, and rewind some phrases, but overall it was good.
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