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John Taylor Gatto

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For other people named John Taylor, see John Taylor (disambiguation).
John Taylor Gatto
Born1935 (age 88–89)
Monongahela, PA, USA
NationalityAmerican
EducationCornell, the University of Pittsburgh, Yeshiva, Hunter College and the University of California
Known forEducational activist, New York State Teacher of the Year
Websitehttp://www.johntaylorgatto.com

John Taylor Gatto[1] (born December 15, 1935[2]) is an American retired school teacher of 29 years and 8 months and author of several books on education. He is an activist critical of compulsory schooling and of what he characterizes as the hegemonic nature of discourse on education and the education professions.

Biography

Gatto was born in the Pittsburgh-area steel town of Monongahela, Pennsylvania. In his youth he attended public schools throughout the Pittsburgh Metro Area including Swissvale, Monongahela, and Uniontown as well as a Catholic boarding school in Latrobe. He did undergraduate work at Cornell, the University of Pittsburgh, and Columbia, then served in the U.S. Army medical corps at Fort Knox, Kentucky, and Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Following army service he did graduate work at the City University of New York, Hunter College, Yeshiva, the University of California, and Cornell.

He worked as a writer and held several odd jobs before borrowing his roommate's license to investigate teaching. Gatto also ran for the New York State Senate, 29th District in 1985 and 1988 as a member of the Conservative Party of New York against incumbent David Paterson.[3] He was named New York City Teacher of the year in 1989, 1990, and 1991, and New York State Teacher of the Year in 1991.[4] In 1991, he wrote a letter announcing his retirement, titled I Quit, I Think, to the op-ed pages of the Wall Street Journal, saying that he no longer wished to "hurt kids to make a living". He then began a public speaking and writing career, and has received several awards from libertarian organizations, including the Alexis de Tocqueville Award for Excellence in Advancement of Educational Freedom in 1997. He promotes homeschooling, and specifically unschooling. One professor of education has called his books "scathing" and "one-sided and hyperbolic, [but] not inaccurate."[5]

Gatto is currently working on a 3-part documentary about compulsory schooling, titled The Fourth Purpose. He says he was inspired by Ken Burns's Civil War.[6]

Bibliography

See also

References

  1. ^ After learning he was regularly confused with another teacher named John Gatto, he added Taylor to his pen name.
  2. ^ Birthdatabase (.com)
  3. ^ "THE ELECTIONS; New York State Senate". New York Times. November 10, 1988.
  4. ^ New York's Teachers of the Year, New York State Education Department (accessed October 14, 2007).
  5. ^ Wade A. Carpenter, "For Those We Won't Reach: An Alternative," Educational Horizons 85, no. 3 (2007): 153n8.
  6. ^ The Fourth Purpose Documentary Series, Fourth Purpose Films (accessed March 21,2008).

Writings and lectures

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