Education System in Present Era: A Critical Analysis

This essay provides a critical analysis of the education system in the present era, drawing on the views of John Taylor Gatto and the documentary "Waiting for 'Superman'." It explores the issues of boredom, the mechanical nature of schooling, and the impact of lottery systems in charter schools. The essay also references Michael Moore's "Idiot Nation" to highlight concerns about functional illiteracy and the lack of critical thinking skills among students. The author reflects on the disconnect between education and schooling, emphasizing the need for student motivation and innovative teaching methods. The essay concludes by acknowledging the weaknesses of the current system and the importance of adaptability and cooperation between teachers and students to foster a more effective learning environment, while also critiquing the limitations of solely identifying the problems without providing alternative solutions.

Running head: Education System in Present Era
Education System in Present Era
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Authors Note

Running head: Education System in Present Era
Education play a pivotal role in everybody’s lives. Education as a process refers to
facilitating learning or acquisition of knowledge, skills vales beliefs and habit. In the view of
John Taylor Gatto, education is its strict sense of term could not be realized because the nature of
school institution in American society is very mechanical. Therefore the emergence of boredom.
He views boredom as the result of mutual process, both the parties of student and the teachers
cannot inculcate the independent thinking, therefore the student remain disinterested or a mere a
passive recipient of mechanical system. In the whole process, Gatto learns that there is divide
between education and schooling. He explains further stating that schooling refers to the time
period taken by a student to do sometime in that period of time. Education refers to when the kid
really wants to know something, that is, like if the kid really wants to get educated or not. The
interest to leaning a new thing must come from within, and the schooling system should work in
such a way , so that it can keep the child motivated. In Gattos’s view schooling system is not
able to do so.
In 2010, American documentary film by Davis Guggenheim named “Waiting for
‘Superman’” was released. This film aims to criticize the American public education system; the
film not only showed the various ways in which school differ from each other but also showed
the vivid picture of selecting the students in the school. The students are chosen not on the basis
of merits or their performance but based on lottery, which is a sheer chance factor called luck.
This film narrates the present pictures of American school and how they have failed in
understanding the actual need to the students. The number of dropout factories is over 40 % of
the students and they do not graduate in time (Weber). This film also represent the Geofreey
Canda’s solution to this problem was to create charter school , that would provide the children
and their parents to have option within the public schools systems. These schools are hoped to

Running head: Education System in Present Era
decrease the dropout rates, increase the number of student who attend the college and so on.
However when the movie ends by showing the way in which the candidates are processed in
charters school. The school leaves the children behind based on the lottery system, thus the entire
purpose for which things are created fails.
Owing to the view’s of Gatto, schools are becoming mere a business centers, that do not
address the issues rather procrastinate the burgeoning issues by devising certain plans, like that
of creating lottery system. Similar to the views of Gatto, this documentary illustrate the problem
of the bad teachers and the entire administration behind it supports it. The school system work in
the based format, where the fake promises are made like, only 10 percent of the top students will
go on to the “white collar”, and the 90 percent will either learn trade or unskilled labor. The
schools systems are based on the antediluvian economic system that contains the problem of bad
teacher as well as bad administration. These kinds of scenarios are plaguing the American Public
schools in the 21st century. The film showcases the problem where the problem of the teacher
tenure is outdated and it has grown itself to the malignant system. The design is does in such a
way, that enable to keep the bad teachers in the system. Statistically only one in 2500 teachers
loses their job. Even if the system tries to protect the teachers they are not trying to improve
their skills, turning schools into “drop-out factories”. This movie depicts how insurmountable
loses a school undergoes when it back up a bad teacher. The situation is more relatable in the
essay of Gatto, where the creation of situation promised in the boredom. This is because both the
parties think neither whatever they are doing for each other is nor driving them in the right
direction. The interesting fact is they already know it, the teachers feel the student do not have
the right diligence to study and the student feel the teacher possess the right amount of
intelligence to deal with the topic. Hence there is creation of the situation of boredom and this

Running head: Education System in Present Era
form the common point of reference in both the essay by Gatto and the documentary film by
Davis Guggenheim.
Keeping Gatto’s view in place, in a similar work by Michael Moore, in “idiot nation”, he
reveals that the students are characterized with functional illiteracy because most of the students
cannot express themselves beyond the level of fourth grade. In this essay he not only criticizes
about the ignorant nature of the school students but also speak about how the politician to delve
in partial truth and do nothing to practically educate the children (Moore). The learners of this
generation is taken by the trends and remains ignorant about the demands of the current
situational crisis. Not only is there current affair weak but they also do not know about Iliad and
Odyssey. Thus owing to the argument of Gatto, the students are not educated just there are
qualifies from one grade to other, which is why Moore, is suggesting the nation is progressing to
“ Idiot nation”.
After reading both the article had watching the movie, I remained spellbound for a
while because deep down inside I knew these were the part of realities. However I convinced
myself that they will never get reflected in any writing, so I took time to understand and
contemplate the ways in which they are trying to leave a message. It was a matter of discomfort
for me because being a part of the school system I am undergoing written material that is
actually defaming the educational institute. I would rather say this is true, presented in as bitter
way as it is in reality. I believe whatever is presented in the video and in the essay do not
diverge and video is more congruent. I believe, student should remain motivated for learning
something new so that they do not remain bored out of it. It is very important that the student
students requires more than system, the lack of innovation in this sphere has gone too far that,
selection is based on the lottery and denial of the students’ aspiration is based on the sheer

Running head: Education System in Present Era
chance of luck. I think the student require more than a system of teachers so that they learn the
skills that are required to sustain life rather than just imitating the process of the life. The
schooling system should be functioning in such a way so that it can inculcate fresh thinking
process rather than imitation, for inculcation such behavior it is very important that the students
remain motivated and are challenges in nuanced ways. I believe when students learn by wrote
memory they learn by memorizing, which they might forget in the passage of time but when they
learn by experiencing things, the subject matter gets inscripted in the memory. Therefore they
remain self aware and also self motivated, this helps the kids to form their own identity, in the
process of learning. I believe the student needs to keep experiencing because that is the only
way of getting success in life. Similarly I think, student should be judge on ones own merit, any
type of lottery cannot assess the student in proper sense of the term (Gatto). Thus is think each
and every student is special and the entire purpose of school machinery is not to replicate, or
standardize the students but to understand the unique elements in them and nurture it
accordingly. This reading and the video has helped me to understand that the blame game can
never succeed and it is important to built one own motivation by working on oneself. There are
certain strengths as well as weakness to this approach, the strengths have been discussed in the
previous section but the weakness to this approach is that they are only working to find the loop
holes not providing any alternative means. Thus even though I realize the there are certain
problem in the existing system I cannot do away with because I have to be a part of the system.
A system cannot change its style of operation in a snap but it should remain flexible enough to
understand that the problem that are culminating within the system. Yes, it is true there is no
superman but when it comes for ordinary man to give suggestions for charter school, one cannot
solved it by simply introducing lottery system to it. The fate of the five families cannot depend of

Running head: Education System in Present Era
the sheer luck factor. I think this the biggest obstacle for reformation of the school system. I
believe it needs people who can study the situational factor in right way and can formulate
regulations that will benefit the larger mass. This essay helped me to understand that there is no
single way of understand the realities and it is important to remain flexible and keep changing
with the time. Therefore the student and teacher should share a mutual cooperative relationship
where both should remain motivated and should indulge in greater enquiry that will enhance and
boost their relationship.

Running head: Education System in Present Era
Reference
Gatto, John Taylor. "Against school." Harper’s Magazine307.1840 (2003): 33-38.
Moore, M. I. C. H. A. E. L. "Idiot Nation." (2005).
Weber, Karl, ed. Waiting for"" SUPERMAN"": How We Can Save America's Failing Public
Schools. PublicAffairs, 2010.