Contents

So, What’s Wrong With School? 125 reasons why you should never send your kids.
POSTS IN JUNE:
CONTENTS
Dedication
Opening Quote
Preface
Introduction
Evidence, Statistics and Truth

CHAPTER 1: LEARNING
Introduction to learning

1. They don’t learn what you think they learn
2. They don’t learn what is taught
3. They don’t learn anything useful
4. They don’t learn anything really useful
5. They don’t learn anything important
6. They don’t learn what they want to know
7. They don’t learn anything in context
8. They don’t learn to think
9. They don’t learn to understand
10. They don’t learn to make choices
11. They don’t learn to be creative
12. They learn to fail

POSTS IN JULY:

13. They learn to be bored
14. They learn to obey
15. They learn to be stupid
16. They learn to be labelled
17. They learn to rely on external motivation
18. They learn to rely on experts
19. They learn that there is one right answer
20. They learn what ain’t so
21. What is wrong with the curriculum.
22. The problem with educational objectives
23. Rigid methods for rigid minds

Learning Summary

CHAPTER 2: SEPARATION

Introduction to Separation

24. School separates children from themselves
25. School separates children from each other
26. School separates children form their parents
27. School separates children from adult community
28. School separates children from their home culture
29. School separates children from indigenous culture
30. School separates children from nature
31. School separates subject from subject
32. School separates work from play

Separation Summary

CHAPTER 3:THE CULTURE OF SCHOOL

Introduction to culture

33. School promotes dishonesty
34. The lie of deferred gratification
35. Myth: school is the only way
36. The myth of parental choice
37. Myth: Everything is measurable
38. Myth: there is valid evidence to support everything that happens in school
39. Myths about children
40. Myth: reward and punishment are the way
41. School encourages a dubious morality
42. The myth of benign competition
43. The three Rs: Rules, Routines and Rituals
44. Relentless boredom: the pace of school
45. School stifles communication
46. What children do in class
47. Schools blame-shift
48. Schools demand conformity and uniformity
49. Bullying is rife in schools
50. Schooling is violence
51. Truants are voting with their feet
52. Exclusions
53. The language of school distorts our thinking
54. Playgrounds are worse than jungles
55. Schools invade privacy
56. Schools maintain the status quo
57. Schools shape and justify inequality
58. The three Cs of school: control, constraint, compulsion
59. Rights do not exist in school
60. Schools create powerlessness
61. Justice does not exist in schools
62. Schools self perpetuate
63. School institutionalises for life
64. Schools are a wing of the corporacy
65. Schools are paramilitary organisations
66. School limits and defines cultural expression
67. Failing schools

Summary Culture

CHAPTER 4: TEACHERS

Introduction to teachers

68. Teachers are undermined and overwhelmed
69. Teachers are stressed, miserable and driven mad
70. Teachers are sick and absent
71. Teachers are not experts
72. Teachers are incompetent
73. Teachers are jailers and bullies
74. Teachers expectations are shaped by prejudice
75. Teachers don’t like children
76. Teachers may not be safe around kids
77. Teachers are leaving in droves
78. What motivates teachers?
79. Teachers can’t be agents of change in the current climate.

Summary teachers


POSTS IN AUGUST:

CHAPTER 5: NUMBERING OUR CHILDREN

Introduction numbering our children

80. School reduces children to numbers
81. Some problems with grades
82. Marks are subjective, inaccurate and meaningless
83. Standards, targets, league tables and other number nonsense
84. What are tests for?
85. Socially sorting our children
86. Exams hamper real learning
87. Exams shape, limit and dumb down textbooks
88. Exams are unfair
89. Exams damage self-esteem
90. Exams cause stress and distress
91. Qualifications do not represent competence
92. Diploma disease
93. School reports
94. Ofsted: the engine that drives it all
Summary to numbering our children

CHAPTER 6: HEALTH-SCHOOL MAKES KIDS SICK

95. Schools are sick places
96. Schools rob our children of rest
97. Schools, food and health
98. Schools make kids unfit
99. Discomfort is the norm
100. Schools are unsafe places
101. The weather
102. Toilets, kitchens and other health hazards

Summary schools and health


CHAPTER 7: MENTAL HEALTH- SCHOOL DRIVES KIDS MAD

Introduction to mental health

103. Powerlessness and cruelty drive kids mad
104. School makes kids stressed and anxious
105. School depresses kids
106. Too much too young
107. School denies a right to happiness
108. School denies the traumas in kids’ lives
109. School damages self image
110. School refusal is a sane response
111. School pathologises just rebellion
112. School is a branch of the pharmaceutical industry

Summary mental health


CHAPTER 8: DON’T SEND THEM IF….
Introduction to don’t send them if..

113. Don’t send them if they are boys
114. Don’t send them if they are girls
115. Don’t send them if they are different
116. Don’t send them if they may be gay
117. Don’t send them if they are from a minority ethnic group
118. Don’t send them if they have a special educational need
119. Don’t send them if they are born in the summer
120. Don’t send them if you are poor
121. Don’t send them if they have a health problem

Summary don’t send them if..

CHAPTER 9: THE TRUE COST OF SCHOOLS

Introduction to the true cost of schools

122. Schooling is very expensive
123. School destroys the planet
124. Schools have a huge social cost
125. Schools damage humanity and autonomy

Summary true cost


ENDS AND MEANS

RESOURCES AND THE WAY FORWARD
























So, What’s Wrong With School? 125 reasons why you should never send your kids.


CONTENTS
Dedication
Opening Quote
Preface
Introduction
Evidence, Statistics and Truth

CHAPTER 1: LEARNING
Introduction to learning

1. They don’t learn what you think they learn
2. They don’t learn what is taught
3. They don’t learn anything useful
4. They don’t learn anything really useful
5. They don’t learn anything important
6. They don’t learn what they want to know
7. They don’t learn anything in context
8. They don’t learn to think
9. They don’t learn to understand
10. They don’t learn to make choices
11. They don’t learn to be creative
12. They learn to fail
13. They learn to be bored
14. They learn to obey
15. They learn to be stupid
16. They learn to be labelled
17. They learn to rely on external motivation
18. They learn to rely on experts
19. They learn that there is one right answer
20. They learn what ain’t so
21. What is wrong with the curriculum.
22. The problem with educational objectives
23. Rigid methods for rigid minds

Learning Summary

CHAPTER 2: SEPARATION

Introduction to Separation

24. School separates children from themselves
25. School separates children from each other
26. School separates children form their parents
27. School separates children from adult community
28. School separates children from their home culture
29. School separates children from indigenous culture
30. School separates children from nature
31. School separates subject from subject
32. School separates work from play

Separation Summary

CHAPTER 3:THE CULTURE OF SCHOOL

Introduction to culture

33. School promotes dishonesty
34. The lie of deferred gratification
35. Myth: school is the only way
36. The myth of parental choice
37. Myth: Everything is measurable
38. Myth: there is valid evidence to support everything that happens in school
39. Myths about children
40. Myth: reward and punishment are the way
41. School encourages a dubious morality
42. The myth of benign competition
43. The three Rs: Rules, Routines and Rituals
44. Relentless boredom: the pace of school
45. School stifles communication
46. What children do in class
47. Schools blame-shift
48. Schools demand conformity and uniformity
49. Bullying is rife in schools
50. Schooling is violence
51. Truants are voting with their feet
52. Exclusions
53. The language of school distorts our thinking
54. Playgrounds are worse than jungles
55. Schools invade privacy
56. Schools maintain the status quo
57. Schools shape and justify inequality
58. The three Cs of school: control, constraint, compulsion
59. Rights do not exist in school
60. Schools create powerlessness
61. Justice does not exist in schools
62. Schools self perpetuate
63. School institutionalises for life
64. Schools are a wing of the corporacy
65. Schools are paramilitary organisations
66. School limits and defines cultural expression
67. Failing schools

Summary Culture

CHAPTER 4: TEACHERS

Introduction to teachers

68. Teachers are undermined and overwhelmed
69. Teachers are stressed, miserable and driven mad
70. Teachers are sick and absent
71. Teachers are not experts
72. Teachers are incompetent
73. Teachers are jailers and bullies
74. Teachers expectations are shaped by prejudice
75. Teachers don’t like children
76. Teachers may not be safe around kids
77. Teachers are leaving in droves
78. What motivates teachers?
79. Teachers can’t be agents of change in the current climate.

Summary teachers

CHAPTER 5: NUMBERING OUR CHILDREN

Introduction numbering our children

80. School reduces children to numbers
81. Some problems with grades
82. Marks are subjective, inaccurate and meaningless
83. Standards, targets, league tables and other number nonsense
84. What are tests for?
85. Socially sorting our children
86. Exams hamper real learning
87. Exams shape, limit and dumb down textbooks
88. Exams are unfair
89. Exams damage self-esteem
90. Exams cause stress and distress
91. Qualifications do not represent competence
92. Diploma disease
93. School reports
94. Ofsted: the engine that drives it all
Summary to numbering our children

CHAPTER 6: HEALTH-SCHOOL MAKES KIDS SICK

95. Schools are sick places
96. Schools rob our children of rest
97. Schools, food and health
98. Schools make kids unfit
99. Discomfort is the norm
100. Schools are unsafe places
101. The weather
102. Toilets, kitchens and other health hazards

Summary schools and health


CHAPTER 7: MENTAL HEALTH- SCHOOL DRIVES KIDS MAD

Introduction to mental health

103. Powerlessness and cruelty drive kids mad
104. School makes kids stressed and anxious
105. School depresses kids
106. Too much too young
107. School denies a right to happiness
108. School denies the traumas in kids’ lives
109. School damages self image
110. School refusal is a sane response
111. School pathologises just rebellion
112. School is a branch of the pharmaceutical industry

Summary mental health


CHAPTER 8: DON’T SEND THEM IF….
Introduction to don’t send them if..

113. Don’t send them if they are boys
114. Don’t send them if they are girls
115. Don’t send them if they are different
116. Don’t send them if they may be gay
117. Don’t send them if they are from a minority ethnic group
118. Don’t send them if they have a special educational need
119. Don’t send them if they are born in the summer
120. Don’t send them if you are poor
121. Don’t send them if they have a health problem

Summary don’t send them if..

CHAPTER 9: THE TRUE COST OF SCHOOLS

Introduction to the true cost of schools

122. Schooling is very expensive
123. School destroys the planet
124. Schools have a huge social cost
125. Schools damage humanity and autonomy

Summary true cost


ENDS AND MEANS

RESOURCES AND THE WAY FORWARD










So, What’s Wrong With School? 125 reasons why you should never send your kids.


CONTENTS
Dedication
Opening Quote
Preface
Introduction
Evidence, Statistics and Truth

CHAPTER 1: LEARNING
Introduction to learning

1. They don’t learn what you think they learn
2. They don’t learn what is taught
3. They don’t learn anything useful
4. They don’t learn anything really useful
5. They don’t learn anything important
6. They don’t learn what they want to know
7. They don’t learn anything in context
8. They don’t learn to think
9. They don’t learn to understand
10. They don’t learn to make choices
11. They don’t learn to be creative
12. They learn to fail
13. They learn to be bored
14. They learn to obey
15. They learn to be stupid
16. They learn to be labelled
17. They learn to rely on external motivation
18. They learn to rely on experts
19. They learn that there is one right answer
20. They learn what ain’t so
21. What is wrong with the curriculum.
22. The problem with educational objectives
23. Rigid methods for rigid minds

Learning Summary

CHAPTER 2: SEPARATION

Introduction to Separation

24. School separates children from themselves
25. School separates children from each other
26. School separates children form their parents
27. School separates children from adult community
28. School separates children from their home culture
29. School separates children from indigenous culture
30. School separates children from nature
31. School separates subject from subject
32. School separates work from play

Separation Summary

CHAPTER 3:THE CULTURE OF SCHOOL

Introduction to culture

33. School promotes dishonesty
34. The lie of deferred gratification
35. Myth: school is the only way
36. The myth of parental choice
37. Myth: Everything is measurable
38. Myth: there is valid evidence to support everything that happens in school
39. Myths about children
40. Myth: reward and punishment are the way
41. School encourages a dubious morality
42. The myth of benign competition
43. The three Rs: Rules, Routines and Rituals
44. Relentless boredom: the pace of school
45. School stifles communication
46. What children do in class
47. Schools blame-shift
48. Schools demand conformity and uniformity
49. Bullying is rife in schools
50. Schooling is violence
51. Truants are voting with their feet
52. Exclusions
53. The language of school distorts our thinking
54. Playgrounds are worse than jungles
55. Schools invade privacy
56. Schools maintain the status quo
57. Schools shape and justify inequality
58. The three Cs of school: control, constraint, compulsion
59. Rights do not exist in school
60. Schools create powerlessness
61. Justice does not exist in schools
62. Schools self perpetuate
63. School institutionalises for life
64. Schools are a wing of the corporacy
65. Schools are paramilitary organisations
66. School limits and defines cultural expression
67. Failing schools

Summary Culture

CHAPTER 4: TEACHERS

Introduction to teachers

68. Teachers are undermined and overwhelmed
69. Teachers are stressed, miserable and driven mad
70. Teachers are sick and absent
71. Teachers are not experts
72. Teachers are incompetent
73. Teachers are jailers and bullies
74. Teachers expectations are shaped by prejudice
75. Teachers don’t like children
76. Teachers may not be safe around kids
77. Teachers are leaving in droves
78. What motivates teachers?
79. Teachers can’t be agents of change in the current climate.

Summary teachers

CHAPTER 5: NUMBERING OUR CHILDREN

Introduction numbering our children

80. School reduces children to numbers
81. Some problems with grades
82. Marks are subjective, inaccurate and meaningless
83. Standards, targets, league tables and other number nonsense
84. What are tests for?
85. Socially sorting our children
86. Exams hamper real learning
87. Exams shape, limit and dumb down textbooks
88. Exams are unfair
89. Exams damage self-esteem
90. Exams cause stress and distress
91. Qualifications do not represent competence
92. Diploma disease
93. School reports
94. Ofsted: the engine that drives it all
Summary to numbering our children

CHAPTER 6: HEALTH-SCHOOL MAKES KIDS SICK

95. Schools are sick places
96. Schools rob our children of rest
97. Schools, food and health
98. Schools make kids unfit
99. Discomfort is the norm
100. Schools are unsafe places
101. The weather
102. Toilets, kitchens and other health hazards

Summary schools and health


CHAPTER 7: MENTAL HEALTH- SCHOOL DRIVES KIDS MAD

Introduction to mental health

103. Powerlessness and cruelty drive kids mad
104. School makes kids stressed and anxious
105. School depresses kids
106. Too much too young
107. School denies a right to happiness
108. School denies the traumas in kids’ lives
109. School damages self image
110. School refusal is a sane response
111. School pathologises just rebellion
112. School is a branch of the pharmaceutical industry

Summary mental health


CHAPTER 8: DON’T SEND THEM IF….
Introduction to don’t send them if..

113. Don’t send them if they are boys
114. Don’t send them if they are girls
115. Don’t send them if they are different
116. Don’t send them if they may be gay
117. Don’t send them if they are from a minority ethnic group
118. Don’t send them if they have a special educational need
119. Don’t send them if they are born in the summer
120. Don’t send them if you are poor
121. Don’t send them if they have a health problem

Summary don’t send them if..

CHAPTER 9: THE TRUE COST OF SCHOOLS

Introduction to the true cost of schools

122. Schooling is very expensive
123. School destroys the planet
124. Schools have a huge social cost
125. Schools damage humanity and autonomy

Summary true cost


ENDS AND MEANS

RESOURCES AND THE WAY FORWARD











So, What’s Wrong With School? 125 reasons why you should never send your kids.


CONTENTS
Dedication
Opening Quote
Preface
Introduction
Evidence, Statistics and Truth

CHAPTER 1: LEARNING
Introduction to learning

1. They don’t learn what you think they learn
2. They don’t learn what is taught
3. They don’t learn anything useful
4. They don’t learn anything really useful
5. They don’t learn anything important
6. They don’t learn what they want to know
7. They don’t learn anything in context
8. They don’t learn to think
9. They don’t learn to understand
10. They don’t learn to make choices
11. They don’t learn to be creative
12. They learn to fail
13. They learn to be bored
14. They learn to obey
15. They learn to be stupid
16. They learn to be labelled
17. They learn to rely on external motivation
18. They learn to rely on experts
19. They learn that there is one right answer
20. They learn what ain’t so
21. What is wrong with the curriculum.
22. The problem with educational objectives
23. Rigid methods for rigid minds

Learning Summary

CHAPTER 2: SEPARATION

Introduction to Separation

24. School separates children from themselves
25. School separates children from each other
26. School separates children form their parents
27. School separates children from adult community
28. School separates children from their home culture
29. School separates children from indigenous culture
30. School separates children from nature
31. School separates subject from subject
32. School separates work from play

Separation Summary

CHAPTER 3:THE CULTURE OF SCHOOL

Introduction to culture

33. School promotes dishonesty
34. The lie of deferred gratification
35. Myth: school is the only way
36. The myth of parental choice
37. Myth: Everything is measurable
38. Myth: there is valid evidence to support everything that happens in school
39. Myths about children
40. Myth: reward and punishment are the way
41. School encourages a dubious morality
42. The myth of benign competition
43. The three Rs: Rules, Routines and Rituals
44. Relentless boredom: the pace of school
45. School stifles communication
46. What children do in class
47. Schools blame-shift
48. Schools demand conformity and uniformity
49. Bullying is rife in schools
50. Schooling is violence
51. Truants are voting with their feet
52. Exclusions
53. The language of school distorts our thinking
54. Playgrounds are worse than jungles
55. Schools invade privacy
56. Schools maintain the status quo
57. Schools shape and justify inequality
58. The three Cs of school: control, constraint, compulsion
59. Rights do not exist in school
60. Schools create powerlessness
61. Justice does not exist in schools
62. Schools self perpetuate
63. School institutionalises for life
64. Schools are a wing of the corporacy
65. Schools are paramilitary organisations
66. School limits and defines cultural expression
67. Failing schools

Summary Culture

CHAPTER 4: TEACHERS

Introduction to teachers

68. Teachers are undermined and overwhelmed
69. Teachers are stressed, miserable and driven mad
70. Teachers are sick and absent
71. Teachers are not experts
72. Teachers are incompetent
73. Teachers are jailers and bullies
74. Teachers expectations are shaped by prejudice
75. Teachers don’t like children
76. Teachers may not be safe around kids
77. Teachers are leaving in droves
78. What motivates teachers?
79. Teachers can’t be agents of change in the current climate.

Summary teachers

CHAPTER 5: NUMBERING OUR CHILDREN

Introduction numbering our children

80. School reduces children to numbers
81. Some problems with grades
82. Marks are subjective, inaccurate and meaningless
83. Standards, targets, league tables and other number nonsense
84. What are tests for?
85. Socially sorting our children
86. Exams hamper real learning
87. Exams shape, limit and dumb down textbooks
88. Exams are unfair
89. Exams damage self-esteem
90. Exams cause stress and distress
91. Qualifications do not represent competence
92. Diploma disease
93. School reports
94. Ofsted: the engine that drives it all
Summary to numbering our children

CHAPTER 6: HEALTH-SCHOOL MAKES KIDS SICK

95. Schools are sick places
96. Schools rob our children of rest
97. Schools, food and health
98. Schools make kids unfit
99. Discomfort is the norm
100. Schools are unsafe places
101. The weather
102. Toilets, kitchens and other health hazards

Summary schools and health


CHAPTER 7: MENTAL HEALTH- SCHOOL DRIVES KIDS MAD

Introduction to mental health

103. Powerlessness and cruelty drive kids mad
104. School makes kids stressed and anxious
105. School depresses kids
106. Too much too young
107. School denies a right to happiness
108. School denies the traumas in kids’ lives
109. School damages self image
110. School refusal is a sane response
111. School pathologises just rebellion
112. School is a branch of the pharmaceutical industry

Summary mental health


CHAPTER 8: DON’T SEND THEM IF….
Introduction to don’t send them if..

113. Don’t send them if they are boys
114. Don’t send them if they are girls
115. Don’t send them if they are different
116. Don’t send them if they may be gay
117. Don’t send them if they are from a minority ethnic group
118. Don’t send them if they have a special educational need
119. Don’t send them if they are born in the summer
120. Don’t send them if you are poor
121. Don’t send them if they have a health problem

Summary don’t send them if..

CHAPTER 9: THE TRUE COST OF SCHOOLS

Introduction to the true cost of schools

122. Schooling is very expensive
123. School destroys the planet
124. Schools have a huge social cost
125. Schools damage humanity and autonomy

Summary true cost


ENDS AND MEANS

RESOURCES AND THE WAY FORWARD